Customer Reviews

American Fool

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

An awesome musician with a great rough edge to his voice, banging out original music that we can all relate to with an honest passion and natural talent we all wish we had. He became an American icon and this album is where he hit it big.

A Mellencamp newbie may wish to just check out his "Best That I Could Do" compilation first, but if you want to go beyond that, this abum is where to start. This is an American classic... and to think he has at least a few others that could be considered classic.

For the one guy who gripes about him going by "John Cougar" at first... ever heard the story about his first record deal: the copmany-guy said something along the lines of, "I don't care what you want to call yourself, but 'John Cougar' is gonna be the name on this contract." So he sucked up his pride and went by John Cougar. When that contract was up, he immediately went back to Mellencamp... if you have a gripe about that, get real.

With American Fool, John Cougar, attained status on the American music scene that would reach its peak during the Scarecrow and Lonesome Jubilee albums, but that was three and five years away, respectively. For now, let's concentrate on 1982 and the singles that shot up the charts, including the #1 single "Jack & Diane."

The sounds here are more raw and rock than the more refined material of the mid- to late 80's, some songs encompassing a combination drums and guitar that neared the crunch of AC-DC, such as one of his signature tunes, "Hurt So Good." Most of the songs have pounding pneumatic drums and power guitar chord stomp, and what I'm noticing here is that many other songs could've become singles because of it. In other words, Cougar's moment could've been bigger had this album been given a few more singles. Much like the lines in "Hurt So Good," "sink your teeth right into my bones" and "c'mon baby make it hurt so good," there's a new sort of confidence in the sound and in Cougar himself.

"A little ditty about Jack and Diane/two American kids doing the best they can" Well that little ditty went to #1 sure enough, divided into the quiet acoustic verses about the couple, with the transitional refrain of "life goes on/long after the thrill of living is gone" on the inevitable parade of life, leading into that ringing power riff. The thing seems to be that any young couple had better enjoy it, because "change will come around real soon and make us women and men." And break out the vomit bags, for the recognizable power riff and two notes plucked was sampled by Jessica Simpson in "I Think I Love You."

Needing that moral backup and set to a style that would come to its fruition in Scarecrow is what "Hand To Hold On To" is about. The hand need not be strong or rich, and there's the need to have some dreams or thrills to live for.

There's a bit of self-assured wild loner in the mid-paced "Danger List"; in one moment, he says "I ain't looking for affection" but that next turns to, "give me someone I can look up to/show me someone I can love." The songs ends with the usual crunch chords prevalent in this album.

Another could-be single is "Can You Take It" with its opening storm of guitars and a catchy chorus, as is "Thundering Hearts" with its AC-DC crunch. One of the better and more powerful songs here.

No, this isn't the Iggy Pop version of "China Girl," as the Coug wrote all his own songs here, and he sings admiringly of a Chinese girl. Had he released this as a single, this might've beaten David Bowie to the punch and people might associate the title of the song to Cougar.

A bit of truth there in "I'm close enough for rock and roll," as Cougar proclaims in Close Enough, another song that could've made it as a single, given the same sound defining "Hurt So Good." The album ends with the soft acoustic "Weakest Moments."

American Fool further opened the crack in the door that was "I Need A Lover" two albums back, but given the material here, that crack could've been wider. And did that crack turn into a wider peek into the mainstream? Uh-Huh.

One of the best albums that John Mellencamp (formerly John Cougar) has ever released! since then, we have seen some incredible work from him, but nothing as yet hascome up to the classic song "Jack and Diane". If you're going on a long road trip and need something to keep you awake, this is the CD for you!

The year 1982 made an "American Fool" John Cougar(when this album was released he named himself that way) really a cool guy. Spurred by superhits JACK AND DIANE, HURTS SO GOOD both having impressive heavier straight-ahead rock arrangement, this album became a #1 album hit serving as another narrator for non-mainstream rejected Americans just as the music of Bruce Springsteen did. This album has nicely written great songs so overshadowed by the aforementioned hits but with repeated listens you will get to love it. THUNDERING HEARTS is the closer in style for Jack and Diane hit but the rest are raid back message-driven songs. DANGER LIST is in particular self-portrayal song remniscing days back his unknown rocker days.
WEAKEST MOMENTS is slow blues having nostalgic interlude.

Recommended for wide range of American rock fans who love Bruce Springsteen, Rick Springfield, Hooters, Bob Seger, and Huey Lewis and the News.

It's hard to believe now, so many years later, that John Mellencamp was forced to change his name to "Johnny Cougar" in order to get a record deal because an executive said "I just can't sell John Mellencamp". Well, this album proved that name means nothing, and that by any name, young John was a musician to be reckoned with.

This hometown style collection of folk rock songs starts off with 3 tracks that can compete with the best music of its decade. Nobody that listens to music can fail to recognize the opening chords of "Hurts so Good", "Hand to Hold on To", or the immaculate "Jack and Diane". They're just that good. The rest of the album is old fashioned rock, with standouts including "Thundering Hearts" and "Close Enough".

Although he'd go on to much greater commercial successes in the future and some stylistic changes that would deviate from his folk-rock roots, "American Fool" is really where it all began for John Mellencamp, and here he begins to establish himself as one of the premier representatives of middle America.

It's obvious that the low star rating of this album is because one person who doesn't know rock n roll has rated this album several times. If you even vaguely like John Mellancamp, you'll love this album. Every song rocks and the lyrics are classic Rock. "Thundering Hearts" has one of the most intense guitar riffs, and the singing is awesome. "Weakest Moments" is one of his best love ballads and is a great tune to slow dance to. The lyrics of this album are great, as is the music. It bounces back and forth between full blown rock, to middle of the road slightly laid back tunes. This is John's signature album, the one that started it all. Back in 1982 and 1983, every cool person around had this classic, only a nerd or a rapper could find fault with this collection of songs.

During his career, Mellencamp has gone from being viewed as a Springsteen rip-off to a big pop star to a serious music artist. 1982's "American Fool" serves as an important transition from the first to the second stages of his career. Prior to "American Fool," John Mellencamp (then John Cougar) was a mid-level rocker with a few minor chart hits - the biggest being "Ain't Even Done with the Night" (#17 in 1981).

The first single, "Hurts So Good," provided that big breakthrough, peaking at #2 for 4 weeks and going gold. The song and video were ubiquitous during the summer of 1982 and helped make "American Fool" a #1 hit for 9 weeks. Although the song is a bit of pop-rock tripe, it still sounds pretty good today. The second single inspired me to buy "American Fool" back in 1982 when I was 12 years old - the #1 hit "Jack and Diane." The song was different from his prior hits - less raucous and more introspective, a sign of his maturing writing skills. The song eventually spent 4 weeks at #1 and went gold; it's even been sampled several times, notably for Jessica Simpson's 2000 hit "I Think I'm In Love With You." Finally, "Hand to Hold On to" was released and became a mid-chart hit, peaking at #19 in early 1983. The song is very catchy and should have done better.

Along with these hits, "American Fool" is filled with other memorable songs. "Thundering Hearts" is probably my favorite because of its roaring chorus. "Danger List" is another winner; it's perhaps the smoothest sounding song on the CD and has some great lyrics - I ain't looking for affection/ I guess I need myself a shove/ Give me someone I can look up to/ Show me someone I can love. In addition, "Weakest Moments" is a strong rock ballad, although it does have a strange-sounding reed instrument playing at one point. However, there's not a weak track on this CD.

"American Fool" is not the best John Mellencamp CD, as he was still a bit immature as a writer. He was also much under the thumb of his record label, who wanted a traditional rocker; hence the name John Cougar. What he's obviously excelled at during his career is Midwestern-style rock, such as "Pink Houses" and "Small Town." Nevertheless, I have always loved "American Fool" - it's his biggest hit (tied with 5 million in sales with "Scarecrow) and the album that provided him with the success that's allowed him to stick around 20+ years later. Plus, "Jack and Diane" is just such a classic 1980s song. Highly Recommended.

In 1982 I was twelve years old. I remember two albums I got for my birthday that year. "Packman Fever" and "American Fool".
Of course as we all know the Pack Man fad wore off but Cougar never did.
I'm thirty-four now, and those songs take me back every time I hear them on the radio. and it's pretty cool you still hear them. It's truly a classic, and I encourage anyone to buy this CD, it's good for the soul!

It frustrates me to hear "Hurts So Good" on a soft rock radio station. John Mellencamp's style has changed over the years, and in my opinion, not for the better. He's become a folk/rock musician where accordions and harmonicas are the norm instead of plain old guitar, bass, and drums. Don't get me wrong, Mellencamp still puts out some true gems, but his cd's just aren't as strong or raw as they were when "Cougar" was still in the mix. "American Fool" is John "Cougar" Mellencamp at his best.

American Fool was John Cougar's major breakthrough. The album was buoyed by two major hits "Hurts So Good" and "Jack & Diane". The former has a heavy guitar riff that sounds like a motorcycle revving up and it S&M stylings perfectly fit the leather clad rebel rocker image he had at the time. The former has an equally memorable guitar riff, but the song is a reminiscence about days gone by and dealing with growing up. "Hurts So Good" went to number two and "Jack & Diane" became his only number one single and both songs ended up among the ten biggest of 1982. The rest of the album contains some equally pleasing tracks like "Thundering Hearts", "China Girl", "Danger List" and "Hand To Hold On To". The album also went to number one and so far is the only one of his to do so.