"Occupying the space where Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty and Billy Joel converge, over the decades John Mellencamp has honed a sort of everyman Americana, representing a more heartening type of populism. Sad Clowns & Hillbillies, his 23rd album and a collaboration of sorts with Carlene Carter (daughter of June), continues this tradition in part ... It makes for an album that is not particularly consistent in sound or even sentiment ... heartening but uneven Americana"