No Better Than This

He is 35 years into his incredible career, and this album absolutely has to go down as one of his best. Armed with only a single mic and a 1950s era reel to reel tape recorder, Mellencamp laid these tracks down live from historic musical sites throughout the south. In this era of auto tuned, over compressed digital music, it is easy to forget what music used to sound like. Listening to this mono recording (yes, I said mono) I'm pulled back to Torrejon, Spain, where my first experiences with music were spinning old Johnny Cash and Beatles records on my father's quadraphonic stereo system. It helps that Mellencamp channels Sun era Cash, and some Dylan,on these tunes. If this isn't up for Grammy consideration I'll be shocked.