John Mellencamp – No Better Than This (Universal Music Canada)

Recorded by Mellencamp and his band at various recording sessions where only one microphone was used (with everybody and their instruments crowded around it), it is clear John Mellencamp is through with making music for the mainstream. Led by Mellencamp’s smoky vocals, No Better Than This has more in common with a Woody Guthrie, folky type of record than anything else. Mellencamp hasn’t sounded better or seemed more vital to music, making a record that somehow manages to sound incredibly full given the minimalist recording techniques and post-production work.