After the death of his great love June (May 2003), the then quite sick singer and country legend Johnny Cash only seemed to be alive to complete his unsurpassed album series American Recordings. Whenever his health allowed it, he went to producer Rick Rubin's studio to record new songs. He was no longer allowed to experience the perfecting of this American V and Rubin left the last recordings, for
… emotional reasons, on the shelf for a while after the death of the singer in September 2003. On American V Cash sounds predominantly cheerful and strong in more traditional songs like God's Gonna Cut You Down and Free From The Chain Gang Now. This time it does not contain stripped down (goosebumps) edits of rock songs like One (U2) or Hurt (Nine Inch Nails). If You Could Read My Mind by Gordon Lightfoot comes closest to this, but Cash sounds too weakened in this song. With American V ends the series of albums that Cash started in 1994 with Rubin. An unprecedentedly intense musical legacy in which this album should not be missed. (MR)more
