Unchained

Now that Cash himself has been "unchained" I thought I'd give my comments on this album. I was completely swayed by American IV and became a huge Cash fan, before that I was very unfamiliar with his music. Now I have 18 albums and 2 Man In Black Box Sets, and have been listening constantly to Cash's music since Jan03. Of the four american series albums, it is very difficult to choose favorites. The last was the most emotional and impacting, and this album is the most fun. If you need somewhere to start with Cash, and aren't a huge country fan, this is the best album. Tom Petty and co. do an excellent job of giving this album some major spunk and they turn in some great tunes. Rusty cage may be the absolute hardest Cash song recorded, it is ominous and bleeds aggression. Soundgarden's lead singer is quoted as saying that no one ever said anything about his songwriting on Rusty Cage and its lyrics before Cash covered it. And the playing on Rusty Cage perfectly captures the intensity and gravity of the song without having to be overplayed, something heavy metal bands could learn from. The other upbeat highlights include Sea of Heartbreak, Country Boy (which makes me want to try and sing every lyric right along with Cash), Kneeling Drunkard's Plea, I Never Picked Cotton, and I've Been Everywhere. The rest of the album is exceptional, displaying Cash's heartfelt delivery of great spiritual songs. If I could buy only 3 Cash albums, it would be this one, Orange Blossom Special... forget it, I would get them all. But this one is definitely a highlight of Cash's career.

The revival of Johnny Cash's legendary career in the 1990's was rightfully entrusted to uber-producer Rick Rubin who got immediate results with 1994's barely-produced (in truth little more than monophonic demo tapes) "American Recordings", an album which succeeded strictly on the force of the intimacy of Cash's vocals and steadily effective three-chord acoustic guitar playing. The album was acclaimed by music critics and the music establishment (winning a Grammy in the Contemporary Folk category) as well as introducing Johnny Cash to a whole new generation of music fans less inclined to listen to country music in general.

"Unchained" picks up where "American Recordings" left off, only this time Cash is given a veritable "Who's who" of backing musicians (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Lindsey Buckingham and Mick Fleetwood, former Duran Duran sideman Steve Ferrone, Red Hot Chili Pepper bassist Flea, as well as the Nashville axe slinger Marty Stuart who got his start as a touring guitarist with Cash ages prior) well-equipped to support a sublime choice of material (a Dean Martin standard given a lovely solo treatment that would be at home on "American Recordings", a grunge anthem from Soundgarden that Chris Cornell couldn't have either recognized or exceeded, Petty's own "Southern Accents", which sounds as though it was written for Cash all along, as well as the talking blues highwayman classic "I've Been Everywhere" and a redux of old Sun Records-era Cash originals "Mean-Eyed Cat" and "Country Boy").

This album just cranks from start to finish...Alternative/Indie god Beck's "Rowboat" sounds like it's been a country standard for decades, and those songs that actually HAVE ("The One Rose" and "Sea Of Heartbreak") sound as though they could have been written exclusively for this album. Such is the power and the timelessness of Johnny Cash.

This album likewise won Grammy appreciation, for "Country Album of the Year (1997)" despite almost no radio play either on country or rock-oriented radio stations. Sometimes common sense has to overcome the beauracracy (or the stupidity) that is modern radio programming; it helps to have a truly gifted artist like Johnny Cash at the helm. In my opinion this album (the last before Cash was diagnosed, correctly or otherwise, with Parkinson's Syndrome) represents the high point of Cash's time with Rick Rubin, and in fact may very well be his best album overall since the live recordings from Folsom and San Quentin prisons in 1968 and 1969, respectively. In an era of slickly-produced, remix-ready crossover country acts, "Unchained" stands out as a shining example of what real country music (and in fact, what real AMERICAN music) should sound like.

Being a fan of "Soundgarden" for 15 years, I bought this to hear Johnny's cover of "Rusty Cage". As great as that song is, it's surrounded by 13 other tracks that are just as good. Whether it's a cover, or an original, "Johnny Cash" proves why he is an american icon, and one the most important figures in music ever. He makes them all his own. The fact is, all his albums for "American Recordings" are amazing, and it's hard to pick a favorite. "Unchained" is excellent from the opener "Rowboat", to the very last track. This should be enjoyed by fans of country, western, rock, folk, alt-rock, and just cool music in general.