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John Mellencamp - Human Wheels Audio CD

A fair review of the John Mellencamp "Human Wheels" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all John Mellencamp reviews here, or go back to the John Mellencamp tabs.

John Mellencamp Band: John Mellencamp
Title: Human Wheels
Rating:
Release Date: 2005-07-28
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: When Jesus Left Birmingham 2: Junior 3: Human Wheels 4: Beige to Beige 5: Case 795 (The Family) 6: Suzanne and the Jewels 7: Sweet Evening Breeze 8: What If I Came Knocking 9: French Shoes 10: To the River 11: When Jesus Left Birmingham [*] - John Mellencamp, Sounds of Blackness

The Slide Continues
"Big Daddy" and "Whenever We Wanted" were panned big time, and the movie that Mellencamp would star in(I forget the title now) would bomb. Pretty much after John Mellencamp dropped the "Cougar" from his name things have not been the same. With "Human Wheels" he would continue on the downward spiral as his vocals are shot on this album. Apparently the excessive cigaretts, and poor diet caught up with him here. The songs are anything but rocking which I know he's capable of with classics like "American Fool", and "Scarecrow" not to mention his debut album proves he can rock, but here it's just not happening. There were only 3 songs that really stood out as good on this album, and that was the title track, "Case 795" and To The River". The rest is just bleak as a cold, cloudy, Indiana day. I went through one of those I should know; Indiana has a very cold air about it, and so does this album. It didn't make me want to rock it made me want to hide away in my room. The only other thing good on this is the album cover. . . . . very risque. Perhaps it's just coincidence that Mellencamp started to bomb after dropping the "Cougar", but I would seriously consider this as a possibility. .


Human Wheels great song (and album)
One of my favorite of all time and all genre. Human Wheels is a great song (and brilliant album). To me John's optimism offers the belief of great hope for all mankind and hopefully beyond. To come up with a solution you have to first identify the problem. From the smallest everyday frustration to the insurmountable, JM has eloquently accomplished it very nicely. An artist trying to make a difference.
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The Best Of A Great Career
He had worked hard to become a big star and arrived as a pop rock star in the early 80's, and progressed to being a working man's hero by the latter part of the decade. Mellencamp had gone through a significant number of ups and downs in his career to this point. But as the 90's began his marriage broke up and his commercial dominance had become inconsistent. He was still a favorite of rock radio, but rock was turning to younger, darker acts. Into this moment came one of Mellencamp's best phases as an artist - when he became pessimistic of society's expectations and on "Human Wheels" he turns to biting, direct and pronounced commentary - picking on Christianity ("When Jesus Left Birmingham"), the isolation of the working man from society ("Junior"), social work ("Case 795"), service and social clubs ("Beige to Beige"), and the pain of aging ("Sweet Evening Breeze"). And through it all, he conducts his attacks with all of the rocking enthusiasm he'd given us for the past 15 years. The former Cougar is a special, enduring artist and "Human Wheels" is the moment that he reaches out, shakes you by the scruff of your neck and tells you that you'd better be listening close. And that's just why any real artist records. . . to be heard when there's a lot to be said.


Mellencamp's Finest Original Album
Mellencamp's finest original album - invest your $$ on this album and it will pay dividends for years to come - you will not be disappointed .


Depressing, Miserable Mellencamp CD Makes It Hard To Tolerate Others' Imperfect Social Manners
What's even more disappointing is that the previous album, WHENEVER WE WANTED, was a very happy, straight-up rock & roll record, with one of its songs used as background music for the 1995 Special Olympics World Games when they were on TV. HUMAN WHEELS is such a depressing CD, full of gang violence, domestic murders, and other acts of cruelty so graphic that it just makes you become a total reactionary as far as social rules about even minor things like people putting their feet on furniture or eating with their elbows on the table are concerned. Why did John Mellencamp have to drive people crazy with this one, which is such a bummer trip that when one young woman chose not to dance with me to it, I was tempted to get her a gold-plated rose as a token of thanks, after having made a whole bunch of albums that, even at their most pessimistic, were imbued with hope. I know of young women using Proactiv to ensure that they make a good enough impression to not get asked for a dance to this one. These WHEELS turn you towards depression and misery.


You can see a complete list of all John Mellencamp discography, or go back to the John Mellencamp tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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