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| April 14, 2003 |
American IV: The Man Comes Around
Johnny Cash
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There is something truly staggering about listening to a man confront his
own mortality like Johnny Cash does on this album. My first glimpse of
this album came when I was browsing Tower Records in Picadilly Circus and
"The Streets of Laredo" came on over the in-store system. It froze me in
my tracks. And God help me if Cash doesn't give Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt"
even more emotion than Trent Reznor ever did. The first thing you hear
on the album is a reading from the book of Revelations before he launches
into the self-written title track, a piece as full of eerily beautiful
imagery as that apocalyptic book. Not everything on here
works. "Personal Jesus" probably should have been left to Depeche
Mode, and I'm not even saying that out of any long-faded loyalty to the
band. But the album ends with a wonderful rendition of "We'll Meet
Again," full of optimism and good cheer. I hope this is not goodbye,
but, if it is, I'll take it.
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