John Mellencamp
Carnegie Hall
New York, NY
September 16, 1991

Lineage: Sony D-3 DAT master (mics unknown) => cassette => Stand-alone Pioneer CD Burner => EAC => Magix Audio Cleaning Lab => WAV => FLAC Front-end (level 8)

Disc one (36:36):
(1) Love and Happiness (5:34)
(2) Now More Than Ever (4:08)
(3) I Ain't Ever Satisfied (3:10)
(4) Get A Leg Up (4:31)
(5) Intro (1:43)
(6) The Crazy Ones (3:50)
(7) Last Chance (5:11)
(8) Melting Pot (4:47)
(9) Whenever We Wanted (3:37)

Disc two (52:40):
(1) Again Tonight (6:11)
(2) Rain on the Scarecrow (4:27)
(3) Paper in Fire (5:14)
(4) Check It Out (4:18)
(5) Lonely Ol' Night (5:26)
(6) Hurt So Good (4:01)
(7) The Authority Song (3:15)
(8) R.O.C.K. In The U.S.A. (3:56)
(9) Pink Houses (7:29)
(10) Band introductions (2:39)
(11) Small Town (5:39)

Comments: Very recording a one-off appearance for John Mellencamp in preparation for his 1992 world tour. Mellencamp expresses surprise at the sold-out show, saying he viewed it as a warm-up for their upcoming tour in which he wanted to see how his new material worked in front of a live audience. More than half of the show consists of material from "Whenever We Wanted," and the songs sound great, despite John sounding a little ragged and out of breath. (At one point, he tells the audience that he hasn't performed in 3 1/2 years, and goes on to explain his breathlessness by calculating the number of cigarettes he'd smoked since he'd been onstage last.)

The recording is great; instruments and vocals are well-captured and very balanced. The only flaw was that the low end was underrepresented; I used Audio Cleaning Lab to boost the bass in line with the medium and high end. The result, I think, is very good. There are screamers near the taper, but the crowd interference adds to the energy of the show -- they don't really detract from one's enjoyment of the music.

Worth the d/l if you're a Mellencamp fan and happen to like this album. I think that some of these songs may have been dropped from the set by the time the tour started, so some of these performances may be a rarity. (I'm not enough of a JCM fan to know his 1992 setlist off the top of my head, but I don't think he routinely played 10 songs from his new album.)