Luckily, Rubin had an immaculate sense of how to frame Cash's voice -- these stark, mostly acoustic arrangements don't try to conceal the singer's ruined instrument but find authority in its quavers and crags. He was even better at picking songs for Cash to Cashify, and this time they're specifically about helplessness, acceptance and romantic nostalgia in the face of approaching death. There are no transfigurations of modern-rock songs here. Instead, the repertoire comes from Americana blue chips (like Hank Sr., Springsteen and Trad. Arr., whose "God's Gonna Cut You Down" gets a magnificently chilling performance), and Cash himself, including his final composition, a train-song-as-meditation-on-mortality called "Like the 309." It's a hard record to bear, but it's a deep one: Concluding with a resigned rerecording of 1962's "I'm Free From the Chain Gang Now," Cash makes it clear that the prison he always sang about was his mortal body and the world.
(Posted: Jun 26, 2006)
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- Help Me
- God's Gonna Cut You Down
- Like The 309
- If You Could Read My Mind
- Further On Up The Road
- On The Evening Train
- I Came To Believe
- Love's Been Good To Me
- A Legend In My Time
- Rose Of My Heart
- Four Strong Winds
- I'm Free From The Chain Gang Now
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Review 1 of 3
sekerka writes:
JOHNNY CASH
V: A HUNDRED HIGHWAYS (American)
Is it just me, or has the last part of Johnny Cash's life been absolutely revelatory? And with such a stellar career that includes early rockabilly sides for Sun Records, number one country chart toppers, legendary prison concerts, and a national television show - that ain't no mean feat. But when Rick Rubin convinced Cash, who at the time was out to pasture, to record some contemporary standards in a sparse guitar and voice setting, it was truly a stroke of genius. Here with album five, comes Cash's epitaph, and thankfully, it's a fitting one. Recorded shortly before his passing, "A Hundred Highways" - his strongest effort since the brilliant "Solitary Man" - is made up of apropos covers and a couple of poignant originals, delivered with a voice that is sometimes strong and age-wise, and sometimes beautifully fragile. A bit more traditional in it's delivery than the others in the series, this album captures a lonely Cash (wife June passed earlier) coming to grips with mortality, yet still having enough verve to inject a bit of self-effacing humour when the time is right. It's a great way to go out. (Sekerka)
Aug 25, 2006 12:22:00
Review 2 of 3
thehitmaker writes:
Open Letter to Douglas Wolk:
I hope you were joking about this " . . . and Trad. Arr., whose "God's Gonna Cut You Down" gets a . . . )," but I'm scared that you weren't.
Trad Arr is not a person....
Jul 10, 2006 10:41:38
Review 3 of 3
Holothurian writes:
An absolutely unbeleivable album. The songs are all individually great, the performance is very heartfelt and open. Instantly became a favorite after one listen, this is not even one of my preferred genres. This is the sort of album either you get or you don't, with one listen you'll be either hooked or puzzled. For those that get hooked, it is a five star all the way.
Jul 7, 2006 21:53:21
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