John Mellencamp: Scarecrow - 1985


From 1985, this was John Mellencamp's powerful blue collar statement. It was arguably his finest album although there is a paper-thin difference between it and Uh-Huh. This one probably just edges it due to slightly more variety, musically, in the compositions. It plays as a pretty cohesive album. 

Rain On The Scarecrow is a brooding and blistering protest song in support of Mid-Western farmers. The crackly old Grandma's Theme is pretty superfluous but I guess it sort of leads into the power of Small Town, which is classic Mellencamp - I don't really need to say that it has great riffs, acoustic and electric guitars in tandem, social comment and a killer vocal. This was what he was all about and I'm buying into it, that's for sure - I'd forgotten just how good some of this stuff was. 

Minutes To Memories is blue-collar rock by numbers, but it is still a fine track, with a strong vocal and hook. Mellencamp spits out his invective against the system convincingly. Protest rock at its best. The Face Of The Nation has a quirky, staccato bass-driven beat before the song breaks out into another powerful rocker. The lower-key verses give it a different appeal to some of the earlier material. Justice And Independence '85 also has a catchiness to its verses and a big hooky chorus. It also has a captivating "drum solo" part in the middle. 

Between A Laugh And A Tear is one of those acoustic and electric guitar fusion songs that Mellencamp did so well around this time. Once again, he nails down a great chorus. Rumbletear has familiar echoes of Bruce Springsteen in places on the deep vocal verses. It almost seems to go without saying now that the chorus is great. You've Got To Stand For Something sees Mellencamp looking back on his past and nailing his colours to the mast on a grinding, brooding rocker. 

The Kind Of Fella I Am is a melodic rocker to finish up with. R.O.C.K. In The USA is as upbeat as the slightly cheesy title suggests that strangely reminds me of some of Neil Diamond's more lively numbers, particularly on the verse and acoustic guitar bits. As I said earlier, there is more musical variety on this album and it stands as a fine eighties rock album. Thankfully there was still some proper rock around in the mid-eighties.

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