The Lonesome Jubilee

Artist: John Cougar Mellencamp
Label: Polygram Records
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Media: Audio Cassette

UPC: 042283246546
EAN: 0042283246546
ASIN: B000001FMK

Release Date: 1990-10-17

The Lonesome Jubilee

Related Categories:

General

| Pop | Styles | Music

Pop Rock

| Pop | Styles | Music

Folk Rock

| Rock | Styles | Music

General

| Rock | Styles | Music

Singer-Songwriters

| Rock | Styles | Music

Roots Rock

| Rock | Styles | Music

General

| Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Hard Rock

| Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Album-Oriented Rock (AOR)

| Classic Rock | Styles | Music

Tapes Under $6

All Bargain Titles

Singer-Songwriters

Tapes Under $6

All Bargain Titles

Tracks:

Paper in Fire
Down and Out in Paradise
Check It Out
Real Life
Cherry Bomb
We Are the People
Empty Hands
Hard Times for an Honest Man
Hotdogs and Hamburgers
Rooty Toot Toot

Similar Items:

Scarecrow
Uh-Huh
Big Daddy
Human Wheels
American Fool

Amazon.com essential recording

<I>The Lonesome Jubilee</I> continued Scarecrow's stylistic and thematic examination of the rustic and rural. While it's not quite the knockout its predecessor was, the album does find Mellencamp and band in an undeniable groove. It's also hard to dispute the details of vignettes such as "Cherry Bomb" or treatises like "Paper in Fire." <I>--Rickey Wright</I>

Customer Reviews:

The Lonesome Jubilee.......2007-05-13

John really put it all together on this one, songwriting, musicianship, he definitely paints great pictures with his music and words.

All the songs have a catchy hook and cool story behind them. He cleverly uses a lot of different instruments that are not normally use on rock records.

The whole album stays on that rural midwestern theme, but don't let that fool you, all of the songs on this album are anywhere from 3-5 star in quality. Recordings highlights, Paper and fire -- Cherry Bomb etc. great stuff

Doesn't reach the bar set by "Scarecrow", but pretty close.......2005-10-08

Although John Mellencamp (still known in the 1980s as John Cougar Mellencamp) would have success with such hits as "Jack and Diane" and "Hurts So Good"; in 1985, Mellencamp would deliver what would prove to be his signature album entitled "Scarecrow". While this album didn't produce a #1 hit like "Jack and Diane", it spurned four Top 40 hits and was a complete album from top to bottom. "Scarecrow" seemed to come along at the right time. It was around this time that the 1980s music landscape was undergoing changes. The 80s music scene was beginning to move away from a synth-pop sound to a more guitar-laden sound. Mellencamp's "Scarecrow" would be a success not only because it would embrace this guitar-laden sound, but it would also provide a mix of socio-political commentary with hometown roots experience. Other artists such as Bruce Springsteen ("Born in the USA") and John Fogerty ("Centerfield") had already had success with this formula before "Scarecrow" made it big - so clearly this was a formula that would be around for a while. Therefore, it would make sense for Mellencamp to continue down the road he started with "Scarecrow". This follow-up would be 1987's "The Lonesome Jubilee". While "The Lonesome Jubilee" doesn't quite hit the level of its predecessor "Scarecrow", it comes very close.

As mentioned above, "The Lonesome Jubilee" does focus on a guitar-laden sound. This album does make more use of the fiddle than "Scarecrow" does. Also mentioned, the socio-political commentary that started on "Scarecrow" also continues on "The Lonesome Jubilee". For the most part, 8 of the 10 tracks could be classified as socio-political commentary. I do think that this particular collection has a bit of a "darker" view of things than "Scarecrow" did. I feel the lyrics on "The Lonesome Jubilee" are on-par with "Scarecrow". I do think the music is where this album falls short. It's not that the music is bad, but I felt some of the melodies were missing something special - despite the creative use of the fiddle. Mellencamp handles more of the songwriting - writing 9 of the 10 songs solo. He only co-writes one song with his long-time collaborator - George Green.

Overall, while not a central theme to the album - you can hear the concept of "loneliness" on several songs - thus mapping back to the album's title - "Lonesome Jubilee". To me the deeper concept here is the plight of those people who are struggling just to make ends meet. Here is a track by track breakdown of this album:

"Paper in Fire": The opening song on the album. This is one song where I do like the melody - especially the fiddle. The song's title "Paper in Fire" is used as an analogy to describe "dreams going up in smoke". We also hear some great background vocals - including some co-lead vocals by Crystal Taliefero.

"Down and Out in Paradise": This is a great song lyrically as Mellencamp constructs a "letter" to the President from someone who has come upon hard times. While I'd consider this song lyrically innovative, I didn't like the melody that he put to these lyrics. More solid fiddle work.

"Check It Out": This is another social commentary. "Check It Out" will be sung about the everyday things that affect the average song. This song is solid both musically and lyrically - the melody toward the end of the song is terrific. Mellencamp uses more fiddle as well as background vocalists, but the guitar work is awesome here.

"The Real Life": This might be the strongest song of the collection and the most underrated. Basically Mellencamp sings about a woman named Suzanne and a man named Jackson - both whom have seen to have hit that "mid-life" crisis for different reasons. This song also explores the "loneliness" theme.

"Cherry Bomb": This song was nice at first, but eventually I got a bit bored of it. It's solid lyrically as Mellencamp looks reminisces about "the old days". There is more fiddle on this song. Another positive is that this song is sung in the form of a duet and it seems to work.

"We are the People": This also can be a candidate for the strongest and most underrated song. This song discusses racism, the homeless, and loneliness. It also delivers a strong message toward "leadership" in terms of how this issue needs to be addressed. There is some great music in this song.

"Empty Hands": Mellencamp sings this song from the point of view of a struggling working class man. The song discusses the hard times this man and his wife Maryanne are having. A key line in this song is "Without hope; without love; you've got nothing but pain".

"Hard Times for an Honest Man": This song sums up much of what this album demonstrates - fiddle work, background vocals, and once again lyrics that discuss the struggles of the everyday man.

"Hotdogs and Hamburgers": Kind of a cheesy song title, but Mellencamp uses this as an analogy for making choices (i.e. one often has to choose between hamburgers and hotdogs just as one makes choices in life). This song has a lot of acoustic guitar. It also contains some fiddle and background vocals.

"Rooty Toot Toot": This song was meant to lighten things up to close up some of the darker more serious themes on the album. Mellencamp discusses a fun-day he has with his gal - "Teddi Jo". Not the strongest song, but it does have some good percussion.

The liner notes contain all of the lyrics, songwriting, and musician credits. I would have like to have seen the musician credits aligned with the songs. Overall, while there are areas where "The Lonesome Jubilee" doesn't quite hit the bar that "Scarecrow" set, this is by no-means a poor follow-up. Despite some of the weaker points, I would consider this a solid follow-up album. If you liked "Scarecrow", this album is also worth checking out".

I will have to catch up on my Mellancamp collection.......2005-06-28

I jumped on the John Mellencamp bandwagon when he had his breakthrough album, AMERICAN FOOL. In the following years, I bought Mellancamp's UH-HUH; SCARECROW; the album in question here, LONESOME JUBILEE; and HUMAN WHEELS. I liked all of them a lot except for the last one, HUMAN WHEELS, after that HUMAN WHEELS I abandoned the Mellencamp bandwagon.

Recently I inserted LONESOME JUBILEE in the stereo for the first time in probably ten or more years. While I had liked it back in the late 1980s, the outstanding musicianship and especially the Reagan era-inspired lyrics, now relevant again in the dark days of GW Bush, have me listening to the CD as frequently as possible. Back then, I considered SCARECROW to be the best John Mellencamp release I had heard, but THE LONESOME JUBILEE may be even better. Check other reviews here, and you'll see other music fans naming those two as Mellencamp's jewels.

I even gave HUMAN WHEELS another spin and liked it better!

John Mellencamp, I am going to catch up on your music.

Rock and roll fans, I recommend LONESOME JUBILEE.

Some of the Best Songwriting of the 80'.......2005-02-08

I love this album for three songs...Paper in Fire, Check it Out, and Cherry Bomb. The rest of the album could be Mellencamp singing about bug spray with a bouzouki accompaniment and I wouldn't care. These three songs are some of his best ever. The best way to listen to Lonesome Jubilee is with the headphones on and WAY UP. Cherry Bomb is one of the most melodic, well played, touching songs in rock and roll. The bridge with the WEIRD and WONDERFUL accordion break is absolutely amazing, and still makes my spine tingle after hearing it over and over for the last eighteen years or so.

While the entire album is not up to Scarecrow's standard, these three songs blow away anything on Scarecrow (well, maybe not Minutes to Memories). It makes me sick that there is nothing like this on radio anymore. I remember hearing these songs on the top 40 in high school. I can't imagine a young person from today looking back in 20 years and fondly remembering the garbage they are listening to now.

I do, and this is the music I remember.

Still sounds Great!.......2004-12-06

Produced in 1987,this is probably John Mellancamp's finest moment.Loved it @ the time & most of the songs still cut it.
Down & out is James Brown with a Squeeze Box,Rooty Toot Toot is
Great ol' Rock'n'Roll,We are the people Rocks - Borrowing From
Springsteen, But Cherry Bomb is one of my all-Time Favourite
Tunes - all artists. A Feel-Good sing-a-Long anthem.

Music Album:

Music Album

Music Album

Music

The Very Best of George Howard ~ George Howard

Ten

Hooray for Bix! ~ Marty Grosz & His Honoras Causa Jazz Band

Soft Metal ~ Various Artists

It's Hotter in Hawaii ~ Various Artists

Maulawi ~ Maulawi

Live Collection ~ Franco Battiato

Andare Camminare Lavorare ~ Piero Ciampi

Kaleidoscopes prt.2:The Reggae Songs ~ B.E. Mann

Tawarana ~ Pereira Da Viola