Human Wheels (1993)
1. When Jesus Left Birmingham
2. Junior
3. Human Wheels
4. Beige to Beige
5. Case 795 (The Family)
6. Suzanne and the Jewels
7. Sweet Evening Breeze
8. What if I Came Knocking
9. French Shoes
10.To the River
The return to his rock and roll roots
on his last album Whenever We Wanted
never really took hold. It was nice to see that he abandoned that
direction and went back to more familiar waters on this release. This
is a much more simpler, direct record that allows the emotion and
feelings to perpetrate on a much stronger level. It never quite sounds
as folksy, or even country as his releases in the mid to late 1980's,
even though he incorporates accordions, mandolins, etc., he simply uses
those elements buried a bit in the mix to enhance rather than overpower.
He never sounds as mature as he does on this record - musically
and lyrically. Lyrics have always been a weak point for
Mellencamp, yet here he manages to sound weary and disillusioned without
being pouty. The themes range from introspective - as in the title cut
and Sweet Evening Breeze to funny on French Shoes to
tragedy on Case 795 (The Family). There's also a little bit of
everything else in between.
None of this would be as important had he dropped the ball musically.
Fortunately, he does not. This is strongest set of tunes in some time.
Always a bit on the "miserable" side, Mellencamp has always been the
artist that never seems to be happy with much of his music that he has
released - regardless of how well the album may have sold. Being that
this record does sound so well crafted, it's easy to see how he could
discount his earlier work, since he probably thought he had "arrived" to
some extent on this record. That would be, however, a gross
misstatement since he had already had an incredible catalog of great
music at this point in time. It was nice to see him evolve so much and
still have gratifying music.
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