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| | Big Daddy | | | Music Artist : | | John Cougar Mellencamp | | Music Style : | | Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) | | Record Label : | | Island / Mercury | | Release Date : | | 1990-10-25 | | Store Price : | | $11.98 | | Artistopia's Price: $11.98 | |
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CD Tracks/Songs
Disc 11. Big Daddy of Them All
2. To Live
3. Martha Say
4. Theo and Weird Henry
5. Jackie Brown
6. Pop Singer
7. Void in My Heart
8. Mansions in Heaven
9. Sometimes a Great Notion
10. Country Gentleman
11. J.M.'s Question
12. Let It Out (Let It All Hang Out)
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Other Artist Albums
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Customer Reviews of This Album/CD |
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 A great record from a great songwriter
Submitted on: 2005-03-01 |
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Folks, I'll make this short. This record has no anthems on it, no groundbreaking rock 'n roll-as-great-art tunes like "Scarecrow" and "Small Town". It is an understated, subtle masterpiece of a man exploring the depths of his soul and finding both tremendous pain and great dignity. JM goes to many places in the heart on this one, and each journey is remarkable in its own way. He is the type of plain spoken songwriter who can speak volumes in just a few lines when other writers would need entire books, screenplays and albums to say. Example: "There's a void in my heart / I can't seem to fill / I do charity work when I believe in the cause / but my soul it bothers me still". Yes, we've all been there ... some folks never find their way out of that place.
I think JM did find his way out, especially on the advent of his third marriage, which came (I think) after the recording of "Whenever We Wanted". On this record, his second marriage was breaking up do to his repeated infidelities. To give you an example of his mindset during the recording of this record, here's a quote he made regarding the demise of his union to Vicki Mellencamp: "I want to get back together, but I really don't see what would change, and I don't want to hurt this woman anymore. She doesn't deserve it."
I think that this record represents a time in JM's life in which, deep in his heart, he felt truly lost. You can hear it in his voice and in his words, and that is a lot of what makes this record a masterpiece.
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Mellencamp's finest album
Submitted on: 2004-03-03 |
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Personally, Big Daddy is my favorite JM album. It is a little on the lean side in terms of recording minutes (each song is quite short), but it is strong on tunes and lyrics. It is much more laid-back than JM's earlier work and he has retained the folk instruments of The Lonesome Jubilee. People may say that lyrically he is being clichéd and rehashing his previous work, but I really like this album. Apparently (and obviously from the cover photo and title) JM was feeling reflective as a father, and it helps.
The title track is a catchy little song. The next two tracks are listed as singles on my cassette copy of the album, but they aren't my favorites. The two story-songs, "Theo and Weird Henry" and "Jackie Brown" are what hooked me. "Jackie Brown" especially got a lot of airplay in South Africa. It's a sad song about growing up poor and dying alone and almost forgotten.
Side two is actually the stronger part of the album. "Pop Singer" was the first single, JM's ironic look at himself. I just love the tracks "Void in My Heart" and "Mansions in Heaven." Those are tunes I never get tired of hearing. When I have come across this album in a jukebox, those are the two songs I put money in to hear first. Mellencamp also has his political commentary here. "Country Gentleman" and "J.M.'s Question" lament the greed and the poverty of the late `80s. The CD also has a bonus track I have not heard in its entirety. |
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 This is the worst Mellencamp CD. Avoid unless avid.
Submitted on: 2003-10-07 |
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| After a decade of fantastic music, of maturing into an accomplished artist capable of both singles and full-length LPs, Mellencamp makes the mistake of too many other "mature" singer-songwriters: he gets @#%#ing boring. Aside from "Pop Singer", which still stings with sarcasm, every song on this disc is an overblown attempt at pontificating the obvious. This would be the only time in his career that I doubted JCM's talent. It did galvanize him, though. To his credit, he came back hard with his heaviest CD after this country-fied tripe--"Whenever We Wanted" is a gem. Listening to this CD compared to Uh-Huh shows the obvious fault with the music on Big Daddy; it's just dull and unorganized. JCM is a wonderful gift to the world of music, but this disc is worthless drivel. Give it a wide berth. |
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 Its not about the politics, its the songs
Submitted on: 2003-09-20 |
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| I don't see why people in here have to bring up g.w when he was not even president when this album was recorded. Having said that I think John mellencamp and Steve Earle are two of the best songwriters out there and I'm a republican. I really love this and the previous album "lonesome Jubilee" for some reason this album never really stuck with me at the time It came out. But after listening to the samples I can see what I have been missing out on all these years. |
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John's Best
Submitted on: 2003-04-10 |
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This is John Mellencamp's best. He finishes what he started in The Lonesome Jubilee.
Big Daddy Of Them All- GREAT song
To Live- OK but not the best on this CD by FAR
Martha Say- About an independent woman who 'don't need no stinkin' man makin' no decisions for her'
Theo And weird Henry- Story song about two friends 'playin' music very very loud' and just having fun.
Jackie Brown- Horrifying tale of a poor man who nobody cares about.
Pop Singer- Biggest hit off this album about his 'Cougar' name his manager stuck him with. You gotta see the video for this.
Void In My Heart- Great song. Lyrics are autobiographial.
Mansions In Heaven- Awesome Song
Sometimes A Great Notion- When this first came on I thought the fiddle at the beggining was a guitar. Great.
Country Gentleman- Best on album. Reminds me of George W. (War-Mongler) Bush
J.M.'s Question- bluesey song
There is a suprise at the end if you wait about 1/2 a minute |
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