Issue date: 2/13/03 Section: The Verge

At home this past Christmas break, I drove my car alone in the snow and cried. It was nothing big, just a good, healthy cry - a cleansing, if you will. Now, I never hit the gravel without my music. 

Can you guess who I had blaring through my speakers that evoked in me such emotion?  Well, I tell ya, it was the man in black. It was the scoundrel who shot poor Delia and the one who fell into that burning ring of fire. It was the almighty Johnny Cash. On "American IV: The Man Comes Around," Cash's fourth installment for American Recordings, 15 songs take 15 different directions and each one of them burns with that booming voice and cool country swagger.

It is said that when playing someone else's song, Johnny Cash will go over it again and again, studying its every word and note until he feels like he wrote it himself. On this album, Cash continues this tradition of adapting more modern classics, stripping them down to basic country style, and shedding new light on songs you never thought could be done any other way. The more recognizable tunes remade on the album include Paul Simon's "Bridge Over Troubled Water," Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus," "In My Life" by The Beatles and the traditional Irish song, "Danny Boy."

My absolute favorite cover on "The Man Comes Around," however, is the second cut on the album, a beautifully arranged version of Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt." In the second verse, Cash grimly declares, "I wear this crown of thorns upon my liar's chair. Full of broken thoughts I cannot repair." With the help of the album's producer, the legendary Rick Rubin, Cash ends "Hurt" with the same loud, distorted clutter heard in 1994's original version. It is a great tribute to Trent Reznor's writing and producing abilities and a true work of art in itself. 

Though the remakes are nothing less than exceptional, "The Man Comes Around" should not be mistaken for a cover album. Originals by Johnny Cash and traditional country songs balance the record very well. The title track, and first cut on "American IV," plays like a powerful sermon. It is based loosely on the book of Revelations and other biblical sources. According to the CD's liner notes, "The Man Comes Around" was inspired by a dream Cash had in which he met Queen Elizabeth II of England who said to him, "Johnny Cash!  You're like a thorn tree in a whirlwind."  Possibly sent down to Cash from the Man himself through dream, the song paints unbelievable images like "a golden ladder reaching down" and "one-hundred million angels singing."

Of course, what would a Johnny Cash record be without a run from the law or the last request of a dying man? In "Give My Love To Rose," Cash tells the story of a man just released from prison who he finds dying in the street. The man requests, "Tell my boy that Daddy's so proud of him and don't forget to give my love to Rose." Cash's version of Sting's song "I Hung My Head," recounts the tale of a boy who accidentally kills a man riding his horse. After running, he finally faces his crime, is tried, then sentenced to death. "I pray for God's mercy, 'cause soon I'll be dead. I hung my head...I hung my head..."

As if Johnny Cash couldn't have done this record by himself, he's backed by a superb cast of studio musicians and various guest performers on "The Man Comes Around."  "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry," a Hank Williams remake, features the voice of Nick Cave, while on "Bridge Over Troubled Water," Johnny is accompanied by the sexy vocal styling of Fiona Apple. John Frusciante of Red Hot Chili Peppers also makes an appearance, playing acoustic guitar on "Personal Jesus." 

If in need of a deep spiritual cleansing or simply fed up with the contemporary country crap put out by Nashville nowadays, pick up Johnny Cash's "American IV: The Man Comes Around" and you will be saved. 

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