Mellencamp No Better Than This
erniejade
Posts: 6,321
Received my copy last night. It's not bad. Rockabilly - country type music. It definitely sounds old, warm, but I like it!! Some do sound better then others on the disk but, all in all, it is a mono recording, and it is growing on me the more I listen to it. The music seems to be a trend lately or just making a small comeback.
In an age of auto-tuned, computerized recordings, John Mellencamp's approach on his Rounder debut, No Better Than This, is refreshing. The entire album was recorded with Mellencamp and his band all playing live in one room using a 55 year-old Ampex tape recorder and just one vintage microphone. Legendary producer T Bone Burnett captured the stunning thirteen new Mellencamp originals at three historically important locations: Sun Studio in Memphis, TN (where Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis all first recorded); the First African Baptist Church in Savannah, GA (the oldest Black church in North America, dating to 1775); and in Room 414 of the Gunter Hotel in San Antonio, TX (where Robert Johnson made his first recordings in 1936). The songs on No Better Than This reflect classic American musical traditions including blues, folk, gospel, rockabilly, and country, while addressing such themes as the need for hope, the nature of relationships, and narratives that recount extraordinary occurrences in everyday life. Mellencamp says of the album, "It was absolutely the most fun I've ever had making a record in my life. It was about making music - organic music made by real musicians - that's heartfelt and written from the best place it can come from."
In an age of auto-tuned, computerized recordings, John Mellencamp's approach on his Rounder debut, No Better Than This, is refreshing. The entire album was recorded with Mellencamp and his band all playing live in one room using a 55 year-old Ampex tape recorder and just one vintage microphone. Legendary producer T Bone Burnett captured the stunning thirteen new Mellencamp originals at three historically important locations: Sun Studio in Memphis, TN (where Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis all first recorded); the First African Baptist Church in Savannah, GA (the oldest Black church in North America, dating to 1775); and in Room 414 of the Gunter Hotel in San Antonio, TX (where Robert Johnson made his first recordings in 1936). The songs on No Better Than This reflect classic American musical traditions including blues, folk, gospel, rockabilly, and country, while addressing such themes as the need for hope, the nature of relationships, and narratives that recount extraordinary occurrences in everyday life. Mellencamp says of the album, "It was absolutely the most fun I've ever had making a record in my life. It was about making music - organic music made by real musicians - that's heartfelt and written from the best place it can come from."
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Comments
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I'm not a huge Mellencamp fan, but this sounds like a very cool project.-Kevin
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It is different. kind of rockabilly, bluegrass, country ish...... Although plant's last 2 were kind of like that also music wise but the vintage recording, and places they went to record in mono... kind of cool and different.Klipsch The Nines, Audioquest Thunderbird Interconnect, Innuos Zen MK3 W4S recovery, Revolution Audio Labs USB & Ethernet, Border Patrol SE-I, Audioquest Niagara 5000 & Thunder, Cullen Crossover II PC's.
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Cool project, and I feel like rewarding him with my purchase just for doing something like this. I've listened to or previewed most of the songs on the album and it's good, solid, and seems well done. Problem is, I just don't move past good to like when I listen to it.DKG999
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WXRT was playing songs from Plant's new Band of Joy album and I have to say I just didn't hear anything I liked. The song writing was really bad.DKG999
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I heard a few cuts on the radio the other day. I liked it.
A novel yet (i think) heartfelt recording method.
I never really cared for his earlier work due to what I interpreted as it being "over produced." I appreciate the stripped down attention he gave to the songs and the instruments themselves. All the same I hope this won't become the next gimmick for aging rockers and those who wish to take their place. Respect for what came before, while necessary, can never replace true inspiration and innovation.Sounds good to me...
