Whenever We Wanted (1991) 


 


  1. Love and Happiness
  2. Now More Than Ever
  3. I Ain't Never Satisfied
  4. Get a Leg Up
  5. Crazy Ones
  6. Last Chance
  7. They're So Tough
  8. Melting Pot
  9. Whenever We Wanted
  10.Again Tonight

 

After several records steeped in acoustic instruments, folk textures, and earnest rural storytelling, Whenever We Wanted finds John Mellencamp plugging back in—loudly. Released in 1991, the album marks a return to straightforward rock and roll, leaning more heavily on electric guitars and a stripped-down, bar-band aesthetic. On paper, it’s the kind of creative pivot that makes sense. Mellencamp had spent the better part of the last decade evolving away from the swagger of his American Fool days. Here, he tries to meet that younger version of himself halfway.

Unfortunately, the results are mixed.

The record opens with Love and Happiness, which aims for a dramatic kickoff with a gritty riff and a pulsing groove. It almost works. But the lyrics—frustrated, scattered, and biting—undercut the momentum. “We’re dropping off bombs in the southern hemisphere,” Mellencamp growls in the opening line, and from there the mood is set. It’s another round of disillusionment, with more inward reflection than outward blame this time. Still, the bitterness lingers, and the song never quite lands. Add a shrill saxophone solo that borders on painful, and it’s a tough start.

The rest of the record follows a similarly uneven pattern. There’s energy here—Mellencamp and his band are clearly committed to recapturing the urgency of his earlier rock work—but the material doesn’t always cooperate. Many of the songs feel underwritten, heavy on repetition and short on melody. The sound is clean and loud, but often lacks the warmth or nuance that defined his best records.

That said, the album does improve as it goes along. Get a Leg Up, the lead single, is easily the highlight—catchy, confident, and brimming with the kind of swagger Mellencamp hadn’t shown in years. It’s a reminder of how good he can be when the pieces align. Other standouts include The Crazy Ones, which offers a rare moment of levity, and Again Tonight, a closing track that brings just enough sincerity to stick the landing.

Taken as a whole, Whenever We Wanted is less a full return to form and more a moment of reset. Mellencamp clearly wanted to strip away the layers and recapture some of the immediacy of his earlier sound, but the songs don’t consistently rise to the occasion. That said, there’s no mistaking the intent. This is a record made by a restless artist who, despite commercial success and critical acclaim, still seemed to be looking for something—perhaps even trying to reclaim something he’d left behind.

He wouldn’t fully stay in this lane moving forward, but Whenever We Wanted stands as an interesting, if uneven, detour. It rocks harder than anything he’d done in years—and harder than anything he’d do again.

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