Customer Reviews

Lonesome Jubilee (Rpkg)

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John Mellencamp is often called a poor man's Bruce Springsteen. In many ways he is, and that is not such a bad thing to be. Like the Boss, Mr. Mellencamp sings about personal experiences and tells tales of people struggling to get ahead in the world. Where Mr. Springsteen sings about Jersey & the East Coast, Mr. Mellencamp sings about his region of the country, Indiana & the Midwest. The Lonesome Jubilee is my favorite Mellencamp album and he expands on the musical stylings of his previous release, Scarecrow. He employs fiddles, accordians and mandolins to give the album a rustic, midwestern feel. "Paper In Fire" opens the album with a bang and then slides into "Down & Out In Paradise" which is a critical rocker about the state of the nation. "Cherry Bomb" is a great song about days gone by and is his "Glory Days". Like "Down & Out", the album makes many political statements with songs like "We Are The People", "Empty Hands", "Hard Times For An Honest Man" and "Hotdogs & Hamburgers". After the political heaviness, he closes the album out with the silly and fun "Rooty Toot Toot". John Mellencamp always has alot to say and on this album, he speaks from the heart and it makes for great music. The bonus track is a strong number, "Blues From A Front Porch", but it would have een nice if they include the b-sides from the album's singles, the live version of "Check It Out", "Never To Old" (b-side of "Paper In Fire") and "Shama Lama Ding Dong" (b-side of "Cherry Bomb").

While 1985 seminal SCARECROW remains the signature John Mellencamp album, THE LONESOME JUBILEE, in my opinion, is his greatest musical achievement. Both discs have a lot to say, lyrically speaking. But whereas Scarecrow scored the messages with 60's-influenced rock, Jubilee expands this sound to include more rustic instrumentation. The result is a pleasure to hear, as Mellencamp and his band effortlessly (or so it seems) make every song a keeper. Even potentially heavy-handed material such as "We Are the People" and "Empty Hands" (with one of my favorite lines, "They say people get what they deserve/But Lord, sometimes it's much worse than that") is served up with such conviction that it's hard to fault their earnestness.

Unreleased material (the bonus track) is, of course, always welcome. But as someone has already mentioned, it sure would have been nice to have the b-sides from Jubilee's singles on the disc. Or even John's VERY SPECIAL CHRISTMAS contribution, "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus," which was released shortly after this album came out.

But I've still got my treasured 45's, so I can live with it. In any event, if you only get one Mellencamp remastered disc, this is the one.

"The Lonesome Jubilee" is the third Mellencamp masterpiece in a row. And here it is, in an exquisitely remastered CD.

From the Stones-y squall of "Uh-Huh" to the Springsteen sweep of "Scarecrow", we now have an album that can only be 'qualified' as "Mellencamp."

His artistic growth here reflects his absorbed influences and then expands them. There are new instruments, new textures, new tempos. His lyrics are more expressive, more vivid and more concise. There is a fearlessness to his recording...a confidence beyond his previously problematic braggadocio.

In simpler terms, this album rocks. It's awesome.

Opening with the thrilling guitar-lap steel-fiddle-accordion-God know what else "hook" from "Paper in Fire", Mellencamp sets the stage for the unexpected. When his beloved drummer Kenny Aronoff kicks in, a smile will spread across your face. You instinctively will recognize his "sound", but also realize he doing more with it than he ever has before.

The angular "Down and Out in Paradise", with it's off-kilter push-pull rhythms, follows. This is one of those first person narratives with a terrific sense of immediacy...and "Check It Out" has a nice gentle, anthemic quality to it. I love the soaring fiddle-led hook, and so must have a lot of folks, as it's now one of his more-recognized songs.

"The Real Life" is a bit weaker melodically, but the band sounds tight and amazing. Every piece in its' place. "Cherry Bomb" has a soothing, friendly tone with terrific duet-like backup vocals and again, that lilting fiddle dancing above the whole song. Plus that accordion hook...it was an instant classic, and deservedly so.

"We Are The People" is where he falters a bit...a little too heavy-handed compared to the rest of the album. The music, again, is outstanding...it's now "his" sound. "Empty Hands" is another not-so-wonderful moment...a little boring...

It proves to be a momentary setback, as the album comes roaring back with three killer tunes in a row. "Hard Times For An Honest Man" gets the mix right. He's very direct with his point, yet the melody serves the lyrics, and the music is irresistible. "Hotdogs and Hamburgers" gallops along at a brisk pace, another one of his classic "story songs" with intimate details and epic bridges.

"Rooty Toot Toot" may be my favorite. It's a perfect song. Killer hooks, sweet instrumental breaks, a chorus you'll be singing before the song is over. Sure, it won't change the world, but for three minutes and 33 seconds, it will make YOUR world a lot better! Just a terrific way to end the album...

The extra track isn't much...a less-than-two minute snippet blues with multiple vocalists...the album was perfect as it was.

These remasters have been revelatory, and should urge other artists and record companies to reassess their catalogs. Bruce, U2, Prince...heck, the Beatles should be so lucky to have their albums treated with such care.

The Lonesome Jubilee remastered edition is a great album made even better! If you have the original release of this cd I highly recomend that you buy this one, as well. Even if you are just a casual John Mellencamp fan you will love it!

The other reviewers do an excellent job of describing Lonesome Jubilee, so there is no reason for me to be redundant.

However, I disagree with the other reviewers (and most rock critics) who feel that John Mellencamp is a poor-man's Bruce Springsteen. John Mellencamp is not a poor man's anything or anybody.

The two main arguments behind the new Springsteen tag are the fact that Mellencamp sings about his region and writes introspective songs. The Beach Boys wrote about their region and John Lennon wrote introspectively. I don't hear or see any mention of those two facts in regards to Springsteen.

I have been a Springsteen fan since the mid-70s and I have always enjoyed his music very much. His music is a big part of the sound track of my high school and college days. However, I feel Mellencamp's music and song writing is even better than that of the BOSS. When Mellencamp released the Scarecrow album people were saying that he was just copying Springsteen's Born In The USA theme. I was always quick to point out that the song Pink Houses came out before Born In The USA did. I guess what I'm trying to say is that Mellencamp is Mellencamp!

Maybe 1985's 'Scarecrow' was the album that elevated John Mellencamp to superstar status in the US but 'The Lonesome Jubilee'still remains musically,his boldest album.The album features nine musicians and himself, playing no less than 23 different instruments including dobro,banjo,congas,hammer dulcimer,fiddle and penny whistle.The result is a strong,rich,textured,stylish album which gets stronger with every listen.The main themes throughout 'The Lonesome Jubilee' are the hopes and aspirations of working class, blue collar Americans,particularly in the mid-west where Mellencamp was born and lives.The album begins with the uptempo 'Paper In Fire' an uptempo brassy opener.'Down And Out In Paradise' is about the struggle of everyday life .The first single taken from the album 'Check It Out' is about the disillusionment of being a family man, 'Going to work on Monday,you got yourself a family,all the utility bills have been paid,you can't tell your best buddy that you love him' he goes on to hope that the future generations that ride on the highways that we build have a better understanding.'Cherry Bomb' is an innocent,nostalgic tale of growing up and being in love when 'holding hands meant something'.'We Are The People' is about hope and optimism in a cold world as Mellencamp sings 'if you're feeling shut down may my thoughts be with you,if you're a black man being being shoved down and kicked all around then my thoughts are with you'.'Hard Times For An Honest Man' is exactly about what the title states whereas 'Hotdogs And Hamburgers' is a tale of injustice and forgiveness.'The Lonesome Jubilee' is basically a series of short realistic tales about life,love,hardship,hope and survival.It is at times melancholic but overall it is a deep,warm,folk rock record which in my opinion John Mellencamp has never bettered.

The remastering of THE LONESOME JUBILEE simply adds depth and definition to the folksy instrumentation and cautionary, almost Biblical, admonitions contained on this CD. There are also bonus cuts added as well to increase your listening pleasure. The album's lyrics about appreciating and holding on to what you have have inspired me to look at pictures of pretty actresses as a deterrent to self-indulgent behavior. The fact that Mellencamp feels that the young Australian tourist convicted in Indonesia on drug-smuggling charges is innocent only adds weight to the multi-layered lyrical messages of such songs as "Paper In Fire", "Down And Out In Paradise", "Check It Out", "We Are The People", "Hard Times For An Honest Man", and many others. This album is a must for any serious Mellencamp fan.

The very first cd of Johns that I purchased and I have loved all of his albums upto the No Better Than This album and albums released before The Lonesome Jubilee,under John Cougar,John Cougar Mellencamp.Excellent artist.

I own this album since 1990, I can say this for sure because I perfectly remember the day that I bought it. It was summer, and I put this album on tape (it was tape time, looooong ago!!!) and this album has been a perfect soundtrack to that summer (and to many summers that followed). The tape stayed in my car for years! I review this now, because the other day I got the remastered edition and I rediscovered it, in a splendid audio format. I mean, the remastering has been made wonderfully! The music is more tridimensional now, the arrangements are more clear and the instruments a lot more separated in the mix. All in all a wonderful remastering for me. I have to say this is the only album I own from John. I don't know why. I am a curious guy and when an artist hit me with a masterpiece like this one, generally I tend to buy everything he recorded before or after the album I like so much. With John, this never happened. I don't know why. My fault for sure. But I will try to check some more albums by him even if a lot of people call The Jubilee his masterpiece and probably rightly so. But I have no doubt that few other album of his could be great too (Scarecrow?). Anyway. Talking about Jubilee, I love it! How can one be objective with an album one has loved so much for so many times? I don't know but I'll try. First of all the songs are strong, they are convincing. The melodies are great (in the rock idiom of course), the songs are great, each one in its own right. Of course I have the ones I love the most, Cherry Bomb, Paper in fire, Check it out, The real life, but the album flows perfectly from the beginning to the end. The atmosphere is about the working class American world and it is told with sincerity and involvement by John. The arrangements are particularly well done and deserves some words. Acoustic guitars, rock guitars, fiddles, accordions, harmonicas, they are brilliant arrangements, simple but perfect to give the music life, and they are never predictable. In few words, this is a fantastic album, a rock Jubilee. A must have! (... and many thanks for the beautiful remastering job!)

This recording in my humble opinion is Mellencamp at his finest. A woven fabric of Americana. From cuts like We are the People, and Down and Out in Paradise, to Empty hands, John tells the story of everyday people out here in Middle America trying to get by and make it through their daily lives. An eclectic musical mix with violin, banjo, dobro, harmonica, and other non-traditional rock instruments woven together in a tight musical feast for your ears. Absolutely a must have if you are a Mellencamp fan.

I loved this cd, John Mellencamp is an awesome singer, I really enjoy listening to this. Donna