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Searching for a ray of lyrical light in John Mellencamp's latest treatise on the state of the world proves consuming—but largely fruitless. That, however, makes the album all the more compelling.
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Mellencamp teamed up with producer T Bone Burnett to create a whole new sound--a set of textured, atmospheric folk and country blues that adds up to one of the most compelling albums of Mellencamp's career.
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It’s a brave album in the way it sets aside all his old consolations.
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Eschewing any concept of "radio ready" and singing with a gruff immediacy, Mellencamp tackles all of the titular concepts on this folk- and blues-based material with a sense of liberation that is keenly palpable.
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A moody, stark and hypnotically discomfiting assortment of ruminations.
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Make no mistake, Life Death Love and Freedom is a serious work of art.
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Those who’ve come to associate him with theme songs to bad car commercials should check his reawakening on this late-career turnaround.
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Blunt and stubbornly engaging, it may be Mellencamp’s most candid effort in years.
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MojoMellencamp croaks a sequence of raw, all but nihilistic yet far from self-pitying first-person tales about, well, death mainly, leavened by the odd rather forlorn reference to the life, love and freedom elements of the title. [Nov 2008, p.111]
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UncutBleak but brilliant. [Nov 2008, p.109]
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Though he may be contemplating mortality, Mellencamp, with his weathered snarl, still sounds remarkably alive.
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For the most part Life Death Love and Freedom makes good on--and somehow makes entertainment of--its sober sense of purpose.
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Musically, Mellencamp seems to have been listening closely to the first five Bob Dylan albums, paying more attention to the first of them, the largely traditional, folk-blues-styled Bob Dylan, than the last, the folk-rock "Bringing It All Back Home."
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His world-weariness feels legitimately earned rather than affected keeps Life from being just an exercise in pessimism.
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Despite high points --the powerful 'Longest Days'; the romping 'My Sweet Love'; the brooding 'John Cockers'--most of these 14 songs struggle to leave a lasting impression.
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Q MagazineAs the title implies, it tackles the big issues, sometimes at the expense of melody, but there's a handful of very fine songs here. [Nov 2008, p.118]
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With producer T-Bone Burnett stripping his rootsy jangle down to a monochromatic, almost lo-fi rumble, Life Death Love And Freedom practically demands to be called "Mellencamp's darkest yet," but it's really just relentlessly downbeat and one-note.
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BlenderBy now he's decided he'd rather be Bob Dylan--recent Dylan, that is, devoted to phlegm-clogged blues-codger grumbles about how he's ready for his pine box. Producer T Bone Burnett proves a willing accomplice. [Aug 2008, p.88]
User score distribution:
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Positive: 7 out of 8
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Mixed: 0 out of 8
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Negative: 1 out of 8
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williamb.Aug 16, 2008
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RogerS.Jul 23, 2008
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PatrickM.Jul 22, 2008Seems even Mellencamp's harshest critics have admitted this is a damn fine album.