John Mellencamp Freedom's Road CD

Personnel: John Mellencamp (vocals, guitar); John Mellencamp; Joan Baez (vocals); John Gunnell (bass guitar); Scott Davis (percussion); Mike Wanchic, Andy York (vocals, guitar); Miriam Sturm (violin); Troye Kinnett (keyboards); Dane Clark (drums, percussion).
Audio Mixer: Don Smith .
Recording information: Belmont Mall (06/2006-08/2006); The Garage (06/2006-08/2006).
Photographers: Elaine Mellencamp; Kurt Markus.
John Mellencamp's heartland rock has attracted as many critics as fans, but regardless of the listener's stance, 2007's FREEDOM'S ROAD makes one thing abundantly clear: Mellencamp is very, very good at what he does. The artist has used the five years since his last album of all-new material to full effect, crafting the songs, sound, and themes of FREEDOM ROAD to perfection.
Mellencamp's usual mixture of rock, folk, blues, and country is here in full force, but it feels refined to a sharp edge on both rousing, anthemic tracks ("The Americans") and haunting atmospheric ones (like "Jim Crow," which features Joan Baez on guest vocals). The song "Our Country," popularized in a truck commercial, is here, yet stands tall in the context of the album, taking on an unexpected vitality. The sound is bold and rootsy (thanks in part to the country quartet Little Big Town), and the songs paint on a large canvas their American tales of desperation, integrity, tragedy, and hope. But Mellencamp's vision, while broad, is rarely sentimental or contrived, resulting in one of his finest overall releases since UH-HUH and SCARECROW.
What does John Mellencamp have to do to get a break? Sure, we can get on him for the Chevy commercial, but the song's great. Yet something has been lacking in Mellencamp efforts since the days of Dance Naked and his self-titled Columbia record -- in other words, everything since Human Wheels (which never got a fair hearing). Artists get to experiment, and willingly populist artists -- which he most certainly is -- can get trapped. He tried to bring his audience along to where he was musically, but seemingly never solidified that place himself. Which brings us to Freedom's Road. This set is perhaps the darker side of Lonesome Jubilee, and takes the small-town vision of Scarecrow and Big Daddy and fans it out. The music is a rootsy, excellent blend of electric and acoustic guitars, fiddle, big fat drums, and lots of space. The other musical difference is the help of country superstar quartet Little Big Town (who really are to their genre what Rumours-era Fleetwood Mac was to rock and pop -- and look to cross over to that side, too) on backing vocals throughout. They add a depth of field on cuts like "Someday," with its staggered, layered harmonies, ringing electric guitars, and lost-in-America vision. It's followed by "Ghost Towns Along the Highway." Mellencamp is looking far outside Indiana here, and when he sings "Well, our love keeps on movin'/To the nearest faraway place/I guess no one believes it's/Ghost towns along the highway/Ghost towns along the main highway," a forlorn fiddle glides ragged above the electric six-strings and the drums shuffle to keep up in the void.
"The Americans" and "Our Country" (which is here, of course) are the natural extensions of "Little Pink Houses." These are songs of determination, of definition of what it means to be an American from the Midwest in an era when America seems to be losing sight of itself. These two tracks have easily identifiable hooks and refrains, and with those big choruses, one can see the video footage from all across the country rolling by on a TV screen, or feel the vibe out on your neighborhood street, that this is the way it should be: open, honest, willing, and, above all, tolerant. There is no Ugly American syndrome in either of these songs: "If you ever need some help, come and look my way/'Cause I try to be here for everyone/I'm an American/And I respect your point of view...and I wish you good fortune with whatever you do." ThRolling Stone (p.74) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "FREEDOM'S ROAD finds Mellencamp sounding more at ease than he has in years....A minimalist, relaxed album that harkens back to his SCARECROW days."