Human Wheels is one of those albums that you listen to numerous times and don't realize right away that it's a great album. Mellencamp has lived and died with his great songs in the past, but I feel that never before Human Wheels (or since) has he made a great album.

What makes this one so different? Well the main thing that I appreciate about Human Wheels is its brutal honesty. In the past, Mellencamp has been pretty ambiguous about the stance he was taking with what he was singing about: Was "Pink Houses" meant to be taken ironical? "Ain't that America, home of the free. Little pink houses for you and me." It's very difficult to see if he's being critical of America or not because the music itself is so up-beat. Sure "Jack and Diane" says "Oh yeah, life goes on long after the thrill of living is gone," but it's really a happy song at heart. "Small Town" talks pretty negatively about life in the big city, but it's really just a simple little folk song about the good life.

Yes, with the exception of songs about the family farm, in the past we haven't been sure what to think about Mellencamp's view of America. Human Wheels does not hide behind the mask of upbeat music and major chords. This is a sad album and Mellencamp is going to use a minor key even it means sacrificing a few hit singles on the way.

There is not a single positive view of life on this album and that is very refreshing. Mellencamp takes no prisoners: old age, middle age, the family, corporate life, youth, mental illness, relationships, the past, the future... it's all here and it's pretty bleak.

Mellencamp was forty years old when he wrote these songs. It would be a fun exercise to analyze his mental state and his hope for his future when he composed this album. Did he think he was spinning his "Human Wheels" and getting nowhere in his life? Was all of his success for naught? Did he have anything else to sing about?

There is a great relationship song on this album called "What If I Came Knocking" and there is a part of this song that has about as much truth as you're ever going to find in a song. This song is brutal. The beat is hard, the guitars are harsh, the words even harsher. There is a great moment in this song when the narrator wonders if it will ever work and what if it did: "Let's just say it worked out like a storybook dream; and we lived happily ever after, fa la la la la." But then it all comes crashing down with the most intense and appropriate 5 seconds of all music. It's Not going to all work out; there is Not going to be a Prince Charming; there is no such thing as the perfect relationsip.

And so runs the theme in the rest of the songs on the album as well. There is no perfect anything. In "Case 795 (The Family)" Mellencamp sings that "everything's alright with the family. The beds are made but there's no sheets on." It is a stark reminder that every family -- every individual -- has things to hide, things that they're not proud of. There is no such thing as a perfect family. Everything is not alright with the family, everything is not O.K. in America. It's refreshing to hear Mellencamp finally sing about this -- it's his strongest point as an artist.

How could you not be familiar with John Cougar Mellencamp as a child of the 80's? This guy is 100% Americana as far as I'm concerned. "Jack and Diane" is still one of my favorite songs of all time; I have a little joke that says you should never have a copy of that song to play on demand because there you get such a nice little thrill every time you hear it on the radio. Mellencamp is famous for his hits; I've always appreciated all of his songs that made it to the radio -- "Pink Houses," "Small Town," "Authority Song" - all of them great, great songs. However, he's also been known to "pad" his albums with songs that really aren't that great. The only other album that comes anywhere near "Human Wheels" is "Scarecrow," which I totally destroyed one summer as my favorite lawn mowing tape.

I was very disappointed the Mellencamp's greatest hits album, mainly because I anticipated it a little too much. There is so much great music in his repertoire, but he decided to split it up into different eras of his life. He should have chosen 14 of his best songs from all of his albums, rather than putting anything that cracked the top 20 from the first 10 years of career. Additionally, he bowed to the pressure of the fad of the moment: recording a new song and throwing it at the end of the greatest hits album just to sell a few more copies. I've never understood this. The only people that are going to buy an album just for one or two new songs are die-hard fans. And all of your die-hard fans are going to buy the thing anyway, except those that refuse to because of the concept of adding a song to the greatest hits album!

I've never seen Mellencamp in concert; really the only time I had a chance he was playing Sunday-Monday-Tuesday sting in Minneapolis and it wasn't reasonable to miss work for it (what? am I getting old you say?). This was unfortunate though because he was playing in a more intimate concert hall setting. I have a bootleg of his and I've seen some of his live stuff on TV, and I think I don't think I would enjoy his stadium concerts that much. If he comes close again though I'll probably make the trek to see him.