I'm a big Mellencamp fan but haven't found too much of his stuff interesting for quite a while. I'm not into the whole protest song stuff.
The new album is still that protest stuff, but with a pop sensibility thrown in and it is the best thing he's done in a decade or more. The song "What Kind of Man am I" is a fucking masterpiece. Took a few days for me to get the whole album, but now that I have, it's a total joy to listen to. I don't necessarily agree with all the shit he says, but man he knows how to say it.