AMG Review of Uh-Huh [Bonus Tracks]

Stephen Thomas Erlewine
All Music Guide

Since American Fool illustrated that John Cougar was becoming an actual songwriter, it's only proper that he reclaimed his actual last name, Mellencamp, for the follow-up, Uh-Huh. After all, now that he had success, he wanted to be taken seriously, and Uh-Huh reflects that in its portraits of brokenhearted life in the Midwest and its rumbling undercurrent of despair. Although his lyrics still have the tendency to be a little too vague, they are more effective here than ever before, as is his music; he might not have changed his style at all -- it's still a fusion of the Stones and Springsteen -- except that he now knows how to make it his own. Uh-Huh runs out of steam toward the end, but the first half -- with the dynamic rocker "Crumblin' Down," his best protest song, "Pink Houses," the punky "Authority Song," the melancholy "Warmer Place to Sleep," and the garage rocker "Play Guitar" -- makes the record his first terrific album. [Universal's 2005 CD reissue appends a bonus track, an acoustic version of "Pink Houses."]