Customer Reviews

On the Rural Route 7609 [Special Edition / 4 CDs]

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

 

 

I love John Mellencamp and I love the music on this Box Set. I own every Mellencamp Album from Scarecrow onward including his hits collections. What disgusts me on this item is that there is not even 4 hours of music spread across 4 cd's. That is horrible considering the amount of remixed and live material that is out there. I mean really $80.00??? And that is the sale price. They/he should have issued TWO versions...One for those who just want the music for around $40.00 and one that is more expensive for the hardcore fan.

When John Mellencamp first announced this project on his official website in 2009, the impression I got was that John Mellencanp had many unreleased songs (more than 17 songs for a 4 CD box set) that were overlooked (against the hits) in previous album releases [15 December 2009, year-end conversation with John Mellencamp, official website]. This to me was reminiscent of Bruce Springsteen's 1998 release "The Tracks" (4 CD Box Set), where previously unreleased songs predominated. However, "On The Rural Route 7609" has 37 mainly acoustic/demo versions of previously released songs and only 17 (new songs) previously unreleased songs. The predominent acoustic/demo versions of songs on this 4 CD/BOOK box set however fits very well with John Mellencamp's two previous mellow releases "Freedom's Road" (2007) & "Life Death Love & Freedom" (2008). I also see that John Mellencamp is releasing a new studio album "No Better Than This" on 17 August 2010, may be another reason why only 17 new songs are on the this box set! If you like John Mellencamp's music you will like/enjoy this release "On The Rural Route 7609". The book is a 72 page filled delight with dozens of rare photos of John Mellencamp & the band, lyrics & track by track commentary by John Mellencamp himself. The box set is however too pricey for the product released (as compared to other similar releases on Amazon), would have been justified perhaps if it was predominantly new songs. "On The Rural Route 7609" a 4 CD/BOOK box set thus deserves 3,5 stars that approximates 4 stars!

Reading many of these "reviews" I get this impression: "With hard-core fans like these who needs enemies?"
I'm not a hard-core fan, but I can tell that this was obviously a labor of love for John Mellencamp. This release is not about which songs were included, and which songs that weren't. This is not a traditional retrospective, and it was never meant to be. It is, however, a wonderful selection of Mellencamp's body of work, an excellent alternative approach to a more traditional box set, and the packaging is simply beautiful. I wouldn't want to be without it, and I highly recommend it!

I have the majority of Mellencamp's CDs. This is a nice collection. The pricing is odd, a disappointment in this era of dying CD sales. Rain on the Scarecrow. By contrast, Tom Petty's recent live archives 4 CD set was a great collection also, and priced at $20 something -- and so available to most.

Anyone who appreciates some of the best crafted songs will enjoy this set. The book is a fine addition as well with stories written about each track.

This box set was supposedly created to appeal to people who've only heard Mellencamp's hits....and that's what John himself said. I cannot understand why somebody who just enjoys "Jack and Diane" or "Pink Houses" or "Hurts So Good" would lay out $80 for this. If you want a better picture of JM...buy all the cds...heck, buy 'em used...that would cost about $40 total and you'd have a complete picture of the music of Mellencamp. This box set should have had live cuts, rarities and a dvd...and then maybe I would pay $40-50 for it...but not $80. The main mistake here is "marketing"...people who have all of the other stuff that an artist has done DO pay for things they don't have...but there's nothing like that here.

Folks, if you are a real John Mellencamp fan this is the set for you. I've purchased some of his other compilation CD's and been disappointed by the song selection and staleness of some of the hit material from the "Cougar" days. These songs are deep and sometimes dark and not always so pretty, but isn't the real life sometimes that way? The demos alone are worth the price and my new favorite song ever is "Jenny At Sixteen" which is a very raw demo for "Jack and Diane" with some strange twists on the famous lyrics we've all come to know and love. The bonuses are never ending and include a song by song break down of each song by the artist himself. This is the best musical purchase I've ever made short of a mammoth pair of Omega speakers purchased the year American Fool was released. Buy this set!!

I got this as a gift for a mellencamp fan it worked out very good also it was 40% off which was what it was worth at the time so all in all it was a great find.this is a colection of his old and some newtracks only a real fan will appreciate.i am hopeing that this review will get past amazons censors,as the last one didnot if not i will not be revueing any more items.

I had seen this set previously and was waiting for a deal to be able to purchase it. It's a beautiful collection of previously unreleased songs, new songs and classics...all of this is complimented by new extensive liner notes about each song. At 4 CD's that's a lot of insight and listening. Lyrics for all songs are also included as is an in-depth bio. The perfect gift for all Mellencamp fans out there! Loving it myself!

Seems like the price went down a bit but it's still too much for only 4 discs with a couple songs on each. CD's are DYING. Or so the industry says. But really, look at what you get. The discs aren't even filled up with the maximum number of songs they can have. 2 discs worth of music is spread across 4 cd's (this is a marketing technique) and it's obvious why nobody reviews/talks about this anymore. Too much $!!!! Everybody is trying to milk that cash cow hard!