John Mellencamp

On his first album of fresh songs in more than five years, the Cougar preaches a softer, gentler brand of patriotism, tailored for blue-state blue collars. Here Mellencamp advocates forgiveness and tolerance in gently rocking tunes that sound as if they were written in the annex of one of his "Little Pink Houses," making the scenery down "Freedom's Road" dusty, but never drab. Listen for Joan Baez on "Jim Crow" and a searing send-up of the Bush Jr. political landscape with "Rodeo Clown."

When John Mellencamp finished recording his last batch of original songs, the Twin Towers
were standing and Iraq was just some country we had beaten up in the Nineties. Freedom's
Road has the lifelong Indiana resident attempting to find his place in an America he has
trouble recognizing: The small-town life he romanticized in the 1980s is still close to his
heart, but he now paints a disturbing rural portrait of racism, unrealized dreams... More >