Boston Herald NBTT Review

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JOHN MELLENCAMP

By Jed Gottlieb
Monday, August 16, 2010 - Updated 10 hours ago

‘No Better Than This’ (Rounder): B+
Producer T Bone Burnett has turned Mellencamp into Tom Waits (which is kind of what he does with everybody, especially when he brings Waits-alum guitarist Marc Ribot along). The surprise is Mellencamp makes a decent Waits. Johnny’s latest was recorded in mono in legendary spots: Memphis’ Sun Studios, Savannah’s First African Baptist Church, the San Antonio hotel room where Robert Johnson made history. The gimmick works; the history seeped into the tape. When Mellencamp doesn’t sound like Waits, he’s doing a good Hank Williams (“No One Cares About Me”) or Woody Guthrie (“Love at First Sight”). It’s all anti-rock, stuff Mellencamp seems juiced to do. Download: “Love at First Sight.”