My Amazon Reviews: John Mellencamp "American Fool"

Mellencamp Takes Control
3 Out Of 5 Stars

In 1982, John Mellencamp finally became the big star he had been pitched as when "American Fool" rose to number one on the Billboard album charts. Mellencamp, who was still John Cougar at the time, ditched the overproduction of his first series of albums and stripped the sound down to a bare-bones Stonesy swagger. Also, while Mellencamp had shown some decency as a songwriter with Springsteen/Seger aspirations, his previous albums had yet to deliver more than a handful of decent songs ("I Need a Lover," "Miami," "This Time" come to mind). Not so on "American Fool."

The original side one of the album exploded with two moments of pure brilliance. Both "Hurts So Good" and "Jack & Diana" captured all the elements of Mellencamp's idols; "Hurts" for the Stones like "Start Me Up" riff and "Jack & Diane" for the Springsteen heartland melodrama. Plus, each was catchy as the best singles of the period, when radio was essentially dominated by the likes of "Thriller." Even "Hand To Hold On To," the album's third single, boasted a killer hook. Add the tenderness of "Weakest Moments," and you had the first album where Mellencamp could boost his songwriting prowess. His band, which included guitarist Larry Crane and power drummer Kenny Aronoff, was also hitting a fresh peak, adding the album with some much needed muscle.

However, they still had not completely gelled. The remainder of the album starts to blend together too much ("Can You Take It" is all but a re-write of "Hurt So Good," "Thundering Hearts" doesn't meet the Springsteen/Seger standard Mellencamp is obviously aiming for, etc). He'd now offered living proof that he was more than hype, and he'd make another huge leap by the next album "Uh Huh," when he'd ultimately reclaim his Mellencamp name. But just for "Hurts So Good" and "Jack and Diane," John "Cougar" could now show that he could deliver stalwart American Rock.

PS - The bonus pseudo-title song bonus is so-so, and he'd ultimately steal some of the lyric for "Crumblin' Down."