If you were hoping the new John Mellencamp release would have a sequel to “Independence Day 1985” or any of the rock ‘n’ roll tunes on the best Mellencamp album ever, 1985’s Scarecrow, you are bound to be disappointed with Life, Death, Love And Freedom. There is only one upbeat song to be found here, lead single "My Sweet Love." The rest of the material is a James Taylor-inspired Mellencamp singing about death with an acoustic guitar. Most of the songs on this release do not have drums -- a shame, as Mellencamp’s drummer Kenny Aronoff is a monster musician.
Instead, this album is a humble, introspective excursion into growing old, starting off with the mellow opener, “Longer Days.” When I first started listening to the album, I found this to be a terrible opener; I wanted a declaration with some energy. Instead, you get Mellencamp singing, “Sometimes you get sick and you don’t get better / Life is short even in its longest days.” Mellencamp should have launched things off with “My Sweet Love,” an energy-driven rock n’ roll cut with a mesmerizing tom-tom pattern that is played throughout.
The songs are decidedly blues-influenced as well: In "If I Die Sudden," Mellencamp sings, "Don't be callin' no minister / I don't need one around / My grandmother told me she'd be waiting at the gates." The music is played hauntingly, with the intimate feel of a group playing blues on a porch. "Troubled Land" meanwhile talks about wanting to bring "peace to this troubled land…Hurricane on the horizon / Judgment getting closer all the time." There's that fixation with death again.
Mellencamp dives deeper into his own mortality on "County Fair," where he begins by describing a stereotypical fair. Then, he says that it was about two in the morning and a guy came up to him, declared that he remembered Mellencamp, and then stabbed him. After stating, “And I died that night,” Mellencamp goes on to sing, “So be careful where you go and what you say and do."
It is songs like "County Fair" that announce the full maturation of John Mellencamp as an artist. There is sophistication in all of this material, and while it is a moody album, its material takes you on a journey that is overall a good one to take.