Strictly A One-Eyed Jack

Featuring several collaborations with Bruce Springsteen, the self-produced new album from the 70-year-old songwriter is overwhelmingly bleak—but its best moments prove he can still surprise us.

Bruce Springsteen joins the roots-rock icon on an album steeped in a sense of fading mortality

Through much of his career, John Mellencamp has seemed ambivalent about rock stardom, so it makes a certain sense that from 2010's No Better Than This onward, he's been content to let his music reflect his time served on the planet.

John Mellencamp's 'Strictly a One-Eyed Jack' is cohesively designed and features beautifully articulated performances and arrangements.

It's not all right Jack. New music review by Liz Thomson