Reviews (page 12 of 13)
Loved the lyrics and the music, but I didn’t really enjoy his voice ill definitely like his stuff when he was younger though
Absolutely loved “When the Man Comes Around”. Listened to it probably 5-6 times before I could even move on to the next song (Hurt), which I also loved.
This album is kind of hit and miss. Hurt is amazing, Bridge Over Troubled Water was good. Some of the choices he made were kind of strange. Did we need a Johnny Cash version of Personal Jesus? No, no we didn't. The production was kind of all over too, some of it was fantastic and some of it was basically like if your grandpa recorded covers on a 4 track in his living room. Which this probably was. Was it just me or does anyone else hear him softly whistling as he breathes through his nose on a couple tracks? Don't get me wrong, Johnny Cash was a national treasure but I feel like this doesn't really deserve the accolades it received when it came out, Hurt excepted.
Some good ones
Instantly add gravitas to any song by getting Johnny Cash to cover it. I almost look forward to the AI generated pained versions of Whigfield's Saturday Night et al.
Not a new one to me. I listened to this one 20 years ago when it first came out. I'm surprised how many tracks I forgot existed over the intervening time. But also not surprised. The first two tracks are exceptionally powerful and then the rest of it just tapers off. Love that the Desperado track was copyright struck for being Eagles content so I can continue not hearing their music anywhere ever.
very american, good songwriting (idk which songs are actually his tho cos he covered personal jesus, we'll meet again, AND streets of loredo so idk if i can actually accurately judge his songwriting bahaha), hurt is a great song, i just don't like his voice that much LOL, which makes this hard to listen to when its basically just guitar and vocals, maybe its just that the compression on his voice is just a bit much tho.
3.2 per track. Some absolutely fantastic songs and some not so great, nothing too awful.
First song is a classic
Every song weighty, but probably wouldn't seek it out as an album.
Not my favorite cash but a few classics
i guess i can see why it would appeal but it doesn't to me
Depressing music, I did like Hurt and Danny Boy. Interesting covers for sure, never heard Personnel Jesus sang quite like this before. Odd but interesting.
Not a big fan of U2 anyways.
Pretty good
hauntingly beautiful, a few songs may be a little too slow personally but the guitar and singing are awesome together, his voice is going a little bit but few voices are as iconic as his
Cover album, hurt is good tho
this was a good album but i'm never listening to the cover of hurt again because it personally attacks me
it was touching listening to a lot of this album other than the songs about killing people and getting lynched
the universe is not fucking funny for this one.
Soulful and sad. A couple standouts, but not something usually appealing to listen to when going about your day. Feels more like a funeral march. Fav tracks: Hurt, The Man Comes Around, We'll Meet Again
Waffled on which way to round this one, went up because of the last song. Cash sounds great here. Really clean production, breaking down voice. Really don’t like a lot of the song selection. Feels like Rubin picked about five cover songs that are specifically designed to become sleeper minor hits on the strength of the general sadness of the record. And hey, he got one!
I love Johnny Cash, but damn this record struggles to work. So many of the covers are painful, both failing to serve Cash and the original. Bridge Over Troubled Waters and Personal Jesus being two major offenders. Hurt is a saving grace, as well as the originals.
- is he just talking over the music? - sounds almost like a beer commercial - instrumental of the first two songs are actually good (guitar strumming mostly) - this is like straight up countryside music lol - i liked the cover of bridge over troubled water - not really a fan of the casual storytelling - not my vibe but I can respect it - interesting that he covers these folk songs
Good not great for me
A solid album of great covers, but I prefer Cash's original stuff
Liked it! Slow at some points
Seems odd to pick an album from an artist way past his prime, and singing songs that aren't really like anything they would have normally done themselves.
Some good songs and covers but not really a country fan
Я не особо фанатею по Джони Кэшу и кантри в целом, но как то не было, приятный такой кантри альбом.
not my type
Unlike the Fairport Convention album, which was the 4th studio album... this one is the sixty-seventh. the interpretations of other songs are great, but ultimately, we need to consider why you'd need to listen to this album.
I think you know what you're getting with Johnny Cash. The Man Comes Around and Hurt are stellar. It is interesting to see his takes on other track (e.g. Bridge, Desperado).... though not all are successful. Personal Jesus definitely seems like a mistake. Overall, enjoyable to listen to.
Hurt is Hurt. Some of the interpretations are great. Some are great. It's fine. Good even.
The hits are good ("Hurt" in particular). Pleasant listening. The covers of super well known songs (Desperado, In My Life, Bridge Over Troubled Waters) seem unnecessary. A little boring overall.
Cash's rendition of Hurt will always remain a classic as it showed his more vulnerable side towards the end of his life. Hung My Head is also another excellent cover on the album. Apart from that, I wasn't blown away by much else on an album full of covers
First Cash album I've listened to. Some solid songs in here, but not exactly my cup of tea. Makes me appreciate Cash more though
Effectively a cover album with only 2 original songs on the whole thing, but some of them are fantastic covers, the biggest one being Nine Inch Nail's "Hurt" with a surprisingly uplifting instrumental arrangement and some very closed in vocals. The rest of the album is very much produced in the same vein, acoustic guitar, piano and occasional organ (like in Danny Boy) and vocals mostly mixed without any space to them making the album as a whole feel like you're in a small room with Cash. Not an album you HAVE to hear before you die, but a pleasant one all the same
Emotional and robust
Not my usual kind of music but I liked the country / moody vibes 😁 Probably mainstream but liked 'The Man Comes Around'
There's some nice covers in here, alongside a few original songs. It's very soulful. Plenty of songs that are stripped way back, but mostly hit well. I really like the first track, that's great. Hurt is brilliant. First Time Ever I Saw Your Face is a standout, which has a real depth of feeling.
Folk
Personal Jesus og we Will meet again vil jeg gerne lytte til igen.
This album is perfect for falling asleep and never waking up ever again.
Grand
Sono cover, ma "Hurt" ad esempio, è molto meglio così. Purtroppo peggiora.
It's good, but very samey. Favorite song: I hung my head
3.5
This is impressive. Some great renditions of a lot of these tunes.
Meh
Vähän alitti odotukset. Hyviä covereita, mutta pidemmän päälle käteisen laulutyyli oli koko ajan samanlaista tasapaksua ja siihen alkoi hieman puutumaan. Mutta Hurt on tällä levyllä
3 Not much else to be said other than this is a solid album; which you expect from Johnny Cash
Some great songs, some ok songs. Overall, not as good as some of his other albums.
Really into a couple of the tracks on here, ofc 'Hurt' is an outstanding cover
Not in my edition of the book! 2002. 3 stars Very much a mixed bag of covers and a handful of originals. The trick with covers is to add something to the original and ideally make yours the definitive version, and that doesn't happen for a lot of the songs here. However - when it does, such as on Hurt - then the results are fantastic. Worth the entry fee just for a Cash original, "The Man Comes Around".
So many covers done so well. Gotta appreciate the greats.
Some excellent covers, but doesn’t quite elevate above the source material to make this a classic.
Not my usual taste, pretty good overall! Hurt is a classic even though it's a cover.
This is a very nice album to listen to
Me encantó, full nostalgico. 3.5.
Old man Johnny
First two songs slap (YK this). rest of the album just kinda goes on with some interesting covers
Johnny Kontants sista och, håll i er, sextiosjunde album. Förutom två så är alla låtar covers. Inte bara gamla standards, utan stora världshits, vilket är kul! De gamla standardlåtarna blir aldrig riktigt spännande här. Kontants egenskrivna är dock toppen, speciellt albumets öppningslåt, 'The Man Comes Around'. Mycket blir bättre av att filtreras genom den åldrade mannens erfarna basstämma, men vissa låtar, som 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' är svåra att göra bättre än originalen. Samtidigt blir exempelvis 'Personal Jesus', med John Frusciante på gitarr, en helt egen, fantastiskt avskalad men ändå bluesigt hård, version. Han gör även 'In My Life' rättvisa, även om den inte kommer i närheten av Beatles originalversion! 'Hurt', Nine Inch Nails-covern, behöver väl ingen närmare presentation, men Rick Rubins produktion blir bitvis lite högljudd, och sången känns konstigt mixad? Återkommande i vissa andra låtar, blir jobbigt att lyssna på. Bästa låt: 'The Man Comes Around' är nog bäst overall. 'Personal Jesus' bästa covern. Men det kan vara för att jag hört 'Hurt' (haha hört hurt hurt hört) för mycket.
This is the second Johnny Cash album I've gotten on this list, the first of which was At Folsom Prison. This album was a shift in tone from Folsom, but I still enjoyed it. I'm usually not into cover albums (I know this one isn't all covers, but it mostly is), but Johnny Cash really does a great job of adding something new to each of the songs on here. The changes to the instrumentation on these songs really complement Cash as a singer as well, and I love that so many great musicians contributed to this album (Henley, Frusciante, Mike Campbell, etc.). Knowing that Cash would live for less than a year after the release of this album gives more depth to a few of the songs here, most notably "Hurt." Overall, I thought this was a good album, and I enjoyed hearing Cash's version of some songs that I'm already familiar with. Favorite track: Bridge Over Troubled Water with Fiona Apple
I mean.... I really love classic Johnny Cash. Feels like the people falling over these projects are the ones who wouldn't cue up Big River or Get Rhythm or stuff. I like the more country oriented stuff more... some of the pop song covers are pretty dumb. I also just don't really believe Johnny on Hurt the way I believe Reznor... I still think the original cuts deeper. Especially because changing "crown of shit" to "crown of thorns" really, really, really undermines the impact. They just ain't the same thing, sorry you don't wanna swear no more Johnny. Also the production top to bottom is Pro Toolsy bullshit. With all those complaints, still a 3 star. The man is great, this just ain't the real real Cash.
I liked the stripped down aesthetic. I liked The Man Comes Around and Hurt a lot as well as some others. I like Johnny Cash. His career accomplishments are insane: over 1,000 songs written and 50+ albums. I didn’t like the covers of Bridge Over Troubled Water nor Desperado. Also his voice was a too deteriorated at this point for me. If this album were sung with Johnny’s voice from 30 years before, it would be a really good album for me.
Ending with that Ink Spots cover, a "chin up" after all this fear of leaving behind the good and learning to embrace our bad, feels like saying: it all boils down pretty simply after all that. Hell of a lens to be looking at life through after all the other fears and hopes and darknesses he looks at here. Like, this is on the same album as Hurt.
Geweldige man en stem!
Aantal fantastische covers staan er op dit album. Maar toch ook wel een aantal nummers waarin het wiebelt en zijn stem zo onvast is dat het bijna ongemakkelijk wordt om er naar te luisteren. De keuze voor sommige in mijn ogen best saaie nummers snap ik ook niet helemaal.
Not a big Johnny Cash fan, but what more needs to be said about his magnifcant version of "Hurt"? It's such a powerful song anyway, but with his voice, the tempo, and the backing track - it achieves new heights; this song always sends shivers down my spine. An album mainly of covers, his singing on some tracks is not good, but a fitting obituary to the man in black.
Stunning voice. I would appreciate this album the most after a breakup or while drunk. Unfortunately, I don't fully value an album which mainly consists of covers. After all: mixed feelings...
It's difficult to rate this, because it's essentially an album of covers by a man who has a very idiosyncratic voice. I'm not sure I am the biggest fan of his voice. But there is no denying the power of the songs he sings and his being close to death, some send a chill down my spine, while some (Danny Boy) are on the edge of being slightly cringe worthy. Sorry. Needs another listen really, but it is intriguing and in places, powerful. A solid 3.
Prefer his older stuff
A miserable covers album that put me in a really really bad place but it’s not technically bad and the covers are okay (hurt is overrated). 3/5
Not going to listen to this yet because I haven't listened to much Cash and I don't think this is worth listening to yet. Just giving it three start because that's the middle
Kaipaisin enemmän revittelyä versioinneissa, vähän vaihtelua tulkintaan. Mutta kyllähän tätä on kamalan miellyttävä kuunnella.
Nice set of covers from the man.
Late career work. Interesting interpretations of songs.
It went on a little long, in my opinion, but I liked the tone. I'm not sure how I feel about the sudden backing vocals on a few of the tracks. I do think it fits with the last track rather well, though. I like how stripped down it is and the subject matter of a lot of the songs. Hurt is really good. I guess my issues would be the length and some of the songs just didn't hit for me. At some points his voice begun to bother me a little as well, but I respect the album. My favourite songs were Hurt, I Hung My Head, and We'll Meet Again.
Some great and iconic tracks. Some not so great.
Honestly, the best parts of this album are the Cash originals. Overall it's a pretty haunting record, especially in retrospect. The best covers are the Depeche Mode, Sting, Tex Ritter, and Hank Williams songs.
I mean it's good, but also feels like taking advantage of the guy.
Ok
3.5
3,5
got this one on cd! bro is so gruff
It has its moments but the album is very slow and it's mostly covers. Hurt saves the day.
I like this album but it pales in comparison to American Recordings (vol. 1). Still it has some compelling renditions of modern pop songs like Personal Jesus . 3 stars
Gorgeous
For country music it’s not the worst.
no soy muy fan del country porque me hace sentir un gringo dueño de por lo menos 5 smith and wesson pero m gusta bastante johnny cash el cover de personal jesus es lo mejor del disco lejos
Hurt is good but full album is hard to get through
Containing some of my favorite Cash songs ("The Man Comes Around", "I Hung My Head", and "Hurt"), this album is a classic. Released the year I graduated high school, the themes of loss and growing old seemed to pair well with my 18 year old world. 2 decades later, many of the feelings don't hold up and where this album drags, it drags hard. Still one of my favorites, but it didn't age as well as I've would have wanted. But man, when this album hits, it hits hard and deep.
Already had this album :/ my original review: I've only ever Hurt from this and it remains my favourite song from this album. Hmm, so potentially unpopular opinion, but why is spoken word considered music? But only done by certain artists. Oh well. Either way album with quite a lot of covers, some are misses for me tbh. Saved tracks: Hurt, First Time I Saw Your Face, Sam Hall, I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry, Tear Stained Letter
This was good to hear. I don't think Johnny is at his best, but he pulls off a great performance. Nothing super special here, most interesting to me is the curation of songs. Hurt is particularly poignant. Cash sounds good on Danny Boy. Desperado shines on this collection. This is not the album I'd grab if I wanted to listen to Johnny Cash, but it is an awesome milestone and is worthy of recognition.
Don't get me wrong, it's a very nice album for someone with a very long and successful career, but the whole thing is almost all covers which is disappointing. Album also has his cover of Trent Reznor's "Hurt" which I think may be the most overrated cover ever. I'm not strictly opposed to maybe including a cover in an album but I don't understand how people can grade this any higher than 4 starts considering it's almost all a rehashing of other people's music. 5/10.
Sounds good but old
ok, too country but overall good
Jedan klasični po meni cover album.
We've had the Leonard Cohen offering, we've had the David Bowie offering just days ago, and now the tour of death-bed, making peace with the life I've lived albums concludes with the one the former two were clearly inspired by. It can not be understated how exceptional Rick Rubin's production is here. Johnny Cash's performance is dignified, solemn, and honest. The songs are all covers. Some hit the mark (Hurt, First Time Ever..), some miss it (Personal Jesus, Give My Love to Rose). A worthwhile listen, but not one for the regular rotation. Three grim reapers out of five
Great voice, good production, sure, but the selection of cover songs is a little lackluster.
Country covers af ellers gode sange, meget hyggeligt, men heller ikke mere
An okay album with a couple great songs. The interesting thing about this album and all the other American albums are that they were produced by Rick Rubin. I feel like the acoustic covers works good and bad depending on the song. Hurt is done excellently. Some of the other songs fall a bit flat like the depeche mode cover. Overall it’s not bad but fans of certain songs may like others. 6.3/10
Deep.
In his late career, Johnny Cash took on a much darker image in the face of his imminent death. Everyone knows the hit "Hurt", which many consider superior to Trent Reznor (not me). At the very least, these songs are intense in emotion with the cinematic strings and dramatic piano, fitting well with his rusty voice and simple guitar reminiscent of his younger days. This album is full of covers. You could hear over half the songs here (in their most popular forms) on an oldies radio station. And honestly, he does a decent job at it. I was especially surprised by the wild west interpretation of "Personal Jesus." To be honest, none of them are anywhere close to the originals, but they do fit his style well. It's coherent, and fortunately, despite being a double album, it only lasts 50 minutes, which is long enough for me to appreciate without getting tired. Favorites: Hurt, First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, Personal Jesus, Tear Stained Letter, We'll Meet Again
Nice album of course that I had not listened to for quite a while. You get the feeling that Cash could have made numerous albums in this style and in fact he did. As such, it is not clear to me why this particular one is on the list.
A couple of excellent covers (e.g., Hurt and We'll meet again) combined with several that do not add much to the original.
I want to come back to this one, it's good but a bit depressing for 4 stars
I've only ever Hurt from this and it remains my favourite song from this album. Hmm, so potentially unpopular opinion, but why is spoken word considered music? But only done by certain artists. Oh well. Either way album with quite a lot of covers, some are misses for me tbh. Saved tracks: Hurt, First Time I Saw Your Face, Sam Hall, I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry, Tear Stained Letter
I liked it. Nice to hear Fiona Apple’s voice for a few seconds. Not much to say about this, strangely. I already like “Personal Jesus” so that was probably my favorite.
I consider myself a fan of Johnny Cash, but I didn't really care for this album. Perhaps an unpopular opinion, but I don't love his voice in his later years. I also don't care for covers but I didn't mind Personal Jesus. Meh?
This album really reminds me of William Shatner's Has Been. Both are [mostly] cover albums, and both feature "singing" that's more like narration. Sure, Cash has the better voice, but Shatner knows how to not take himself too seriously - and thus his is the better album.
3.6 - "Hurt" is the obvious standout. I appreciate the simplicity of the arrangements that accentuate Cash's exceptional gravitas as a performer. As an album it's a good listen with some nice covers and notable collaborators (Nick Cave, Fiona Apple, Rick Rubin...) but I don't foresee revisiting it.
Hurt & Personal Jesus are brilliant, rest only so so
good enough
Even at the end of his life, Johnny Cash's voice is like no other and he commands a gravitas and drama that's all his own. Some of the covers are great. His version of Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt" is excellent. And I really like his quiet, pensive take on "In My Life." It's one of my favorite Beatles songs and he more than does it justice. Other covers I wasn't as sold on. His version of "Bridge Over Troubled Water" didn’t land for me. “Tear Stained Letter” stood out as a particularly good track. Overall, a nice set of songs on a pretty low-key album.
The songs are generally really pretty and enjoyable to listen to, but there’s just something about his voice or something that just irks me the wrong way. I got annoyed on a number of songs without any real reason. I still can’t pinpoint it, but it likely has something to do with the lyrics or vocals. Other than that, the guitar (and other instruments) is soothing to listen to, and while my unfounded gripe with the vocals stands, they aren’t bad in any way. Favorite track: Danny Boy
Lots of sad song, quite good but don’t think I would listen to it again
Mostly a covers album but Cash’s vocals really give these songs a really different feel to them. Love his cover of Hurt and Personal Jesus and the original song The Man Comes Around
I really want to like this but I really disliked some of the covers.
Eh. It's a collection of generic-sounding covers that rarely offer anything versus the original (the standout is "Hurt", but that is aided by a phenomenal original and a memorable music video on release).
It’s got all the classic Cash flair even if it’s a somewhat melancholic listen overall. I do think the covers detract from the impact of the LP (even though I enjoy Cash’s interpretations), but for a final farewell it’s still a solid product.
Heard it before?: No Enjoy it?: Yes I loved it, a long listing but doesn’t feel at all ling and blends together very nicely, a nice euphoric drive out in solitude would do this one justice Favourite song: a lot to choose from but, Track 14 - Streets Of Laredo
Really not my kind of music but the album has a good flow if you listen to it in one go, songs offer some variety but it still all sounds somewhat same-ish. Hurt is a classic but nothing in here I would add to my playlist.
I've heard this one quite a few times because my parents played the shit out of it. Hurt is obviously legendary but my other favorite is 'I Hung My Head' 3/5
Notre ami est à deux doigts de rendre l'âme entre chaque piste de l'album, ce qui rend son écoute assez délicate et anxiogène. De plus, on peine à reconnaître notre joyeux luron et son emblématique cheveux sur la langue dans cet environnement non-carcéral. Était-ce vraiment Johnny Cash ?
Le cadavre de Johnny Cash se fout ici bien de notre gueule. Il ne se donne plus la peine de nous offrir ses transitions stand-ups, se contentant simplement de mauvaises reprises de Depeche Mode et autres artistes. Cet album n'est même pas enregistré en live ! Impossible par conséquent d'écrire le script du concert, à mon plus grand regret.
some good covers
As cover albums go really great love teh nick cave Collab there voices are beautiful together Bit I don't think I can give a disjointed cover album anything more than a 3 Or 4 arrrg DK
The handful of originals are great as is the Tex Ritter cover. The Reznor tune and the Sting tune I was not familiar with but Johnny does a great job on both of them. It's a surprising song for Sting, like he had Johnny in mind when he wrote it. I've never been a fan of mega-artists covering songs that were mega-hits for other artists, so Like a Bridge/ The First Time and a 1/2 dozen others are a disappointment - the exception would be In My Life, which is powerful from the perspective of a dying man who has lost his wife. I'm going deduct a point for the aforementioned mega-hits (1/2 the album), though what remains is probably my favourite Johnny album that we've received from 1001.
I’m not into Country but Hurt is by far the best cover song I’ve ever heard, this is a case of a cover song that surpasses the original. In my Life isn’t quite up there with Hurt, but it’s also very good. Given that this was his last album, this very sparse and stripped down album gives his voice centre stage and it captures years of pain and emotion with great poignancy. The other covers aren’t as effective unfortunately, Personal Jesus in particular just doesn’t work.
Always had a soft spot for cash's cover of Hurt, and I also like I Hung My Head, the rest of the album is okay
i like this album, but idk if i'd put it in the must pile
Me gustan mucho las canciones narrativas. Su voz en este álbum ya no es lo que era, pero sigue siendo muy especial. Es muy emocionante oírle, a veces me entran ganas de llorar. La versión de Personal Jesus no ha sido un acierto.
Johnny Cash sounds old and that makes me feel sad.
I’m convinced Johnny Cash killed someone and is ridden with guilt.
Lots of emotion, very different voice and vibe from his earlier years
I enjoy a bit of Johnny Cash, but this was a stretch - the first two songs were legitimately good (probably the two I've heard the most as well), but after that it really dropped a notch. Personal Jesus is a great song but this version didn't work too well imo. Cash has his place on this list for sure, but it's more the Folsom Prison stuff etc. 3/5.
The cover of Hurt gets a 5, rest of the album not so much.
Cool but fit with me :-|
Really nice collection of covers, cool stuff
I understand this was his last release before dying and generally didn't really enjoy the covers. I appreciate it for what it was though! There was a very funny one about being on death row Luke and I loved
Some amazing tracks, some stinkers. Overall a pretty good album, especially for a country album!
Good album but dropped a star due to lack of new material. Mainly songs from previous albums or covers.
Pleasant listening, though the songs he covered were mostly so-so. Sam Hall was my favorite.
The first two songs were classics. Album dragged a little for me towards the end
Way better than I thought it would be
Good classic stuff but not my thing personally
lite bland
Pretty good. "The Man Comes Around" is a total rip-off of "The Claw" by Ten Benson though.
Hurt and a few others are amazing, but in some places it just sounds like an old guy talking.
Hurt is great, and he is an icon but not much musically
Hurt is absolutely amazing There's no happy note in there The rest is super melancholic but not bad. It's definitely a very sad album, which is so weird - A popular guy with a successful music career writing a negative toned album? Love it. Interesting that the best songs on this are covers. They're mostly also acoustic versions of those songs which are just wonderfully produced.
Johnny Cash went out on a high note with this record, after a long run on middling records. That's my understanding of the importance of this record. I think its a great record. His voice is obviously shredded by years of abused vocal chords and the fact that he was in and out of hte hospital during the making of the record. I remember hearing the NIN cover and thinking it was cool. But I definitely wasn't paying attention to country music at this time (never really have). I revisited this record when Cash was en-vogue again due to the "Walk the Line" movie. Another subversive musician. Love him. And this is an objectively great record.
I'm not real familiar with Johnny's catalog, but I went in to this thinking, "Oh, it's from 2002 - probably a crappy last-ditch grab at relevance" - but I was pleasantly surprised. For the most part, he stayed true to his roots, not straying from the formula. Most of the songs are about killing someone or finding someone about to die. It's odd, but I appreciate that storytelling is a big part of this genre. Also I didn't know that "In My Life" was from this album. It's probably my favorite Man-in-Black song and I assumed it was real old. That speaks to the timelessness of his work I suppose. Still, I'm wavering between a 2-3 only because I suspect some of his earlier (better) work to be on the list as well. Oh, to hell with it.
Noice! Love the Beatles cover
Hit and miss. have had two Johnny Cash country albums and hated them. This had some memorable songs reinterpreted and properly produced. Hurt a standout.
A quality listen, just not my favorite style of music. Also they are mostly covers, where the original is just better. I mildly enjoyed most of it. 6/10
Really good covers of songs I don't much like in the first place = 2 stars. Bonus star for Hurt and Sam Hall, though.
Context. It's all about context. Give this album to a teenager and she'll think it's someone's granddad doing karaoke. Whereas 40something me, getting older, the album has more grounding, reflecting on a life of love, loss, regret and wisdom - albeit through the medium of selected cover songs. Hurt and Personal Jesus are the stand-out tracks for me. I appreciate the rest, but they aren't as powerful.
The oldest saddest bastardest music
Miehellä mustissa on hetkensä ja nää uran viimeiset levyt on kyllä yksi hieno sellainen hetki. Rick Rubinin siirtyminen tuottajaksi oli käsittääkseni aika iso juttu sillai että kukaan ei uskonut enää että JC vois olla kiinnostava. Mut sit ku kehään laitetaan ihminen joka on aikaisemmin tuottanut beastie boysia, slayeria ja rhcp:ta niin jotain tässä tapahtu, En oo suuri cover-levyjen diggari mutta onhan tää tylyydessään jotenkin hieno. Riisuttu. Ehkä tää on countryksi jotenkin vähemmän countrya niin tätä on helpompi diggailla. Ja sit samalla onhan tää jotenkin niin vitun väsynyt. En oikein osaa sanoo mitä tästä oon mieltä. Tavallaan rakastan tätä ja sit tavallaan tää on aivan paska. 3/5
Aluksi tästä pitää, mutta aika nopeasti alkaa vähän toistaa itseään. Ehkä jokin tässä Cashin äänessä kertoo siitä, että se tietää itse olevansa nero tekemässä Tärkeää Levyä ja tämä tunnelma tekee kaikesta vähän luotaantyöntävää. Levyn isoin hitti Hurt on oikeasti hyvä laulu (vaikka nykyään vähän meemettinen jo onkin), ja avausraidasta tykkäsin myös. 3/5.
Spartan in a deeply religious way, but not puritanical or ascetic. Just simply spiritual. When the arrangements can't pull the song through, Cash's gravity and grain does. When Cash can't pull the song through, the arrangements offer a hand. When neither pulls the song through, well, good thing they've chosen great songs.
I only knew of the Hurt cover before listening to this. That cover is fine. The other covers are just bad. Bridge Over Troubled Water is especially grating. His voice just took the soul out of the song. Personal Jesus was also pretty bad since I just got the Depeche Mode album with that song on it a few days ago. When Cash isn't doing modern covers / his own songs, it's great. 2.5/5
Hurt et personnal Jesus ça marche full, le reste est correct, je m'attendais à plus de diversité dans les arrangements et l'instrumentation. C'est dépouillé et minimaliste, ce qui est tout à fait louable, mais c'est un peu redondant... Si ce n'était pas mr.Cash avec tout son vécu et son charisme ce serait tu aussi intéressant?
Countryn är ju inte min grej va, och alla låtarna är ju covers, men jävlar i min lilla lådda vad han lägger känsla i dem
Classic Cash but with some odd songs for me.
Good deep voice as always. Interesting to hear the modern covers, but a bit weird like your grandad singing Radio 1 or 6 Music! Some work brilliantly (Man comes around, hung my head, hurt, Sam). Powerful, but not essential.
Respektvoll ob der Todesnähe entsteht etwas zutiefst menschliches, verfangendes. Musikalisch empfinde ich nicht jeden Song in seiner Interpretation gelungen. 2.9
Ihan komia soundi ukkelilla ja kivoja versiointeja.
Harvemmin oon diggaillu Cashista, tää kuitenkin toimi hyvin. Hauskoja covereita ja iltapäiväkävelyllä huomasin fiilistelevän tät kuunnellessa.
Will admit to some trepidation before listening to this. I do not like Johnny Cash's music. "Heresy", I hear you shout. But you know what, I just don't. His genre, his semi-spoken, semi-sung delivery. I don't like it. But I have to admit that "when the man comes around" is genuinely a work of exceptional greatness. Reznor himself has said that Cash now owns Hurt. And I kinda agree. Cash sounds broken in a way that Reznor wasn't, physically. The slightly off-key spoken monotone just works so well for this track. I mean, the Nine Inch Nails original is better produced, has more layers and nuance, but Cash's voice and delivery fits so well that you can overlook it. Unfortunately things go rapidly downhill. Bridge over troubled water does not fit. At all. The same can be said for everything up to Personal Jesus, which is an intriguing take on Depeche Mode. Sam Hall is actually quite a fun track, I'll give it that. Danny Boy is just hideous. It's the indulgence of someone who is way past his best, reminiscent of an elderly uncle who insists on singing at a funeral. It might be touching, it might mean a lot to the performer, but it is objectively awful. The same can be said for I'm so lonesome I could cry. Tear-stained letter thankfully picks up the pace, which is genuinely a relief. Finishing up the album is a surprisingly upbeat and swingy tale on We'll Meet Again - which is immeasurably better than Very Lynn's cloying version. After the initial hesitancy, an I glad I listened to it? Kind of. The highs are high. But the lows are really low. Would I listen to the full album again? No. I'd absolutely not. There is no way I would subject myself to Bridge or Danny again, except if maybe I was wallowing in a Hurt-amount of masochistic anguish. Would I listen to the best tracks from this? Absolutely yes.
Overall mood of the album is great, great songs for sure just not really my music type for everyday listening
-Bridge Over Troubled Water -I Hung My Head -Personal Jesus -In My Life -Desperado -Tear Stained Letter -We'll Meet Again
3,5
Containing both "Hurt" and "The Man Comes Around" this seems like a good end to Cash's career, he brings a lot of sadness and sincerity to these covers, but some still fall flat. 2 Great songs then the rest are okay but not too striking. 7/10
Veel classics, maar vind het niet perse het beste album. Ook wel fan van Nick Cave, maar op dit album klinkt hij gruwelijk slecht.
Barely sings
Pretty interesting voice, very distinct. Gravelly. Won't say it is my taste, but interesting nonetheless. Surprised with Cash's version of "We'll meet again." A pleasant surprise.
Highlights were Bridge Over Troubled Waters and In My Life, both worse covers of original songs. I love old Jonny Cash, but not a fan of newer albums. 3/10
Would have been 3 but then Danny Boy came on
I love Johnny.....but most of these didn't do much for me. "Hurt" is a masterpiece. Most of the rest were better if I wasn't familiar with the original. I appreciate how minimal and raw this production is.
Removed Album #36 (List: https://pastebin.com/cSThNiK9) From the Vault #28 (March 8, 2026) I'm surprised that a Johnny Cash album was pulled from the list, especially since three albums kind of feels like the listmakers are lowballing his importance. Two albums is definitely a scandalous number now that this one is gone. Granted, I don't know very much about Cash, so maybe he was more of a singles guy than an album fellow. It's been a very long time since I last listened to a Johnny Cash album. "At Folsom Prison" was album #23, meaning Johnny Cash could have the largest album gap on this list. Future me, please let me know the distance between these two albums in the alotted space: [567, with this being my second Cash album. I don't think any album is going to beat this number]. Okay, I love you future me even though I'm long dead thank you bye-bye. A cover album, huh? I guess I know why this album was removed, though I'll save my speculating for later. I was on board with this album for the first half, though my attention began to wane pretty heavily during the second. With the exception of "Danny Boy" and one very special tune, these songs carry themselves more or less identically. It's just Johnny putting on a show for me in a run-down apartment complex with his upbeat acoustic guitar and waxy vocals. The solitude is humbling and nice at first, but I was banging on the walls and begging to be let out by the end. The emptiness of these songs and their general sameyness became claustrophobic after a while. Oh, cool. "Hurt" is on this thing. I've heard this song through my Dad. Learning that this was a cover of a Nine Inch Nails song was one of the more shocking music-related experiences I've had in my life. My Dad didn't know either, so I was able to shock him as well. I mean, what is there to say about it? It's one of the best covers ever. I admittedly haven't listened to the NIN original, but I don't need to in order to know that Cash completely owns this version. There really is something to hearing an acoustic cover of this song from a decrepit man on his deathbed. The vocals are the strongest aspect for this reason - the shakiness is very affecting. The instrumental is no slouch, however. I particularly like the thudding piano during the chorus, and the acoustic guitar complements that stretch of the song beautifully. It gives the song a great, thundering sense of finality. My only real complaint is that the mastering on the vocals is quite strange during the final stretch, even if that raucousness is what makes it one of the best parts of the song. Time to sleuth for reasons as to why this album was removed. Let's see. Included in the original 1001 lineup and pulled from either the 2010 or 2011 update of the book (I don't have a scan of the 2010 revision). Not a long shelf life in the grand scheme of things. The book entry says that this album released one year before Johnny Cash died and is the last to be released within his lifetime. "As ever, Cash is largely working with other people's songs, using his solemn timbre and empathy to make them his own." I guess he's always been a cover act then, huh? The music video for Hurt won an award. Hit or miss - the book singles out "Danny Boy" as a weaker cut. Wikipedia reveals that this album is considered one of Cash's best, had a few guests on the backing vocals and was met with modest success on the European and Western charts. Like many of the other ex-list albums, the removal of this one boils down to it being an easy target. These list curators are simpering pussies who won't go after anything released prior to 1997, instead cannibalising the contemporary picks. This album only having one original track and Hurt being the stand-out tune by a wide margin are obviously what devastate this album. That being said, I think I can stick my neck out for this one. It makes a nice headstone for a tortured soul. I cosign this inclusion.
This was dull - someone needed to tell him to take a step back from the microphone, because the last thing I needed to hear in my headphones was the sounds of an old man's mouth churning and smacking, punctuating every word.
cover songs, they're ok. I don't really like this album. I would hope that Johnny Cash, instead of covering hit songs, at least work with writers or cover more obscure tunes. Just a boring album. Lotsa strumming. The only good tune here is the Hank cover. 2.
J’aurais mis 3 étoile sur 5 mais les seule bonne toune il les a voler so yeah 🫤
No me generó nada, ups.
I never liked it. It came out when I worked at hmv. I couldn’t cross that country divide with the man in black. To me it’s slow, drags out and really lacks emotion.
This album is so popular and highly regarded that whatever I say here might be taken the wrong way. It really is a beautiful album, but it is just not my taste. Also, some of the songs have become almost too popular over the years. Even just the "I hurt myself" intro has reached a meme-like status at this point.
2002 год. Кэшу 70, он почти потерял зрение, сессии записи прерывались на госпитализации. Рик Рубин продюсировал так же, как и всегда — минимализм, голос, гитара. Получился последний альбом, который Кэш успел выпустить при жизни. Wikipedia Большинство треков — каверы, но это слово тут не работает. Когда 70-летний умирающий мужик поёт "Hurt" Nine Inch Nails — это уже не кавер, это что-то другое. Трент Резнор потом сказал, что песня после этого обрела совсем другое значение. Фиона Эппл, Ник Кейв, Дон Хенли заходят на отдельные треки, но альбом держится на одном — на голосе человека, которому больше нечего доказывать и некуда торопиться. Он умрёт через год.
Not a fan of country music, I appreciate the interpretation of well known song but I care about creation 2/5
Está bueno. Un blues chill. La mayoría no son obras de él, sino covers.
A good album but not really my cup of tea
Whiny, draggy, and sparse. Intentionally so, but bored me to tears. At least Johnny is decent at being emotionally evocative with his mournful sound. Just not my thing. He did at least do Big Iron, which is a bad cover, but a song I like.
This one is hard for me. On the one hand, the context of this album makes me appreciate just how hard it hits and sometimes that did win me over, especially near the end. On the other hand, I was struggling to enjoy this album. I just found it was mixed poorly, with Johnny's voice sounding to close. While some say this helps with the sombre tone of the album, I just found it takes away from the experience. Covers are fine but some of them didn't seem to fit. Moreover, the original songs were just confusing to me, especially the first song. Overall, I think this might be more a dig at Rick Ruben but I wouldn't want to listen to it again.
In this more or less country album Johnny Cash covers a lot of different well known songs. At its best his deeply weathered vocals feel like reading someone’s final handwritten letters by firelight: haunting, deeply human, and emotionally overwhelming. At its worst, it feels like a sorrowfully painted clown stumbling through tired cabaret routines while the audience waits in a mix of pity and discomfort for the curtain to finally fall.
medio embole che
This was fine
Me and my friend hated this. We liked Sam Hell tho. DAMN YOUR EYES
Hurt ist immer noch nen banger, der Rest ist eher solala, Johnny war schon mal energiegeladener und besser, die coversongs sind dann so bisschen mittelmäßig.
An album of ups (The Man Comes Around, Hurt) and downs (Like a Bridge over Troubled Waters, Danny Boy).
Good album of cover songs.
Never did I think a country singer would do a cover of Depeche Mode. It sucked.
i bet this sounds great if you're attuned to country music... i personally found this challenging to get through till the end. there were some things i liked: the story in "i hung my head", the weird droning in the outro of "bridge over troubled waters" (reminded me of exit to a film, i looked everywhere to see if it was just a niche instrument or sample but i couldn't find anything), the guitar in "personal jesus", and the music box chime in the outro of "in my life". this was definitely worlds better than the average country song. now for the negative. i'm not a fan of his cover of "we'll meet again"... his voice doesn't convey enough emotion for that kind of song. i enjoyed the heavy baritone vocals and all, i just don't find it very moving. granted, there are few male vocalists who convey emotion in a way that i can connect with. i suppose the album is objectively well-produced, but the point of art, in my opinion, is to evoke some kind of feeling. young thug evokes more feeling in me than this. talking about sad things in your music doesn't inherently make you deep, or maybe droning on and on about other people's problems just isn't my cup of tea.
What men will do instead of going into therapy: Johnny Cash version.
country benlik değil ya çok sevemedim. güzel de söylemiyo.
87-й студийный альбом. Ни слова больше.
Me duele un poco darle tan bajo porque me gusta mucho Hurt. Pero la mayoría de los temas de este álbum son un espanto. Y además ese fue el peor cover de los beatles de la historia (y mirá que tiene competencia). Se rescata levemente porque me gustó el último cover.
This is not the type of music I heard, I prefer other versions of this songs
L: 3 M: 6 F: 4 O: 4
This was an exploitative cash grab. Instead of talent it relies on the idea of a personality singing other genres stripped down to what he was capable of at the time.
A touching album towards the end of a legend's life. At face value, it's a somber collection of acoustic tracks, mostly covers, and there's not much here to come back to for me. I question this inclusion on this list, to be blunt, but I look forward to getting an album from a younger Johnny.
I like Johnny Cash but surely there’s an album of his originals that can be on this list.
noni noni
I didn't like it, it's not for me.
Not a fan of Johnny Cash, and having to listen to him kill some covers cause me more pain than hurt.
Interesting to hear a couple of songs that other artists have covered. Overall felt depressing 😭
Its an interesting reflection and made me more interested in his life. Its overall not bad just unfortunately not my thing. Best: Bridge over troubled waters Favorite: We'll meet again cover/Sam Hall Least/Worst: I'm so lonesome I could cry Other standouts: Desperado, Danny boy and tear stained letter. Replayability: 4/10 enjoyability: 10/10 The type of stuff they would play in Fallout
I dig Folsom Prison a lot but Cash is not my cup of tea.
Highlights: Hurt, Personal Jesus, In My Life Shit's extremely monotonous. I get that some people like this style, but found it extremely mid since it was mostly covers (felt low effort).
Erstmal: Mit der „America“-Serie hat JC sich eindeutig als Cover-Artist positioniert. Eine Art Anti-Dylan (der hat die Songs geschrieben, die von anderen besser performt wurden). Diese Covers sind deutlich besser als seine eigenen Songs. Sorry, steinigt mich. Instrumentierung Arrangement und Produktion sind hervorragend und passen hervorragend zu seiner Stimme. Ich mag ihn halt einfach nicht. Das liegt mehr an seinen „Fans“ (die zu 90% nicht wissen, dass ‚Hurt‘ ein NIN Song ist). Dieses ganze Cowboy-Hinterwäldlerding, und da kann er auch wirklich nichts dafür, weil er ja politisch wohl auch absolut stabil war. Ich würde trotzdem 10x lieber mit Arlo Guthrie-Fans oder Willie Nelson-Fans auf eine lange Autofahrt gehen. Wenn JC ein lokaler Cover-Live-Act wäre, oder in der Fußgängerzone spielt, ich wäre ein Fan. Sehe einfach die monumentale Bedeutung nicht. Noch schlimmer: American III ist das bessere Album, ich nehme an dass es mehr um „Hurt“ ging aber das Format heißt leider 1001 Albums und nicht „Singles“. Wirklich grauenerregend: Bridge over troubled water. Da funktioniert das Original ja schon nur gerade so. Hier bluten mir die Ohren. Ich hab auch nichts gegen Jaulemusik (Harris/Knopfler ist z.b gutes Gejaule) aber das ist der Moment, wo der Opa abgeholt werden sollte weil alle Zuhörer schon die Flucht ergriffen haben.
Johnny Cash returns with his brand new record 'songs you love, done worse'. This album includes classics such as 'in your life', 'bridge over still water' and 'personal Mohamed'. Buy it now... Or better don't!
Muy Yankee, no es lo mío, si sos un NPC te puede parecer brillante, si sos algo un poco más complejo te vas a aburrir. Igualmente no está mal.
All credit to the man and his legacy, but this album feels like diminishing returns for a Rick Rubin vanity project. Only 'Hurt' rises above gimmick status.
i really really tried to be open minded about this album, however. geriatric johnny cash cover album was a real struggle to get through. i also think the more i loved the original songs the more painful it was to listen to the covers - i cant think of any songs improved by his version. im gonna go listen to the eagles now
Love earlier Cash. This was painful. Would have been a 1 if not for the Hurt cover.
Cash always has a raw and warm sound. Not my favourite but some good stuff in here.
This does almost nothing for me. Sorry. 4/10
I've spent my whole life bugging up Johnny Cash and it's only now I realise I'm probably wrong. Credit where it's due: putting out an album, albeit one that's fine at best, when you're running on fumes is a hell of an achievement. But this feels like everything from the cutting room floor. Contrary to what I might have said 10 years ago, his cover of Hurt isn't better than NINs, and I'd happily say that about all of these covers.
🤔
Rant incoming. I joined this list hoping to be introduced to new music and broaden my horizons a bit. Unfortunately the list seems to have been compiled by an 80 year old gammon, so I'm forced to listen to old timey nonsense day in and day out. Johnny Cash is fine but he's just so boring. I stopped listening after 4-5 tracks. I wish I could get a daily album from the users list instead. At least there might be some interesting, up to date music on there. Unfortunately I'm only 100+ albums into this list, so I have 3 years to go.
Primera impresion, nostalgica de forma linda. Dios mio que sencillez, que melancolia, que convencionalmente bien hecho. Una lagrimita, letras duras. Awww el cover de the beatles u.u. Que buen solo el de sam hall! Likes: The man comes around - Hurt - Give my love to rose - I hung my head - Danny Boy
Never understood the love for the Hurt cover. The original works so well because of several things, not least of which is its placement in The Downward Spiral. It's part of a much larger piece and its power is magnified by all that has come before. Also, the alteration of 'crown of shit' to 'crown of thorns' has always bothered me. There's a strange tendency to lionize these 'profound statement' albums from artists late in their career. Leonard Cohen's 'You Want It Darker,' Dylan's 'Time Out Of Mind,' and of course 'American IV.' Give me their early, passionate, vibrant work any day over these tomes of boredom.
Made for old dudes going through a mid life crisis, not for me
it just droned on for me. I probably tuned a bit of it out 5/10
Nobody needed First Time I Saw Your Face, In My Life or Danny Boy. Too depressing and not sung well! We’ll Meet Again was kind of lovely.
A lot of covers weren't doing it for me. Everything sounds dour. 2.5
Møkk kjedelig!
Også hørt på flyet til Lakselv lol. Dette syntes jeg er sykt, sykt kjedelig og gubbete. Sliter med å konsentrere meg om å høre, føles ut som hele plata er i slomo.
Noen store låter her, men blir altså noe voldsomt mett på stemmen underveis. Tungt å fordøye.
About as stark a contrast to Bad Bunny as I can imagine. Throughout this listen I've been thinking, man life is short, this old guy is dying imminently. And as i reflected on how fleeting life is I realized life's too short to listen to this album. I'd rather be juking and jiving to the latin rhythms of Bad Bunny, Ricky Martin (and Lady Gaga).
not a fan of opening track, dont love the voice. i dont like his voice, sound feels boring
he didn't need to do covers
his voice soothes me
More a fan of Cash’s older stuff
I know this is considered one of a thousand and one albums to listen before you die BUT: seriously could it be anymore depressing.
Interesting but I wouldn’t have chosen it. I like some of Cash’s songs prior to listening to this but not a fan.
Voz y guitarra, ninguna de ellas demasiado impresionante. Tiene voz, sí, pero no canta, solo habla, o directamente canta mal, tampoco es que la música sea maravillosa. Simplemente agradable. Pero no me gusta demasiado la música country. 5/10.
Not my style. Cash has a great voice but the theme and vibe doesn't do it for me. Or at least I'd get more out of Nick Cave for the same feel with more substance
nahhh
Can see why this is on the list, but it doesn't do much for me. Apart from a couple of standouts (Hurt and Personal Jesus mainly), I don't find the covers very compelling, and the originals are just OK.
i didn't came around this album
Glad to have tried some Johnny Cash, but doesn’t hit hard for me.
More talking than singing. Great country music, bummer I hate country
я не можу змусити себе слухати кантрі💔 але пісня hurt доволі непогана
This is probably biased because I’m not a Johnny Cash fan in general, but not a great first album to be generated. Not one of these covers is better than the original version. Sorry, just not my preference.
I'll never be a fan of cover albums. Even the context of this album's creation did not change much of my opinion. The only highlights were the few original songs. Overall, this left me feeling very bored. Two stars. (Favorite track: The Man Comes Around.)
Grandes artistas não necessariamente fazem grandes álbuns
ehh i like johnny cash all of these songs are just a little simple for me
I’m not really a fan of country. Plus it’s an album of covers. Not a fan of Johnny Cash either and the songs here are boring and repetitive. Next!
Johnny Cash is cool, so you'd like to give a good review. However, many of these covers do not work. The best tracks are the unknown (to me) country songs.
Grandpa music. The lyrics seem to tell a great story tho.
☆☆ Just not really my thing.
Generational cover of hurt
Walks the line (pun intended) between fitting swansong for a legend and Elder abuse....almost.
Non amante del country, un po' ripetitivo
Initially, I was not fond of the idea of listening to Johnny Cash. After listening to Bridge Over Troubled Water my opinion started to change with the smoothness of his voice. Not something I'd usually listen to, but it was a warm sentiment while it lasted. I can feel the pain of his life in his voice as he sings with heart and soul. At the midpoint of the album, it takes a happier tone compared to the first 4 songs. When 'Danny Boy' comes around, you can feel the album coming to a close. This feels extremely melancholic, as it's the last of Johnny's published work while he was alive. I enjoyed my listening experience, especially with the ending of We'll Meet Again a perfect ending to Johnny's music career and life.
cant say that i liked any of these renditions more than the ogs
I find some of the songs very moving, but so many of them are also either uninteresting or feel like iterations on his older music that I much prefer. I am also not really interested in most of the covers
Found this disappointing. Some of the covers are a poor choice as don’t translate well to Cash’s voice and the choice of instrumentation to accompany it - ‘first time I ever saw your face’ in particular. Hurt is quite obviously the standout here, with Reznor saying that the song “doesn’t belong to me any more” but one great song does not a good album make.
ok
I have a lot of respect for Johnny Cash, but for him to cover The Beatles, Eagles, Simon & Garfunkel, etc., is a stretch.
Eher en Roadblock. Nid so spass gmacht zum lose
Justifiably an ex-1001 album. Tramp the dirt down. Maybe it would have been more essential if he did another grave NIN cover like Closer to go alongside Hurt instead of corny dross like Danny Boy and We’ll Meet Again.
Gostei dos duetos com a Fiona Apple e o Nick Cave. E também da música que dá título ao álbum; mas não do estilo, a espiritualidade parece-me também opaca. Pá, pode ser um tesouro nacional americano mas não me diz nada, menos ainda nuns estados desunidos da américa de 2025. 2,5/5
Oh Johnny. This is a bit painful. There are some covers I really rate because they provide something interesting and worthwhile (Hurt, Personal Jesus, maybe Streets of Laredo is alright too) but so much of this is unnecessary and a difficult listen.
Manages to start with some pretty gruff atmospheric leathery vocals which surprised me with a level of enjoyment. There were even some Nick Cave style parts which took me back with reasonable enjoyment (I mean it literally sounded like him which I liked). Then it either dive bombed or I got tired of the soft melodramatic ramblings. OK he can add his Gruffalo power and emotion to pretty much anything it seems but in the end the intensity and delivery killed it. I could have given this a 3 had it not been for some terrible songs amongst better and this style for the most part not resonating with me. I kind of want to be a Cash convert but I am yet to find my calling.
No molesta, está bien, pero a mi esto no me va mucho.
I really didn’t enjoy it
Well well well. This may have been Johnny's last album, but he certainly lives on as my enemy. Compared to Leonard Cohen's last album, I feel nothing (except annoyance about 'Hurt', as detailed previously and probably a little bit forthcomingly). However, I never knew this was an album of mostly covers. That makes me feel a bit better. And 'The Man Comes Around' reminds me of GenKill, so that's alright. It's still hard for me to get through this version of 'Hurt', though. I gotta listen to the original a few times after this as a palate cleanser. If it weren't a cover, I'd think "sure, this is a good song". But I can't disentangle! It's too precious to me! (The only other time I felt such a deep sense of musical wrongness is Nas's 'I Can', also from 2002 (rough year), which samples Beethoven's Für Elise. Luckily that song is nowhere near as acclaimed). Apparently Trent Rezzie himself is a fan (now), but if everyone can death-of-the-author this song then I can death-of-the-author the author's take on this cover >:( After track 2 it's like the birds are singing sweetly in the trees, where the birds are Old Johnny Cash. The relief of not hearing 'Hurt' anymore is making all the songs better. Is this album good?? It's better than the live prison one. But I'm also annoyed about 'Bridge Over Troubled Water', although inherently less so because I like the song less. I like Fiona Apple but whatever they're doing here is not for me. Luckily I don't know the Sting song so I don't have any big feelings about that one. (Sting and Bono seem like a natural class to me. I also had to look up again that Sting=Police. It's so hard to internalize!!) I also didn't know 'First Time Ever I Saw Your Face', but I read with delight on Wiki that the writer "MacColl made no secret of the fact that he disliked all of the cover versions of the song"... until I saw MacColl died in 1989. Nevertheless I have faith he would be a fellow Cash-cover-hater. This version of the song is a real snoozer, anyway. All these songs are kinda the same vibe, which I guess is the point, and that's fine, but I actually hate it. OK, there's some variation: 'Personal Jesus' made me lol a little because it was done in such earnest, and it's not one of my favorite Depeche Modes (having already been somewhat ruined by Marilyn Manson), so I didn't mind the Cashification. And at least the keyboards added something. But I do really like the OG 'In My Life', so I hate this version!!!!! If this was just a personal project he did for himself, it's great, it's beautiful, but don't make me listen to it. 'Sam Hall' is new to me, basically a folk song, and fits a classic Cash ethos, so I'm fine with that one. Same for 'Danny Boy', which I do know, but as a sad classic, I'm fine with it being here. 'Desperado' is already a hated song, so that's a perfect choice to cover! JC should have done all Eagles songs; the only way is up. This cover is fine, possibly better than the original. Like 'Danny Boy', 'I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry' fits very well. What is Nick Cave doing here!? Everyone's endorsing this album...! Fine song though, thanks Nick. 'Streets of Laredo' (alas, "going gay" not enough to win over this listener) is a good fit, although I'm starting to feel the length of the album. The back 4 are also fine, though uninteresting. Can't believe I made it 36 years never hearing 'Big Iron' and now I'm hearing it twice in one year. Still prefer the trail songs. This whole project is like one giant memory challenge, and I fear I'm failing. 'Tear Stained Letter' is fine, and it's not a cover! See what could have been!! I could make a 10-track version of this album that would be totally acceptable, actually. Here it is: /The Man Comes Around, Give My Love to Rose, Sam Hall, Danny Boy, Desperado, I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry, Streets of Laredo, Wichita Lineman, Tear Stained Letter, We'll Meet Again/ Nice 'n tight, poignant, evocative, no covers that fill you with passionate rage... what could have been!!! Whew, I worked myself into quite a lather. Anyway, glad to have gotten this one over with. 'We'll Meet Again' is a nice finale. Sorry to the Cashheads; this is a 2 because I hate 'Hurt' more than any other song, but my 10-track cut would have been a respectable high 3. Highlights: 'The Man Comes Around', 'I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry', 'We'll Meet Again' (to the tune of 'Personal Jesus') My Own, Personal, Lowlight (of the entire 1001+ albums): 'Hurt'.
One of the best covers of all the time, a coupla other good tracks and a lotta dull stuff.
I don't think this album should be on this list. I think his cover of 'Personal Jesus' especially shows that there's not really much left of whatever made him a well-regarded artist over there. Let him retire. The album itself is also just boring country, slow songs, and that tired voice.
Just an album of covers that don't sound better or even as good as the originals. Hurt isn't bad but had to skip through most of the rest
Like a nice lolo singing. Also nice Simon & Garfunkel cover.
4/10 This is the album of a man coming to terms with the end of his life. Largely, the songs relate somewhat to that context and, at its best, it’s a poignant and touching piece of work. Unfortunately, it isn’t actually at its best for all that long. When the frailty of his delivery works with the style of the songs, there are moments of magic, like Hurt, I Hung My Head and First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, but there are also times when it just doesn’t connect and the weakness in his voice becomes a weakness of the song as a whole, Bridge Over Troubled Water being a fine example. There are parts of that song that just soar with the correct vocal delivery, but here it just falls flat and sounds weak. And things aren’t helped by the production. In places, things sound super sharp and crisp, but there are places where Johnny’s vocal mic is way too hot and it throws distortion over the main focus of the track while the rest of the instruments are super clean, so it just sounds off. There are also a few areas where the mix of instruments feels a little jarring to my ear. I think one issue with this album is the length. If it had been kept to a tight 35 minutes, this would have probably worked far better. Cut out some of the lulls and I might have been more engaged in some of these tracks. But the truth is, the tracks on this album that I like are almost exclusively tracks that I would choose the original to listen to over Old Johnny Cash’s rendition. I appreciate what Johnny was going for with this, but, despite a few genuinely lovely moments, as a whole it was just a bit wide of the target. The Man Comes Around - This is ok. I quite like the transition from verse to chorus, but it’s a bit too repetitive for fairly big chunks. His voice has echoes of what it once was, but it’s faltering and doesn’t convey the power that would have benefitted this song. Hurt - This was a genius track selection, taking the song of a young man struggling with life and reframing it as the song of an old man coming to the end of his. The stripped back nature of the orchestration works so well. It’s a shame about the clipped vocal recording as it would sound better clean to my ears. The dynamic growth of the track is brilliant and the way it just rings out at the end is perfect. A brilliant performance of a brilliant song. Give My Love To Rose - This is nice enough, I suppose. It’s pretty simple, but it’s just not vastly interesting. Bridge Over Troubled Water - Oof. The weakness of his voice here really doesn’t work. The instrumentation is a bit odd too. I think there’s a couple of mellotron parts in there that don’t work well with the acoustic instruments in this mix. Fiona Apple’s vocal is just weird too. This is just bad. I Hung My Head - This is better. The frailty of his voice works better with the song and the way that the dynamic of the track changes with the instrumentation is nice. It’s not over-orchestrated like the previous song was either. First Time Ever I Saw Your Face - Again, stylistically this works. It’s sparse and poignant. The instrumentation is subtle and mainly takes up the lower register, with only the arpeggiated guitar offering some brightness. It clips the vocal again near the end, which is annoying, but this was a really decent track. Personal Jesus - This is a bit of a mixed bag. I actually quite like the arrangement and the track itself, but the slightly lazy drawl of the vocal just takes something away from it for me. I just don’t quite believe in the delivery. In My Life - This is such a pretty song and it is quite a poignant delivery in a way, but it’s also quite a weak delivery that takes something away from the purity of the melody to my ears. I do not like the glockenspiel at all. It’s just sounds rubbish. Sam Hall - This is just an old country song. It sounds like a thousand other country songs and there’s nothing there to elevate it above that. I don’t hate it, and I quite like the bouncy rhythm of it, but it’s just nothing special and lyrically it’s just boring. Danny Boy - Oh do fuck off. It’s an overplayed song, his timing is all over the shop, and it’s boring. Desperado - Another one where the instrumental is nice. Another one where his vocal doesn’t connect and it just gets worse when Don Henley comes in for some random lines and is recorded too hot. Big old bucket of meh. I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry - At least this duet actually connects a little bit better than the two previous ones. There’s just so little pace to this that it feels like it’s almost at a standstill. Tear Stained Letter - I quite like this song actually. It’s got a bit of zip to it. The piano part gives it a bit of momentum and dynamism. He actually sounds a bit invigorated in his delivery of the vocal here too. It’s not the most exciting song in the world, but it’s decent enough. Streets Of Laredo - Well this song seems longer than three and a half minutes. It’s just the same four bars round and round again. I know it’s supposed to be about the story, but it’s just relentless. We’ll Meet Again - Calm down, Uncle Albert. This is just bad. His vocal is bad, the orchestration is uninspired and it’s just a terrible way for Johnny Cash to wave goodbye to the world. Oh, and the shit gang vocals have just come in. Shit Sandwich.
I love johnny, but this shit was depressing. I would've loved this about 10 years ago.
Some good covers, but the fact remains that I don't like Johnny Cash's music, or this style of country in general.
2.5 - Meh
me pegou num péssimo dia nunca gostei do cash, ainda não foi dessa vez
I'm going to take a stand and dislike this album even though it's one of the most beloved of all time. I do like the instrumentation and the lyrics. However Johnny Cash just can't hit the notes he's supposed to be singing. Maybe other people like that, but it makes it impossible for me to enjoy listening to him.
I like Johnny Cash but all songs on this album sound the same. Not an album I would sit done and listen from beginning to end.
Hurt är odödlig och albumets lore är väldigt fint, men det räcker tyvärr inte långt när resten är så trött. RIP <3
2.5 stars This was a downer. Nearly every song is about death, aging, pain, or sadness. Obviously these topics were on Johnny’s mind as he was nearing the end of his life and wasn’t well. But it was pretty tough to listen to such a sombre collection of songs, even though he does a very impressive job of making the songs his own. By the time we got to Danny Boy I couldn’t take the sad songs anymore. Highlights: -The Man Comes Around - this one is an original, I think. You could have told me this was an old classic and I would’ve believed it. -Hurt - iconic. -Personal Jesus - I love the Depeche Mode original and I enjoyed Johnny’s stripped down take.
Back to the land of people who talk as much as sing…This was a bit disappointing. ‘Personal Jesus’ is strong, but I’d feel better about liking it if it hadn’t been used as the soundtrack for a TV commercial for, I guess, Jesus? Some of the covers are a bit weak and bland, too slow and almost depressing. Songs about bashing folks heads in and then getting hanged because of it - no thank you. I’ll stick with his earlier work, thank you very much.
So Sad.
American IV: The Man Comes Around by Johnny Cash: 5/10, The most American album you'll ever hear, to the point that admiration for his music is deeply embedded in modern American culture. I have no previous connection to Cash's music, or any disposition really. What caught me so off guard about this album, even from when I heard Johnny Cash's version of Hurt a while back, is that he just doesn't sound good as a singer. I know he had a rough life but this is entirely seperate from that, the state of his voice at the time of recording these songs was not good, and it doesn't make it feel raw in a good way. The delivery of his vocals also takes away from the flow of the lyrics in the original songs that he covers, it makes it feel like he wants to make it his own but doesn't know how to. Without spending all my time talking about why I dislike Johnny Cash's vocals, I don't really have much to say about this album because it overall felt quite unremarkable
Johnny Cash deserves his legend status, there were certainly some moments worth preserving, and I'm of course glad this album exists for posterity, but overall I really just don't understand the acclaim. The over-simplified version of Bridge over Troubled Water stood out as exemplifying the broader issues; it stripped a lot of what makes the original so compelling, and didn't offer anything particularly noteworthy in its place. I typically love and actively seek out inspired covers that expand upon and/or transform their respective originals, but for the most part that's just not what was recorded here. The whole album felt like being back in the audience at Brian Wilson's later concerts—could we maybe have just let this brilliant, talented man take a load off after so many years?
This just ain't for me
es war bisher das beste album, ich mag „the man comes around“, also das lies, ich hab es geliked. zudem erinnert mich das ganze album und der stil an meinen vater.