1001 Albums Summary

There should be a separate genre for old artists who make a final swansong album and absolutely knock it out of the park, using their age and wisdom to their advantage. Think Bowie's "Blackstar" and Leonard Cohen's "You Want It Darker". But the album that really kicked it all off was Johnny Cash's "American IV: The Man Comes Around". Here Cash is completely spent. A lifetime of touring, debauchery, and drugs have finally caught up with him, and he makes no attempt to hide it. He has nothing else to give but his soul, which he thought was long since lost. But not with anything new. Every song on this album is a cover. But not a single song sounds like a cheap cop-out. Cash's deathly croon gives the songs a special kind of energy that are completely detached from the original songs. From the anti-drug anthem "Hurt" by Nine Inch Nails to the melancholy "Bridge Over Troubled Water" by Simon and Garfunkel to the resolute "We'll Meet Again" by Vera Lynn, Johnny Cash wheezes like an old gramophone, wearily singing over a raw production of a backing band. This is Cash at death's door. Reaching the end of the 5 stages of grief after living the lives of many men combined. And at the end of it all, he still has a story to tell. Standout Songs: "Hurt" "Bridge Over Troubled Water" "I Hang My Head" "We'll Meet Again"