who's gotten better with age

[kulu se mama]

i have to admit that my opinion concerning john mellencamp has done a 180 degree turn.

when he first became popular (around 1982), i was into punk and new wave, and i could not stand most of the preppie kids who liked "jack and diane" on the radio.

well, 23 years later, while i still do not like his early recordings, i find that mellencamp continued to work on his craft, and my musical tastes have broadend (it's no longer us vs. them).

his last few albums have been quite good, and his recent greatest hits collection does an excellent job of summarizing his career.

some of the individual songs, such as "jackie brown," "you're life is now," "human wheels," and "key west intermezzo" are as good as anything popular music has had to offer in recent years.

so i ask - who have you had to reevalute over the years?

[GregK]

i'm with you on the Mellencamp-check out the Trouble No More disc from a few years ago, the one with the cover versions of old blues and folk tunes. good album, and a great showcase for his band.

i'd have to say I'm liking Elvis Costello's recent records (but his early and mid-period stuff was good too, though)

[paul secor]

He's not around now, but Doug Sahm seemed to get better with age. I like pretty much everyting he did, but I prefer his later recordings to his early solo singles or even the early Sir Douglas Quintet sides.

[GA Russell]

For me, Tony Bennett hit his peak in the 90s.

My favorite of his is the album Perfectly Frank.

[kulu se mama]

i'm with you on the Mellencamp-check out the Trouble No More disc from a few years ago, the one with the cover versions of old blues and folk tunes. good album, and a great showcase for his band.

greg - it's funny you should mention this one because it's the first mellencamp disc i purchased, and then i bought "words + music" when it came out.

[Kalo]

For me, Tony Bennett hit his peak in the 90s.

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I'd agree with this. By then his voice had achieved a kind of roughness to it that is more appealing to my ears than the more glossy timbre it had in his younger days.

I'm not sure if they're "better" but it has been heartening to see the return to form that Bob Dylan and Brian Wilson have made of late.

Warren Zevon had a nice return to form too, in the several years before his unfortunate death.

Edited June 26, 2005 by Kalo

[Michael Fitzgerald]

I can't agree regarding Brian Wilson - what is great about his recent stuff? He's just bringing back stuff from 35 years back. He himself is much weaker than back in the 1960s: can't sing in tune, can't blend as well, doesn't even play for real in live performances. I saw him on the Pet Sounds tour and he was definitely the weakest link.

I have nothing but praise for the Smile album and for the Wonderful band that made it happen. I am glad that Wilson realized that this was the only way he'd get the career recognition he deserves. Others might have refused to go back.

Mike

[Kalo]

Point well taken, Mike. But who even expected him to revisit and COMPLETE Smile with such amazing results?

I've read that he's working on new material with this current band, so I guess that's where we'll see if he still has it.

[Stefan Wood]

Just saw Al Green last night. He was fantastic! New and old music!