John Mellencamp - John Mellencamp CDs • Vinyl Records • LPs • Music Albums

hooks and spacious arrangement may sound familiar, its moody, minor-keyed complexion reveals sepulchral doubts – "How could I have been so wrong about you?" – while the very world outside goes up in flames. Streaked with darkhued slashes from Miriam Sturm's violin, "Fruit Trader" reprises the biblical parable of Cain and Abel (last referenced on "Brothers," from Dance Naked) to voice a bleak plaint about the conflict-ridden modern world: "We're just yellin' in the dark/We're just pissin' in the wind."

If any one theme dominates, it's the need for moral authority to save us from ourselves. This issue is addressed forthrightly on "Your Life Is Now," a heartfelt plea set to one of Mellencamp's most unabashedly lovely melodies. Even with a hip-hop sample and eclectic touches flecked into the mix here and there, the album's overall tone is remarkably consistent. Only toward the end of the disc does the thread break, as Mellencamp indulges a few ersatz side trips – a jivey slab of hip-hop funk ("Break Me Off Some") and a mildly diverting, Donovan-esque, Sixties-retro novelty ("Summer of Love") – that might best have been saved as B-side curiosities. Otherwise, John Mellencamp is a rock-solid piece of work from a feisty heartland artiste who is not merely coasting on the past. (RS 799)

PARKE PUTERBAUGH