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Life Death Love and Freedom

Life Death Love and Freedom

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Artist: John Mellencamp
Label: Hear Music
Category: Music

List Price: $18.98
Buy New: $7.35
You Save: $11.63 (61%)



New (55) Used (24) from $3.87

Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars 83 reviews
Sales Rank: 566

Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.5 x 4.8 x 0.3

MPN: 30822
UPC: 888072308220
EAN: 0888072308220
ASIN: B0018Q7K4O

Release Date: July 15, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days

Tracks:

  • Longest Days
  • My Sweet Love
  • If I Die Sudden
  • Troubled Land
  • Young Without Lovers
  • John Cockers
  • Don't Need This Body
  • A Ride Back Home
  • Without A Shot
  • Jena
  • Mean
  • County Fair
  • For The Children
  • A Brand New Song

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  • Viva La Vida
  • Mudcrutch
  • Time the Conqueror
  • Little Honey

Editorial Reviews:

People en Espa#241;ol
After iFreedom's Road/i, his first album in five years, John Mellencamp made it clear why he had such loyal fans. He's made a career out of making himself vulnerable, with lyrics that undeniably come from the heart, and aided by his guitar, he generates a mood that's more Americana melancholy than pop. After a year of being somewhat of a recluse, Mellencamp is back with 14 tracks filled with anguish, pain, resentment, and frustration. In songs like "If I Die Sudden," "Don't Need This Body," and "Troubled Land," the singer-songwriter seems to be more like the Americana equivalent to Damien Rice rather than Bob Dylan, to whom he's been compared to before. It's a disc that, as my friend says, you can listen to while kicking a can and walking the streets. i--Ernesto Sanchez/i (iPeople en Espanol/i img alt="People en Espanol" src="http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/icons/icon-offsite.gif" border=0 align=top) p/ Despues de iFreedom's Road/i, su primer album en cinco anos, John Mellencamp dejo en claro porque tiene un sequito de fans tan leal. Durante su carrera se ha desvivido por mostrar su vulnerabilidad y al mismo tiempo proporcionar confort al escucha con liricas que innegablemente salen de su corazon, y con inseparable guitarra cuyo sonido lo coloca mas en el melancolico genero americana que en el pop. Un ano despues de su regreso tras su auto reclusion, Mellencamp vuelve con 14 temas llenos de angustia, dolor, arrepentimiento y enojo. En temas como "If I Die Sudden," "Don't Need This Body," y "Troubled Land," el cantautor parece ser la respuesta en Americana a Damien Rice mas que a Bob Dylan, con quien muchas veces se le llega a comparar. Eso no tiene nada malo, es un disco, como diria un amigo, para "patear latas mientras caminas escuchandolo" a gusto. i--Ernesto Sanchez/i (iPeople en Espanol/i img alt="People en Espanol" src="http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/icons/icon-offsite.gif" border=0 align=top)

Album Description
The man who has been called `the poet laureate of the interstate' has reached deep into his soul, bringing forth an album of unparalleled maturity powered by a piercing musical vision. Produced by T Bone Burnett ("O' Brother Where Art Thou," Robert Plant, Allison Krauss) P Two disc package includes CD and high quality audio DVD.

Album Description
2008 release includes Audio DVD. About Life, Death, Love Freedom was produced by T Bone Burnett (O' Brother Where Art Thou, Robert Plant with Allison Krauss). All songs written by John Mellencamp who has been called `the poet laureate of the interstate' and he reaches deep into his soul, bringing forth an album of unparalleled maturity powered by a piercing musical vision. This is a special two disc package CD with high quality audio DVD. This is the first-ever release in CODE, a proprietary audio technology that creates high-definition audio files that are virtually indistinguishable from the original master tapes. John Mellencamp has sold 12 million CDs in the SoundScan era alone! He was inducted earlier this year into the Rock`N'Roll Hall Fame and he is a Grammyr Award winner. The album's first single is 'My Sweet Love'. 14 tracks.


Customer Reviews:   Read 78 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars So unique and so fresh!   December 1, 2008
Bradley Nelson (Minneapolis, MN)
This isn't the typical John Mellencamp, but it's still incredible music. Very passionate and very folksy. It's part Knopfler, part Dylan. It's so sincere and feels like the kind of music Mellencamp was born to sing.


4 out of 5 stars Another great album   November 28, 2008
C L D (Northern Kentucky)
John Mellencamp continues to hold my interest as a fan after almost 30 years. I really enjoy his style changes, yet staying true to his "style", and that he keeps his lyrics in the folk category. I recommend this album to old and new fans.


5 out of 5 stars John Mellencamp is the best.   November 23, 2008
Richard L. Hedges (Lawrence, KS)
John Mellencamp has evolved into one of the great artists. His ability in story telling is as good as any of the song writing/story tellers in history. For anyone in the rock and roll generation (baby boomers) his music and lyrics are second to none. br / br /Many cannot hear the words in his stories, brushing him off as an imatator and don't understand that listening to others and learning how put you own thoughts and experiences into song is a talent that not many of us can accomplish and to many it makes them jealous. br / br /John Mellencamp has created songs that anyone with any memories can relate to and appreciate. A true American storyteller.


4 out of 5 stars Maybe Mellencamp will finally win another Grammy!   October 19, 2008
Max C. Ward (SLC, UT)
Mellencamp is my favorite solo artist. I like and own everything he has ever done, so I am probably not the most objective reviewer of his work. br / br /Mellencamp has really come into a new realm of creativity over the past few years. This record demonstrates an amazing amount of depth, range, and musical mastery. br / br /I liked his last album (Freedom's Road) better, but comparing the two would not be entirely fair. They are very different records all around. Freedom's Road was more "Mellencampy." This one was meant to be more solemn and flat out sad. br / br /My favorite tracks are Longest Days and A Ride Back Home. Longest Days may well be one of the top ten best songs he has ever written. My least favorite tracks are John Cockers and County Fair. br / br /John won his first and only Grammy back in 1982. Since then he has been nominated a dozen more times, without a win. I think Life, Death, Love Freedom has Grammy written all over it. I will be suprized if it doesn't win one.


4 out of 5 stars Suicide Songs and Murder Ballads   October 14, 2008
Tim Brough (Springfield, PA United States)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

John Cougar digs in for his deepest album since Big Daddy, and it is one of the best he's ever done. It completely lives up to the title of "Life Death Love Freedom," focusing on the mid-life crisis of rockers who see their years increase and their country in decline. Trust me, this ain't your Mr. Happy Go Lucky. It's a lot closer to Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska or James McMurtry Just Us Kids. br / br /Helping a great deal is producer T-Bone Brunette, who once guided Elvis Costello and more recently Robert Plant and Alison Krauss into similar turf. He keeps the production austere and minimal, sometimes no more than two instruments. "Longest Days" opens the album with a hush, then builds into the Bo Diddly beat of "My Sweet Love." But more often than not, there is a bluesy melancholy that underpins the songs, with Mellancamp sounding vulnerable and assured ("This getting older ain't for cowards" he snarls at the start of "Don't Need This Body"). br / br /He also works up a fire on the two political diatribes, "Jena" and "Without a Shot." "Jena" got exposed early on after the infamous Louisiana incident, but feels heavy handed now. "Without a Shot," however, takes on complacency and wonders why we let the best of us get "used up by corruption." He almost answers that in "John Cockers," who seems to be the man Diane married 30 years ago, but took off with the kids and left Jack with a "little (pink?) house on a dusty road." These are desperate people in crummy situations, like the unfortunate man in "County Fair" or the defeated soul in "A Ride Back Home." br / br /All is not trouble and doom here, as Mellencamp has a pair of affirmative songs. "Mean" (as in "could you please stop being so...") is a delight, easily one of his best, and the aforementioned "My Sweet Love" was added at Mellencamp's wife's insistence, as she thought the CD needed a little more cheer (and she was right). The album closes on an optimistic note, with Mellencamp rising from the realization that "the trouble with the future, it always stays the same" to the hope that those to come will find knowledge and purpose. br / br /For those who have followed Mellencamp through the early days, hearing "Life Death Love Freedom" will seem like a natural progression from Scarecrow and The Lonesome Jubilee, while some who only think of ""Hurts So Good" might miss out. But if you're getting up there in years and don't mind a little Woody Guthrie or Pete Seeger in your musical diet, then John Mellencamp's latest will probably make your favorites for the year.