JOHNNY CASH - American Recordings LP

180 gram vinyl.

A marvelous return to form (not to mention both critical credibility and commercial success) from Johnny Cash. Rick Rubin is of course the secret ingredient here, both providing an adept production and revealing a genius for proposing unexpected songs for Cash to cover. (Who, for instance, would ever imagine a Johnny Cash cover of a Danzig song would sound so good?) The album closer The Man Who Couldn't Cry is one of Cash's best ever comedic songs, not least because the sense of humour on display is more cynical than corny, whilst I don't think Cash ever performed a more chilling murder song than Delia's Gone.