Vinyl Exam

That was Then

I should preface this by saying that I picked up all John Cougar’s records on vinyl. When I was trying to figure out which one to do first, I kinda just picked the one that made the most entries into my life. This is probably the one. I first found this album back when it came out and the singles hit the air. I bought the album, and found that, like alot of other albums, there were some great songs here that would never make the airwaves. Although that happened alot back then, it seems to be a rarity now. This album was a great one to rediscover through various stages of growing up. Listening again, I remember thinking “Thundering Hearts” was probably one of the greatest motorcycle songs ever, next to Billy Idol’s “Blue Highway.” When I got my first motorcycle, these were the songs that ran through my head when I was out in the middle of nowhere. “China Girl” is still one of the coolest songs ever written. I could go on and on about this album, but out of respect for the privacy of others (who might not want to have anyone know that they have ever been associated with me, I’ll stop now)

This is Now

I bought this record in a pile of others for around a buck off ebay. I still can’t get over what a cheap hobby this is. Anyway. Playing this again on a real HiFi, the sound is much better than I remember. With more than 20 years of listening experience since this album first came out, I now realize why John Cougar was and is such a big time player in the game. This album is a great recording of great performances of great songs. This album came out during the 40 minute album era, which means that there was no room for fluff.

The Jury Says

This album is better than I gave it credit for when I first heard it. Now that I can actually understand the craftsmanship of the songs, I think John Cougar is cooler now than I did back then. And back then, I thought he was pretty dang cool.