Mikseri.net

Johnny Cash was one of the greatest musicians ever. Period.

This album, the last released when he was still alive, is proof of that. The man is almost 70, yet his voice is strong and captivating. The age shows, but he's not a weak old man... no, he's the fighter who refuses to give up.

Musically this is as solid as one could hope for: the song selection ranges from awesome to very good, with the obvious highlight being the title track, the Nine Inch Nails-cover Hurt and Bridge Over Troubled Water. Johnny really makes the latter two his own. I daresay that Hurt as performed by Johnny Cash is one of the most touching moments of (modern) music history.

Apart from this one, I only own the first of the American-albums, and the somewhat less minimalistic approach of this album is a good choice. It's still pretty stripped-down, relying most of the time on an acoustic guitar and Johnny's voice, but there are more instruments than just that, and it puts a little flesh on the bones.

All in all, I can't think of many albums that would be as consistently outstanding and excellent as this one. It's albums like this which makes Johnny's words in the song "Highwayman" true: "[But] I will remain/And I'll be back again, and again, and again..."

Every time I spin this disc, Johnny is here, with me, for a while.