Track Listing
1. Hurts So Good
2. Jack and Diane
3. Hand to Hold on To
4. Danger List
5. Can You Take It
6. Thundering Hearts
7. China Girl
8. Close Enough
9. Weakest Moments
| Details | | Playing Time: | 34 min. | | Producer: | Don Gehman, John C. Mellencamp, John Cougar Mellencamp | | Distributor: | Universal Distribution | | Recording Type: | Studio | | Recording Mode: | Stereo | | SPAR Code: | AAD |
Album Notes
Personnel: John Cougar (vocals, guitar); Larry Crane, Mike Wanchic (guitar); George "Chocolate" Perry (bass); Ken Aronoff (drums).
John Cougar and the American listening public became inseparable after this landmark album arrived in 1982. While AMERICAN FOOL wasn't John Cougar's first full-length recording, it was the one wherein he gained commercial and artistic footing, and established a formula that would become his trademark style--simple roots-rock melodies with stirring choruses, unguardedly emotional vocals, and lyrics that reflect the experiences of the common man.
Album opener "Hurts So Good" is a playful rocker (with a dangerously catchy refrain) that has become part of the pop canon, and "Jack & Diane" is one of the great slice-of-life songs of the '80s. While both songs loom large, other overlooked treasures include "China Girl," with its cheeky faux-Chinese guitar riff, and the ballad "Weakest Moments," which blends transcendent acoustic-guitar changes with a gorgeous, careworn melody. Here and elsewhere on this well-written record, Cougar proves he's nobody's fool.
Editorial Reviews
Ranked #19 in CMJ's Top 20 Most-Played Albums of 1982.
CMJ (01/05/2004)
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