American IV: The Man Comes Around

One of the most unforgettable, chilling voices in history. An album that is stripped and beautiful, relying on the emotional strength that Johnny Cash's voice is capable of. This album is almost hard to listen to because it feels so imbued with grief and knowledge - you can almost tell that Johnny knows that he is going to die, and this album is a reckoning with the different aspects of a life long lived. While this is a cover album, it feels transformational (like a great cover album should). Songs like "In My Life" sound completely different. It doesn't sound like a bad pastiche of the original artists, but rather the uniquely simple and strong instrumentation and vocals of a country legend. 5/5.

Not me crying in the break room at lunch because Johnny is giving me an existential crisis over the impermanence of life.

The greatest version of Desperado, period (featuring non other than Don Henley on background vocals). A cover of a Nine Inch Nails song that somehow becomes one of The Man In Black's greatest songs (its no longer a Trent Reznor song, it's forever a Johnny Cash song). Cash and producer Rick Rubin come close to doing the same to a Depeche Mode classic. Fiona Apple sings with Cash on Bridge Over Troubled Water. Billy Freaking Preston shows up to tickle the ivories on a couple of tracks. Some of Tom Petty's Heartbreakers contribute, along with a Chili Pepper, Nick Cave, and the great Marty Stuart. But it's still Johnny Cash who makes it all work, his voice huskier than ever, sometimes sounding like he's singing at his own funeral, ready to shuffle off his mortal coil at the end. The ultimate victory lap to cement his legend, the last album released while Johnny Cash was alive. It's the perfect swan song.

I mean... dang. Old Cash beats the pants off of Young Cash any day. These songs, covers and all, are so hauntingly beautiful. You feel the weight of life lived, mistakes made, and perspective gained in Cash's performances. It's a damn near perfect album.

This album could have been half the length and come across stronger. Some brilliant interpretations, some “this is Johnny Cash covering something”.

Cash rules everything around me

Oh I'm just not arsed, Johnny. Just well known songs that aren't really improved. I know it was just before he kicked the bucket and Hurt was all very poignant and that, but...yeah whatever. Sue me.

I think this is one of those rare moments. I must be honest, sacrilegious as I know this is, but much as I admire and respect Johnny Cash for so many reasons, I never really cared to listen to him. It didn't bother me; I just wasn't interested. Well, with this album, forget all that. I feel like this is one of those 'a-ha!' moments when something inside me switched on and now, silly as this might sound, I "get it". I know. Could I be any later to the party? Nothing I can do about that, my friends. Here I am. Brilliant.

First track was better than expected, but nothing else was. And I didn't expect much. Really not a fan of traditional Johnny Cash, and his take on the more modern songs didn't do much for me either - I much prefer the original versions in every case. Bridge Over Troubled Water was particularly painful, especially when the backing vocals come in. Danny Boy has been murdered by many before, and it's good to hear Johnny Cash keep up that tradition. I listened, so at least I can say I gave it a chance, and I definitely preferred this to most of his other music. Still hated it.

It's an interesting album. The sparse acoustic guitar accompaniment goes well with Johnny Cash's voice to make for a haunting, somber tone. My issue with the album is the song selection. Some (Hurt, Personal Jesus, In My Life) work great, but others (Bridge Over Troubled Water, First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, Desperado) just don't work for me. They sound awkward and forced. 3 stars.

Amazing. How he takes songs from different eras and dramatically different artists and turns them into his own classic Cash style. His vocal performance and emotional delivery create something magical and knowing it was his last work brings it all to a new realm. I truly responded emotionally and for me that is what true art and performance does.

Wow. So hauntingly beautiful. For an album of covers, this feels incredibly intimate - to the point that it sometimes feels too personal to listen to. The way Johnny Cash delivers these songs and makes them his own is something else. His voice is calm but deeply emotional, and it demands your attention. He's contemplative and retrospective too, as if he's looking back at every facet of his life while saying goodbye through his music. Being my first full-length Cash album, this makes me thankful for this project. What a pleasure listening to this record. I'm only saddened by the fact that I might not be able to play it front to back as much as I want to, because it starts feeling very heavy and emotional at some point. But that's only a testament to how good it is. Standout tracks would have to be Hurt, In My Life, Desperado, & We'll Meet Again, but the whole album is breathtaking.

I watched Walk Hard:The Dewey Cox Story this week and would have loved for Johnny Cash to have covered Beautiful Ride or Let’s Duet on American V

good but always the same thing

Original NIN version of hurt is way better, bugs me that everyone thinks its a Johnny Cash song First impressions of this album is that it's an album middle aged conservative men love because he sings about good ol american values n shit. Not that I always dislike that but this all sounds too jesus-y for me. Damn he covered personal jesus too, this version sucks more that hurt. Jesus, In My life too, this is the worst cover yet. I hate this man's voice, I get he's trying to sound sad but he just sounds bored. Ok I'm gonna skip the last 3 songs, I've heard enough All of his songs sound the same to me, I'm not a fan

I was waiting for this album. Dang Johnny, thanks for this last one. Simple, beautiful arrangements. His originals, reworked or not (The Man Comes Around, Give My Love to Rose, Tear Stained Letter) have just as good lyrics and draw you in just as well as any of his other previous songs or versions. His version of Hurt just epitomizes this whole album - stripped down, vulnerable, sad (mostly). I Hung My Head and Personal Jesus are other great examples of how his reworked versions really put a new spin on the original. You have to be in a certain mood for it, but as a concept this album is brilliant, as is his execution.

I love how even though this album is mostly made of covers, Cash makes them sound like they were always his songs to begin with Favorites: The Man Comes Around, Hurt, Personal Jesus, Streets of Laredo

this made me cry. a lot.

Pretty cool to hear him sing these songs. He seems to really perk up when a song involves shooting someone

Poignant and beautiful. Hurt and Personal Jesus are magnificent examples of what good covers should be. And I love hearing Cash re-do songs with his impossibly gravelly old man voice that he first recorded in the 50s and 60s. Give My Love to Rose is even sadder now! You know how artists will get together and do tribute albums to a musician after they die? I feel like Johnny Cash decided to record one of those for himself, and he killed it.

initial thoughts: why have I never sat down and fully listened to this album, I basically favorited every song on it fav off album: hurt

kinda boring - prefer johnny singing country

Boring, uninteresting covers of songs.

One thing about the march of time is that around the 2000s you start getting these last testaments by great acts. You Want it Darker and Blackstar come to mind. But this album is probably the first I think of. A last dance with a legacy act. And country is a fantastic genre for it. Getting old? All the weariness comes forward. Better than that is this album is inventive, covering all sorts of songs including famously NIN, a thing that on paper sounds INSANE but in practice is one of the most devastating performances ever. What an album. 1000% belongs on here even if you dislike it. This is an important fucking album, it says things about life itself dammit hahah

When I first heard Hurt I was in high school and didn't know why we were listening to an old man trying to be cool. Listening now - there is just so much emotion - sadness, longing, love If you can listen to this without feeling something you are a sociopath haha

fav track: i hung my head

This is good, but now I'm imagining a Johnny Cash covers album of songs that really wouldn't work as Johnny Cash covers. "Through the Fire and the Flames" by Dragonforce, "Sicko Mode" by Travis Scott, "Woodpecker No. 1" by Merzbow. I would pay money to hear some bullshit like that. Alas, rest in peace.

Badass cover album. Even Trent Reznor said Hurt isn't a NIN song anymore, it's Cash's. Also cool that John Frusciante was on Personal Jesus such a jam. As is In My Life. All in all the lows balanced out the highs I mentioned. His voice was insanely good on this though. High 3.

Johnny Cash is one of those guys that somehow gets a pass for most people. The "I don't like country but Johnny Cash is good" crowd. I mean, this isn't even really country. The album that sent a bunch of boomers to Potbelly's to play covers. There's better country, there's better albums, there's just not a whole lot here. It also seems like a big cash grab

Ugh. This was not much an album. It was not memorable and not really singing the lyrics but more of speaking the lyrics. The covers were weird and not good at all. Did this album get added simply because it is Johnny Cash? Yes. Is it dog shit? Yes.

Album equivalent to Philip Larkin's poem "Aubade": great work by a great artist facing his final years "Being brave / lets no one off the grave. / Death is no different whined at than withstood."

The soundtrack of a life lived full of love and regret. It's truly wonderful.

This album is Johnny Cash at his most powerful and vulnerable. The music is stripped down and simple, letting his voice carry the full weight of the songs. Every track feels honest and lived-in, with lyrics that cut straight to the heart. The covers are brilliant - familiar songs reimagined with such depth that they sound like they were always meant to be his. It's an album about life, faith, loss, and mortality, yet it never feels heavy-handed. Instead, it's moving, intimate, and unforgettable. Cash doesn't just sing these songs - he inhabits them. A masterpiece and one of the finest records of his remarkable career.

Loved it. Spending time to listen to each song is rewarding

A great album by one of the greatest songwriters of his era. A very moving, extremely well done mix of originals and covers that feel like they could be his own. Highly recommended much like the other albums in the American Recording series.

Cash's late imperial phase is dominated by covers, yes, but so was most of his career. Anyway this album is fantastic, not a bad song here.

Great great album

How many cover albums are on The List? This is my fourth album full of covers as I haven't even cracked a hundred yet. I know that this ain't Johnny's first rodeo when it comes to cover albums as this is the fourth in the American series. It is his last recording & it feels that way. Like He Knew. I had stop listening half way through Bridge Over Troubled Water at work because I felt like I was gonna start bawling at any moment. That's how hard this hits. There is a reason why Trent Reznor says Cash owns Hurt now because you can feel that he has lived through all those things even though they are not his words. The legend of Johnny Cash carries that song through emotion & performance. Haunting & also woefully depressing. They aren't are all winners but he still kills it. The stripped down music & well worn voice just adds to the layers of all of it. 4.5

Great covers by Johnny cash. hurt…. What can I say. The songs I knew I liked a lot

I really liked this. Never heard the personal jesus cover that and another i hadnt heard really stuck out. Not a big fan of cowboy songs but they were good

It's 4 stars just for "Personal Jesus" - the rest of the album is pretty good too! Obviously, "Hurt" gets the most attention, but there's a good mix of songs here. Cash's world weary voice fits so well on these albums. Be sure to listen to "Rusty Cage" (on American II) after this.

Not every song works to the same extent. But when a song hits, it really hits. Chills.

Some great covers on here. It was a moment of genius to arrange these songs in this way.

I was so over country albums on this list. Dwight Yoakam yesterday was the final straw. So you can imagine how the first track on this album hit me like a ton on bricks...in a good way. It perfectly tees up his Hurt cover, which although played to death on the radio still gives me the feels. It deserves it's reputation as one of THE great cover versions. That's not to say the other covers on this album are all successes, for me. I don't think we needed am even more morose version of Bridge Over Troubled Water (what a waste of a Fiona Apple cameo), or Danny Boy. Just as I was getting a bit bored I see In My Life come up. Great, someone else who thinks they can improve on the Beatles; that's not just lazy, that's arrogant. Well fuck me what a cover version that is. I nearly had to pull over. Sure it's not as left field as covering Nine Inch Nails and completely changing how that song is seen/heard, but it's the highlight of this album and his legacy cover version for me.

A great album. Stripped back versions of great songs in Cash’s very obviously unique style. I enjoyed it a lot

On the cusp of his own demise, Cash creates this album with the skills of his years of artistry to make these songs his own. This is a heartfelt album and even if some of the songs he has chosen are lyrically burdened with sentimentality, he delivers them in his own way giving them all a simple sincerity that only someone looking back at his own life really can. An excellent album.

Neat collection of covers by a legend of country and music in general

Moments of brilliance mingle with very good karaoke. As an ex-fiancé pointed out, the video to “Hurt” is awful. Superstition suggests that my throwing passing shade at Rubin’s comeback industry only yesterday summoned this record, I have to point out that this is one of the fine ones.

American III has the better songs and "Hurt" is way over-played, but this is still pretty awesome [EDIT - gotta' give Johnny props for making "I Hung My Head", an actual Sting composition, sound timeless You can hear the barrel being scraped a bit with some ropey numbers - does anyone really want to hear "Danny Boy", "Bridge Over Troubled Water" or "Desperado"? And, Mark - I take your timely point about the Rick Rubin comeback conveyor, but you could argue the '90s JC revival started with U2's "The Wanderer" (great tune) or "'Til Things Are Brighter" even earlier]

This was interesting. Listening to Johnny Cash sing Personal Jesus is worth a star on its own. I'd listen again but can't say that I loved it.

Some classic Cash sounds and some that felt like they dragged him into the studio and put the lyrics in front of him. "We'll Meet Again" probably my favorite... although "Hurt" is always good.

Man. I don't know what to say. This is heartbreaking to listen to - a fitting swan song for a brilliant career in country-folk music. Johnny Cash's voice is expressive, emotive... just great. The instruments backing his singing make tasteful use of piano, strings, and even guest vocalists (including Fiona Apple in the third track!). If I had to suggest one thing to change, it would be to include more original compositions (fewer covers) and more musical variations between the songs. But really, given the context of the album, I doubt this performance could have been surpassed. 4/5 Key tracks: Hurt, Bridge Over Troubled Water, In My Life, The Man Comes Around

Excellent, but the 3 duets would be better if Johnny handled them alone.

Off the cuff remark: an enjoyable listen but with some real duds. Sorry but the version of Bridge over troubled water is particularly poor. Standout track: title track is fabulous Revisit?: welll I just might, but won't lose sleep if I don't

Some stand out covers amongst some dreary songs. Hurt and Personal Jesus are my favourites

Great concept and cool album. Very neat that it’s his last one. Also, it is just cover songs…

What a treasure of an album. I'd heard "Hurt" before, but most of these I hadn't. And I didn't realize there was a whole series of this. Much respect for you, Johnny ❤️

This is the first Johnny Cash album that's come up on the list for me. I wasn't expecting much, and it managed to slightly exceed those expectations. I appreciate the guy was 70+ when he recorded this, but his vocals weren't very good. Musically it was very sparse, which I'm was an intentional less-is-more approach. I listened all the way through and there were a couple of decent tracks. It's 3 stars from me.

This album is overrated imo. Lots of covers that Cash does not add substance to them.

5/5

It's a five star for Hurt alone, never mind the balance. Iconic.

RIP Johnny Cash you damn legend. A Musical savant till the damn day you died. Hurt gets the most credit, and deservedly so, one of the most transformative covers of all time. But man, I love the Personal Jesus cover as well. Eagles and Fiona Apple also helping with this album? What is there not to love about this. 5/5

IMMEDIATELY a ten out of ten album from the very first note. It's just so damn beautiful. His voice, the guitar... I'm guessing some people might be opposed to the covers, but in my opinion, they are truly remarkable. He adds a whole new perspective to those songs. The whole album feels very sad and somber, yet there are undertones of hopefulness as well. I don't think I ever truly appreciated Cash before listening to this album (as well as San Quentin). But wow. Wow wow wow. This whole album makes me feel like I'm sitting on a horse in the middle of a desert with my cowgirl hat dipped over one eye as I watch the sunset dip into the clouds. So. Freakin. Beautiful.

This album doesn't need much explanation. The best of Johnny Cash's latter works with the untouchable cover of NIN's - Hurt. It is mostly covers and great reworkings at that. Another stand out being Personal Jesus by Depeche Mode. The raw emotion of the Man in Black nearing the end or his life is somewhat overwhelming. Could be argued that although Cash didn't write much on this album it's some of his best works.

Not first time listening. 5 This is such a good album and one that I really love. The way that Cash makes the cover songs his own is incredible, and the storytelling in the songs is so powerful. One of the only albums I can think of that gives me chills when I listen to it. The album has a very intimate feel to it, and you can really sense the emotion is Cash's voice.

Incredible that we were able to get these late era johnny cash recordings and such a good idea to go so covers heavy. Hurt obviously steals the show here but bridge over troubled water, I hung my head ,and personal Jesus are also great covers. And the whole album and while series is great and really cement Johnny Cash as one of the great American voices in music.

Love Johnny Cash forever

Masterpiece

We hebben via deze lijst al twee keer de enigszins lollige Johnny Cash gehad, waarbij hij opgenaaid werd door rowdy inmates. Nu krijgen we z'n zwanenzang. Ome Johnny heeft een haffel liedjes uitgezocht en heeft ze, en dit bedoel ik op een positieve manier, toegeëigend. Hij gaat met al die liedjes volledig aan de haal en doet er z'n eigen enigzins saaie maar toch fascinerende ding mee. Z'n stem en ogen willen niet meer en volgens de Wiki z'n hart ook nog maar amper, maar hij doet nog één keer z'n trucje. Eigenlijk zouden alle artiesten met één been in de kist zoiets moeten doen als laatste afzwaaier. 'Beste Zangers' maar dan met artiesten van wie het lichamen het eerstvolgende nachtvorstje de pijp aan Maarten gaan geven. Dan hoeven we ons meteen niet meer af te vragen of die tranen die er steevast vloeien oprecht zijn of een stukje aanstellerige marketing. Ik vind niet elk nummer even geweldig en de nummers die het verst van country afstaan zijn eigenlijk het leukst, maar door de manier van zingen zit het wel allemaal tegen het iconische aan natuurlijk. Er valt vanalles weg op dit album en daardoor blijft er een soort pure muziek over, ook al hapert, piept en kraakt ome Johnny waar we bij staan. Ik geef hem 5 sterren. Een essentieel album in deze lijst.

Wow. I think the track listing is incredibly interesting. Pop & grunge rehashed in a folk ballad style and country outlaw music about death and youth sang by a man who started the genre, a man so close to the end of not only his career, but his life.This is probably country black star. Each song so haunting and darkly alluring. The age of Johnny cash seemingly changes the meaning of the music, especially through use of seemingly raw vocals that are enhanced by their weathered nature. Nearly cried the entirety of tracks 1-6.

One of my favourite albums of all time. All the American recordings are incredible but this tops them all. Majority of the covers better than the originals. Hurt and man who comes around are up there as top Cash. Stripped back it’s so emotive, probably best pre imminent death recording I can think of

I love this album! I own (digitally) all of the American albums and this one is not my favorite but it’s still a solid 5 stars for me.

Amazing album beginning to end. Listened to it 4 times in a row.

Emotional, peaceful, and heartbreaking at times — but always perfectly on brand. Cash turns every song into scripture, whether it’s his own words or someone else’s. The sound of a man making peace with the world.

This was the first Johnny Cash album I ever heard. Largely because "Hurt" was incredibly popular, my 16-year-old self was curious about this album, and even back then, knowing it was the last work he released in his lifetime, the whole album sounds like a beautiful and sad epitaph. All the versions performed by Cash carry an extra emotional weight, highlighting Rick Rubin's exceptional work in production. 5 absolute stars.

Beautiful beautiful album

It's hard for thee to kick against the pricks.... This album is comparable to hearing your grandfather pick out his 70 years of experience on Earth. Singing of his youth, songs that he himself wrote, and songs that were passed to him over the many decades of trials and tribulations. I understand American IV: The Man Comes Around to be a meditation on 20th century American music. The American spirit is palatable here...one of suffering, grit and entitlement. Personally I didn't care for "Personal Jesus". But when listening to it, one is reminded of the story told of Mother Maybelle Carter after first hearing "One Toke Over The Line". She thought it was a great song, mainly because of the "Sweet Jesus" bit and knowing nothing of the fact that it was a song about smoking too much weed. Cash covering Depech Mode is weird. But I'd like to think he wouldn't care what I thought (Damn your eyes!!!). I'd like to think he covered these tracks because he liked them regardless of what popular opinion was at the time, just like Mother Maybelle before him.

His voice may waver a bit with age, but somehow that just makes these songs better. His life experience and conviction shine through at every point and songs like Hurt and Personal Jesus are completely transformed in his voice.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

while it's true that almost every song is a cover song, the entire album is permeated with feelings that probably only a man, aware of his impending death, can feel and it's expressed in such a wonderful way

Best album of all time

Exceptional

When I saw a Johnny Cash album, this was the last thing I expected. Cash is one of the few American folk/country singers who I've ever liked, and this album is incredible. Such a dark album, full of raw emotion. My eyes got watery a couple times. Starting off with the darkest themes of the Christian Bible, the album is led with themes of the second coming, where everyone is either brought up to heaven or decimated. It's like a mass genocide of all the non-Christians. WWII? I can't say that too loud, otherwise ICE will probably have me in a Salvadorian prison sharing a cell with 50 other guys in minutes. (also no offense to anyone who practices Christianity, I was once very religious myself. I get it.) The album further goes to themes of pain and death from there. From there, after realizing that Jesus exists, it takes a violent turn, but the violence seems to be shameless. After this, we go into more somber music once again. There was a lot to like in this album. The lyrics about the Queen of diamonds and the Queen of hearts was one of the best country lyrics I've ever heard, although that is a low bar to clear. Cash knew that this would be the his that would be released during his lifetime. He wrote about the things that mattered to him. He seems to have been grieving himself and his own death through it. What an album to end on.

How do I begin? That works. Johnny Cash might not have had the best vocals at this point in his life, but that just makes this album hurt more. He definitely had some gas left in the tank and used it to put out one more amazing album before his death. All covers were chosen perfectly. Desperado, I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry and We'll Meet Again are heartbreaking in the originals, but just get elevated by Johnny Cash. His original songs are also amazing, especially Give My Love to Rose. I am a huge Red Hot Chili Peppers fan, so seeing John Frusciante on Personal Jesus as well as a voice in We'll Meet Again in amazing. This whole album is just Johnny Cash saying goodbye and it could not be any more sad, but I like to feel emotions when listening to music. Usually that emotion is anger or happiness, but the sad ones hit the hardest. Words really just cannot describe just how amazing this album is.

This album is maybe a few songs too many, but I've never heard an album from such a big-time artist facing death. The raw emotion throughout is unbelievable. It's not perfect, but the highs are so incredibly high that it doesn't even matter. I want to listen to this album on repeat for the rest of my life. Someone who really understands what it means to be human. - 2002 Cash? Odd. Apparently the last album before he died - He's not really singing, but it's mesmerizing anyway. Almost like if Morgan Freeman was talking over instrumentals - Such emotionally charged songs. Sounds like a man facing his mortality - In My Life is so hauntingly beautiful - Beetles cover but hit it with the wisdom of a 70-year-old - I'm just so enchanted by his voice!!!

Third album by Cash in my first 50 albums here. I was not a fan of the artist and genre in general, however, these three albums made sure my opinion of him has improved. This album was the best of the three. Fragile, honest and some great cover songs on this album. 5/5

I mean... this was a bop. Fun that it was mostly/all covers!

Simple and classic

Is Johnny Cash the greatest country artist of all time? I don't know. I'm not an expert on the genre, but I know he's up there. He is easily in the uppermost echelon of country artists in terms of acclaim, and it's only fitting that he got to go out in such a beautiful way. This, of course, is the final album released in his lifetime, American IV: The Man Comes Around. The fact that Johnny was even able to succeed at the very end of his life in a way like this is immensely respectable. Think about it. By 1994, Johnny Cash had effectively "fallen off." He was a washed-up has-been in the people's eyes. But then, Rick Rubin shows up and starts helping Johnny do cover albums. They go pretty well, but it's with this final one in 2002 where the fruits of their labors are finally enjoyed by everyone. This has got to be one of the best musical swan songs of all time. I can't call it the best. It's not better than Blackstar, I'll say that. But I have got to give huge props to Johnny Cash, Rick Rubin, and everyone else involved for making this. Most of the songs here are covers, but Johnny does an excellent job with them and kind of makes some of them feel like his own song. "Hurt" is the obvious example here. I can't definitively call it better than the original Nine Inch Nails version. I think both versions are perfect for the artists in question. However, I think I do prefer Johnny's version myself. The others are quite good as well. "Personal Jesus" and "In My Life" are especially great to me, but that could just be because of how much I adore the original songs as well. I do prefer the originals in those cases, but when you make a Beatles cover that's almost as good as the original, you know you've got talent. There's even a few Johnny Cash originals that are nice to hear, like the title track. I think Johnny Cash's voice aged pretty well. It sounds nice here and it fits the themes. Speaking of themes, boy can this album be sad. There's a reason why many talk about death in regards to this album. It's mostly because this was Cash's last album before passing away in 2003, but the songs chosen here fit that as well. This feels like a soundtrack to Johnny Cash's life. Everything from his family, to his faith, to his death feel represented here. Some have compared this album to Johnny Cash singing at his own funeral, which I feel is a really good comparison. It's that idea behind the album that makes American IV such a special listen. The emotions in Johnny's voice and the music at large work together to express the life of a man in just 50 minutes or so. It's kind of beautiful. The collaborations help bridge Johnny Cash's life to the history of music, with help from people like Fiona Apple, Don Henley, and Nick Cave in some wonderful duets. I don't think I could call this album perfect, but for what it's trying to be, it's pretty close. Even the production is great! This has got to be one of Rick Rubin's better production jobs. American IV is wonderful. Low 5/5.

I saw a documentary that talked about this collaboration between Rick Rubin and Johnny Cash, but never actually heard the album. What they accomplished is incredible. The song choices and the way Cash chose to perform them is amazing. He really made them his own. Rubin also helped Cash shine from a production standpoint. Great album!

This entire quadrilogy is great. Perfect choice of stripped down covers and excellent choices for backing vocals with Fiona Apple and Nick Cave.

This album was my first real introduction to Johnny Cash. I’d always known who he was growing up, but I wasn’t interested in country music back then. This album, though, is far more than just country. It’s the work of a man who knew he was nearing the final off-ramp of his life and chose to bare his soul one last time through a collection of hauntingly powerful covers. It’s so emotionally raw and beautiful that it often brings me to tears.

Another Johnny Cash album and another 5 stars! Never knew I was such a fan! His old man voice is so poignant and some of the covers to me now seem to be the quintessential versions. Touching and powerful. Tasteful use of Fiona Apple too!

Words fail me.

Johnny Cash, at the end of his life, sat with an eclectic mix of cover songs and turned them into a powerful meditation on life and death. A poignant and sometimes haunting death bed serenade. 10/10

This is one of the first albums I ever bought and some of the first songs I ever learned to play. I did not know Johnny cash farther than a cartoonish character of country music that was more fable than man. It wasn’t until a decade later I really started to see cash a a real person after reading Cash by Johnny Cash (because I was High Fidelity). Now 20 years later with more insight and understanding more of the songs chosen for this anthology, I can give it no less than an 5/5

Cash really makes a lot of these songs his own (especially Hurt). It's fascinating listening to such a famous artist dealing with his own mortality, which really pushes this album beyond just a collection of Johnny Cash blues songs. Favorite Songs: Hurt, Bridge Over Troubled Water, Streets of Laredo

Amazing album, although a bit of a cash grab. Hurt, first song whatever it is are the best

10