John Cougar Mellencamp Scarecrow Half-Speed Mastered DMM 180g LP

John Mellencamp's 5x-platinum 1985 album Scarecrow yielded three Top 10 hits: "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A." (#2), "Small Town" (#6), and "Lonely Ol' Night" (#6). This newly remixed and remastered LP has been cut at half-speed and pressed on 180-gram vinyl.

Uh-Huh found John Mellencamp coming into his own, but he perfected his heartland rock with Scarecrow... 'Rain on the Scarecrow' and 'Small Town' capture the hopes and fears of Middle America, while 'Lonely Ol' Night' and 'Rumbleseat' effortlessly convey the desperate loneliness of being stuck in a dead-end life. Those four songs form the core of the album, and while the rest of the album isn't quite as strong, that's only a relative term, since it's filled with lean hooks and powerful, economical playing that make Scarecrow one of the definitive blue-collar rock albums of the mid-'80s.

With Scarecrow, he is determined to make an album that's not about John Cougar Mellencamp, but about - yes - America. He wants to pay tribute to the heartland's workers, to stick up for the unglamorous life and to counsel grit and steadfastness.