AMG Review of Biography [Bonus Track]

Stephen Thomas Erlewine
All Music Guide

Since neither Chestnut Street Incident nor The Kid Inside generated much attention, Johnny Cougar's third album, A Biography, wasn't released in America. Ironically, it was his best effort yet, featuring a harder and genuinely rocking backbeat and, in the silly but catchy "I Need a Lover," his first good song. The rest of the album didn't even come close to matching those heights, yet the song indicated that Mellencamp had talent -- he just wasn't sure how to access it. [This reissue of the album includes the U.K. single version of "I Need a Lover" as a bonus track.]