LIFE,DEATH,LOVE AND

Lyricist: John Mellencamp. Personnel: John Mellencamp (vocals, guitars, acoustic guitar); Andy York (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, resonator guitar, mandolin, percussion, background vocals); T-Bone Burnett (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, baritone guitar, 6-string bass); Miriam Sturm (violin); Troye Kinnett (accordion, melodica, piano, organ, field organ, percussion); John Gunnell, Dennis Crouch (upright bass); Dane Clark (drums, hi-hat, maracas, shaker, tabla, tambourine); Mike Piersante (shaker); Janas Hoyt, Mike Wanchic (background vocals). Audio Mixer: Mike Piersante. Recording information: Belmont Mall, Nashville, IN; Electro Magnetic Studios, Los Angeles, CA; Sound Emporium Studios, Nashville, TN. Authors: John Mellencamp; T-Bone Burnett. Editor: Jason Wormer. Photographer: Elaine Mellencamp. In stark contrast to the full-on, anthemic quality of his 2007 album, FREEDOM"S ROAD, John Mellencamp's '08 offering is a stark, spare affair. LIFE, DEATH, LOVE AND FREEDOM was overseen by legendary roots-rock producer T-Bone Burnett, and bears some similarity to Burnett's work on the Robert Plant/Alison Krauss '07 album RAISING SAND; there's a subtle, restrained quality to much of the material, and the arrangements tend toward a simple acoustic setup. The doomy lo-fi folk/blues of such tunes as the mortality-minded "If I Die Sudden" and "Don't Need This Body" could also be cousins of Bruce Springsteen's dark NEBRASKA tunes. Once in a while, Mellencamp picks things up, as with the rockabilly-like kick of "My Sweet Love," but for the most part, this is a spare, low-key set, its acoustic framework adorned only by occasional dusty touches of spacious electric-guitar reverb, rolling across the barren sonic landscape like errant tumbleweeds.