performances that roll from gospel to cowboy to sarcastic folk. Minimalism had long been Cash's meal ticket, but this time around, producer Rick Rubin stripped ...
performances that roll from gospel to cowboy to sarcastic folk. Minimalism had long been Cash's meal ticket, but this time around, producer Rick Rubin stripped ...
performances that roll from gospel to cowboy to sarcastic folk. Minimalism had long been Cash's meal ticket, but this time around, producer Rick Rubin stripped ...
performances that roll from gospel to cowboy to sarcastic folk. Minimalism had long been Cash's meal ticket, but this time around, producer Rick Rubin stripped ...
performances that roll from gospel to cowboy to sarcastic folk. Minimalism had long been Cash's meal ticket, but this time around, producer Rick Rubin stripped it all away, recording the bulk of the record in Cash's cabin or his own living room (two cuts were captured live at the Viper Room in front of an emphatic audience). Cash offers five typically direct and vivid originals, but he also seizes control of songs by Kris Kristofferson, Nick Lowe, Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits and Loudon Wainwright. 40 years after "Hey Porter", Cash delivers a pure, naked, and incredibly moving record that, dare we say, rivals the impact of his greatest achievements. --Marc Greilsamer
performances that roll from gospel to cowboy to sarcastic folk. Minimalism had long been Cash's meal ticket, but this time around, producer Rick Rubin stripped itallaway, recording the bulk of the record in Cash's cabin or his own living room (two cuts were captured live at the Viper Room in front of an emphatic audience). Cash offers five typically direct and vivid originals, but he also seizes control of songs by Kris Kristofferson, Nick Lowe, Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits and Loudon Wainwright. 40 years after "Hey Porter", Cash delivers a pure, naked, and incredibly moving record that, dare we say, rivals the impact of his greatest achievements. --Marc Greilsamer
Label / Distributor: American/Columbia / Sony Music/Arvato Services
Producer: Rick Rubin
Pieces in Set: 1
Studio / Live: Studio
Stereo: Stereo
Format: Performer
EAN: 886971770728
Catalogue Number: 88697177072
Additional notes
Album Notes: Solo performer: Johnny Cash (vocals, acoustic guitar). Includes liner notes by Johnny Cash. AMERICAN RECORDINGS won the 1995 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album. Johnny Cash is back and better than ever. The legendary Man In Black is now recording for a modern rock label, and is being produced by hard-core rap/rock guru Rick Rubin--and the results are startling. Spare and stripped to the bone, AMERICAN RECORDINGS is Johnny Cash at his artistic zenith. An original acoustic ballad, the opening "Delia's Gone" is a watershed accomplishment. Wryly capturing the art of the death ballad, it presents a thoroughly textured dramatic piece, both horrifying and humorous. The same can be said for Cash's droll reading of Loudon Wainwright's "The Man Who Could Not Cry." An extremely religious man, Johnny includes several songs dealing with themes of redemption, righteousness and spiritual salvation. Sandwiched between those two songs is a character-rich, eclectic collection of material by writers like Leonard Cohen, British rocker/ex-son-in-law Nick Lowe, Tom Waits, death-metal god Glenn Danzig, and Cash himself. With his resounding baritone--which is in the best form of his long career--and restricted guitar technique, Cash is the centerpiece, creating a sound that is uniquely American--proud, solitary, nearly broken, yet defiant. Johnny Cash, alone with a single guitar, is commanding in his dry, unencumbered intensity. AMERICAN RECORDINGS reaffirms his unique musical prowess, and presents his glorious shadowy skills to a new generation.
Album Reviews: Rolling Stone (5/13/99, p.60) - Included in Rolling Stone's "Essential Recordings of the 90's." Rolling Stone (5/19/94, p.97) - 5 Stars - Classic - "...exactly the sort of album Cash needed to make...Cash alone with an acoustic guitar, confronting traditional folk songs...AMERICAN RECORDINGS is...fiercely true to the legend of Johnny Cash and entirely contemporary...." Entertainment Weekly (9/26/03, p.34) - "...A bare-bones masterpiece that...captures the tortured, aspirant soul of a master." Q (9/94, p.117) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...There simply won't be a braver or more honest record all year..." Uncut (5/04, p.108) - "[T]he sparse, parched mood is closer to his original Sun recordings..." Musician (6/94, p.77) - "...a spellbinding and thought-provoking album that sounds literally ageless...an uplifting word about walking the line from one who has walked it more often, and more steadily, than most...." Village Voice (2/28/95) - Ranked #7 in the Village Voice's 1994 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll. Mojo (Publisher) (p.67) - Ranked #2 in Mojo's "100 Modern Classics" -- "[A] raw, bitter album that - once again - made Cash an anti-hero superstar." Mojo (Publisher) (1/95, p.51) - Included in Mojo's "25 Best Albums of 1994" - "...Johnny Cash sings Danzig... You'd better believe it." NME (Magazine) (12/24/94, p.22) - Ranked #23 in NME's list of the `Top 50 Albums Of 1994.' NME (Magazine) (10/8/94, p.46) - 9 - Excellent Plus - "...This is an album wreathed in shadows, a confessional and autobiographical work that is, in the end, uplifting and life affirming because the message is taught through adversity, ill luck and fighting for survival..." NME (Magazine) (11/12/94) - Ranked as NME's Album Of The Month - "...these stark, acoustic songs add yet another layer of Cash myth..."
Advantages: Play - When you're weary and feeling small... Disadvantages: Don't Play - When you're with your skater buddies.
...This fabulous album was robbed of being the last throw by the late, great JohnnyCash by the dodgy decision to release American V, a wholly lesser album.
So If you have no other Cashrecording in your collection you must get this one. It's the voice of a reformed hell-raiser, drug addict and truly God-fearing man on the brink of final personal oblivion. It's difficult to tell when the tremble in his voice is emotion and when it's simple frailty. I like to believe it's the one caused by the other.
Stand-out tracks - The monumental "Hurt" is the show-stopper here, made more emotional by the realisation that Cash is singing with first-hand experience of the subject matter.
The cover of Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus" is a close second for track of the album. Succinct and direct acoustic guitar backing pushes the song along nicely...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: Sombre, poignant, affecting Disadvantages: Couple of right royal stinkers
...WHO'S THIS THEN?
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It's JohnnyCash: the biggest and possibly most famous country singer ever. He recorded well over 75 albums and some 1100 tracks in a career spanning 50 years. He died at the end of 2003, shortly after the release of this album.
WHAT'S THE ALBUM LIKE?
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Johnny knew he was dying when he recorded this album and so it makes it possibly one of the saddest, sentimental albums ever in that respect. He recorded a quadrilogy of albums in the 21st century with Rick Rubin (who produced Beastie Boys and Run DMC in the 80s and Korn in the 90s). I personally detest country music, but there's something about Cash's voice - and this album in particular - that proves the exception to the rule.
THE TRACKS
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1. The Man Comes Around...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: It's Johnny Cash Man Disadvantages: None, It's Johnny Cash Man
...In 1994 JohnnyCash made a triumphant comeback and stuck two fingers firmly up at Nashville. His recording contract with Columbia had ended and the folks in Nashville thought that vaudeville acts like the loathsome Garth brooks and downright awful Billy Ray Cyrus were considered to be the future of country music. Johnny was considered a has-been. Thank the lord that he met up with Rick Rubin, who would go on to produce his last four albums.
The partnership with Rubin and his label Americanrecordings was two fingers firmly stuck up at Nashville, and had a significant effect on the future of country music.
The idea Rick had was to record just Johnny and his guitar, with no session musicians. This is just what you get Johnny's soothing baritone, his guitar, and the songs. Absolutely beautiful music well done with no frills...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
helpful 13.02.2006
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