Salt Lake Tribune NBTT Review

[WildNight]

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/entertainment/50095148-81/album-mellencamp-recorded-414.html.csp

Grade: B+

On his 25th album “No Better Than This,” John Mellencamp proves that he’s getting better and better, stripping away the cliches that marred his earlier lyrics.

This haunting Americana album — filled with rockabilly, blues and gospel — was recorded on a 55-year-old tape recorder.

Mellencamp’s band recorded original songs about hope, family and faith at culturally significant places such as room 414 of San Antonio’s Gunter Hotel, where Robert Johnson recorded “Stones in My Passway” in 1936.

— David Burger