Rolling Stone: "Trouble No More Live" Album Review
By Andy Greene -
Rolling Stone
The war in Iraq was just weeks old when John Mellencamp released 2003's Trouble No More, a collection of blues and folk covers that proved the protest song is just about as old as music itself. This excellent live album documents a show from that year at New York's Town Hall, featuring a complete performance of the album plus a few old favorites – like a radically slowed-down "Small Town," a barn-burning "Paper In Fire" and the inevitable finale of "Pink Houses." Just 11 years later, the concert already feels like a time capsule of a bygone era. A cover of Bob Dylan's "Highway 61 Revisited" references Donald Rumsfeld, while the traditional folk tune "To Washington" takes a swipe at Bush the younger: "He wants to fight with many/And he says it's not for oil." If that sounds tame now, remember that this was a time when the Dixie Chicks were being hung in effigy. And while the timing of this release may seem a little random, it's a nice reminder of how Mellencamp's music has evolved now that he's no longer trying to score pop hits.
The war in Iraq was just weeks old when John Mellencamp released 2003's Trouble No More, a collection of blues and folk covers that proved the protest song is just about as old as music itself. This excellent live album documents a show from that year at New York's Town Hall, featuring a complete performance of the album plus a few old favorites – like a radically slowed-down "Small Town," a barn-burning "Paper In Fire" and the inevitable finale of "Pink Houses." Just 11 years later, the concert already feels like a time capsule of a bygone era. A cover of Bob Dylan's "Highway 61 Revisited" references Donald Rumsfeld, while the traditional folk tune "To Washington" takes a swipe at Bush the younger: "He wants to fight with many/And he says it's not for oil." If that sounds tame now, remember that this was a time when the Dixie Chicks were being hung in effigy. And while the timing of this release may seem a little random, it's a nice reminder of how Mellencamp's music has evolved now that he's no longer trying to score pop hits.