New John Mellencamp Album 'Plain Spoken' Due 9/23

Another thread crap, but one folks in this thread may find interesting. I just find it bizarre. There has been a billboard up on the Massachusetts Turnpike for months touting this album. It' located on the westbound side between I-495 and I-290/I-395. For the life of me, I can't figure out why someone would pay money to put this up. I wouldn't think that central Massachusetts would be a hotbed of John Mellencamp activity in 2014-2015, but perhaps I'm wrong. Any other similar promoing going on for this album in other parts of the country?

 

I don't mind this kind of thread crapping at all, more please.

 

I think it's really exciting to see that he's got two "Ghost Brothers" songs in the set. Overall it looks like a nice balance between newer material and enough of the war horses to keep the more casual fans happy.

 

My wife and i had first row seats to Ghost Brothers in Providence last November, fantastic show all around with the music being a stand out, and if that weren't enough......John was in the house. The show is only gonna get better, if you have a chance to see it don't hesitate..

 

Yes, my bootlegs are crapy.

 

Going to the Ryman for the first time tonight to see John. It's my 15th time seeing John, but my first at the historical Ryman. From the YouTube vids I watched from the Kentucky show, he seems to be in really good shape. Physically, and vocally. I was worried because his voice in recent years has sounded harsh and gruff. Kind of like Dylan, now it sounds like he has had vocal training or something because check out the YouTube vids from 2015. He sounds as good as he did 15 or even 20 years ago. That's saying a lot because I saw him back in 2011 and his voice was shot. I loved the setlist from No Better Than This tour, but vocals were weak and torn. Now he somehow got his voice back because he's hitting high notes clearly without much effort. And the setlist looks great! I mean he still sounds like John Mellencamp with a slight rasp but, that's what we like about him. To sum it up, John is back and firing on all cylinders. I knew he would be.

 

I can't wait to see the show tonight, I'm very excited to see my favorite artist since I was five or six play at such a classic historical place as the Ryman.

 

I gotta wait four months.

 

Oh wow what a great show guys. Please Don't miss this one. He was awesome! Full Catastrophe was a highpoint, total different arrangement. Very theatrical. Damn the whole show was a highlight. My wife and I were also damned impressed with John's singing this time. He belted the heck out of those tunes, like his life depended on it. I'm on a limited budget so I didn't grab excellent footage like I wish I would have, but I had a great time. I Don't know what to say. Small Town wasn't acoustic. It was way better now. Minutes To Memories was kick ass. Ask me anything about the show and I'll be happy to tell ya. I just got back home and I'm still buzzing with awe, love John Mellencamp.

 

I think I'm gonna pull the trigger! The VIP packaged seats in the first 10 rows are kind of a rip off (poster and stuff like that and no meet & greet? no thanx) but I look forward to being in the same room as this underrated legend.

 

You won't regret it. He is still at the top of his game in person. Even though most of the Audience is there to see Jack And Diane, I was surprised how well the new material was received. Great surprises this time.

 

I thought the 'No Better Than This'' tour shows were some of the best shows John's ever done, however the set list seems bigger and more varied this time and John's in better voice, would you say this tour tops the last. I'm so glad John's doing ''Full Catastrophe'' and also ''Overture'' the great instrumental that opens ''Mr. Happy G0-Lucky, wish he'd go right into ''Jerry'' the same way he does on the album, what a fantastic song that is.

 

Yes, this tour in my opinion tops the last tour because of his voice. I do love the overture. And agree with your assessment. I'm at work so, will get back with you.

 

The question I'm wondering is why is John in better voice? Vocal coach? Anyway he is back to singing his ass off. In my opinion his voice rivals 2003 Trouble No More Tour. He sang Stones In My Passway just as good if not better than he did then. Does anybody know what is up with Mike Wanchic? The guy has no personality. He never broke concentration. He would make eye contact but never show any emotion. I was sitting right in front of left stage where mike was and he was just stone cold. I don't remember him being this way before. Andy York was his usual energetic self, as was Miriam Stern, John of course had charisma in spades, although not quite as physically connected as he was. I mean he used to touch your hand if you reached out to him. He did slap one person's hand on the last song but we were giving him a lotof love i mean not just us But the whole place. Anyway, I better get back to my night job. See ya.

 

Interesting about the voice, i thought i detected an improvement on the last couple of interview shows where i heard John sing, but i thought it was just me.

I could be wrong, but i think that's just the way Mike's always been. I've seen him interviewed and he comes across as a decent enough guy, but who knows maybe he's unhappy about something, remember Kenny Aronoff. I think with John you just never know, remember he's stated many times that he ''doesn't play well with others'' although in this case that wouldn't make sense, since John and Mike have known each other and been together forty years.

Andy and Miriam are incredible musicians and John's very lucky to have them both.I personally think Andy's one of the most underrated guitarists out there, all one has to do is listen to his playing on ''Stones In My Passway'', just incredible, his name should be a household word.

 

Not too thread crap but is there a reason as to why MoeZ MD and Toby Myers aren't in the band anymore? I loved the sounds Moe got and I loved his background vocals too. I know they've been gone for years but I never really bothered to ask why they're gone lol.

 

I also don't want to threadcrap but I'm glad they are gone. Especially Moe Z.

 

I too enjoyed MoeZ's work with the band, especially on ''Mr. Happy Go-Lucky''an album i just listened to last night that i hadn't heard in years. It is a very eclectic album with some of the most interesting arrangements John's ever recorded, no song sounds the same. I loved hearing it again with fresh ears, oh and for a late 90s CD the mastering is superb, if you haven't played it in a while give a listen.

I found this MoeZ article on the Mellencamp website.
http://forum.mellencamp.com/index.php?topic=2791.msg10408#msg10408

 

I compared the two masterings and i actually prefer the UMe go figure.

 

Would that be the 2005 remaster, i haven't heard that particular disc. However i do own a few of the others that were released at the same time and i prefer the original masterings to those. One exception is ''Lonesome Jubilee'' where the original sounds a bit thin and lifeless ''in my opinion'' compared to the remaster.

 

Yes, that would be the 2005. Don't worry though, I have both and there is very little difference but it was done right. I agree about the others,. They are way too compressed. On Lonesome Jubilee, I prefer the German cd.

 

Wow, That was a very good read, It made me change my position. I kinda miss those days now. See, I am a guitarist, singer, songwriter, and I have always liked guitar bands and I was pretty closed minded about it. It was very upsetting for me as a teenager to be coming up in the 80s and 90s.(was born in 1977) and the music went from" Rock n' Roll" is king to Rap and Hip Hop is now yo moma. Or something like that. MTV reflected it, radio reflected it. You just couldn't get away from it. You'd turn on the radio or check Billboard charts and it was like damn, what's with all these hip hop or rap bands getting credit for rhyming and dancing? Guitar music was kind of dead for a while and I wasn't the biggest grunge fan either so, I went back and discovered The Rolling Stones, John Mellencamp, Tom Petty, Neil Young etc. Too many to list here. I wanted to be a songwriter so, I listened to older bands hoping to create some kind of new flare to what had already been done. So, I just ignored mainstream music for awhile. As I got older, like almost 20. I kept listening to John Mellencamp because he was always my favorite singer song writer. I still hated rap or anything like it. Then all of a sudden my man comes out with this Mr. Happy Go Lucky. I immediately bought it, as I had been buying his albums upon release for years at that time. Side note, I didn't get why Human Wheels failed and Dance Naked was a hit. Still don't get that, anyway I listened to Mr. Happy Go Lucky a couple of times and besides one or two songs I didn't like it and put it away. Then he went on tour and I went. I should have loved it but I didn't. Like I said, I believe I was closed minded..against that urban influence. Being a huge John Mellencamp fan, I bought the next record, Self Titled abum. I actually liked that one better and I don't know why, I went to see him live again now it's 1999, MoeZ was of course a bigger part of that tour but for some reason I began to kinda like the sound. By the time 2001's Cuttin Heads came out, I was kind of tired of the whole John goes hip hop thing, I know that's harsh..But it's true. My friend and I went to that tour together and she hated it so, it kind of made me not think too much of it too. It seems like every song was drastically transformed into some kind of Hip Hop, Pop, disaster. So I got off board and quit listening to Mellencamp for a while, that is until I got back on with Life, Death, Love, And Freedom. With the passage of time, and as I got older I began to go back to albums like Happy Go Lucky with fresh ears, and I started really appreciating it. Now, it's one of my favorite albums. It's really so diverse. I believe it's a masterpiece. I even have better memories of that Cuttin Heads Tour. Wow has it really been that long ago?, And after reading that article, I also have a new respect for MoeZ. The End. Shew!!!!

 

I remember when i first put on the Human Wheels album and heard the lead off song ''When Jesus Left Birmingham'' thinking how fresh and different it sounded. That whole album has this almost ''otherwordly'' dark feel to it, it still sounds that way to me when i hear it now. I still get chills when i hear the title song and ''Beige To Beige''.

I was thrilled when they released ''Human Wheels'' as a single, only to watch it disappear from the charts after a couple of weeks, the album did ok i guess, but both should've been monster sellers. I've heard John say how he had high hopes for it , but that the record company failed to do any promotion, i guess they were too busy promoting the latest Barney The Dinosaur CD, which i remember being #1 at the time while John's sat at and peaked at #7, such is the music business.

Regarding MoeZ, no explanation was needed. I kind of understood where you were coming from, glad you enjoyed the article.

 

I'll be watching the man himself in just a few hours! I'm really looking forward to catching the show!

 

Holy cow! I'm so excited for you! John is unbelievable! Have a great time.