Johnny Cash – ‘American IV: The
Man Comes Around’ (American Recordings)
There
aren’t many artists who have been around even half as long as Johnny Cash that
can still put out albums this good. That Cash can make one of the best albums
of 2002 by doing mostly cover songs is even more amazing. But that’s exactly
what he’s done with his fourth collaboration with producer Rick Rubin, ‘The Man
Comes Around’. As with all his other Rubin produced albums, the production is
sparse, emphasizing the acoustic guitars and Cash’s voice with minimal
accompaniment. The album opens with the title track, the only new Cash
composition here, and it’s a good one. Full of apocalyptic imagery delivered in
that unmistakable voice, it’s the kind of song that sends shivers down the
spine. But the rest of the album is just as good, with Cash taking songs as
diverse as Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus”, Nine Inch Nails “Hurt”, Simon and
Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water”, and The Eagles “Desperado” and making
them his own. And don’t give me that, “I don’t like country music” line.
There’s just as much power and passion on this CD as any punk or metal album.
(Bob Ignizio)
Four veterans of the Cleveland music scene and one relative
newcomer join forces to deliver this solid live set of classic punk. No
saccharine sweet choruses, no happy lyrics. None of the rough edges have been
smoothed over. No compromises have been made in the name of political
correctness. This is the sort of sneering, ugly, in your face music that
defined punk before crap like Blink 182 came along. Old school fans will no
doubt enjoy songs like “Nazi Submarine” and their ode to moshing, “The Pit”. In
especially bad taste, and one of the best songs on here, is “Arthur Noski” about
a kid from Parma who was killed and put in an incinerator by his parents. Yeah,
it’s sick, but punk is supposed to be sick. It sure as hell isn’t supposed to
be about going to Hot Topic with your girlfriend. This disc sounds like it was
taken direct from a sound board mix, so the recording does have its
limitations. Still, for music like this you don’t want too much polish. This
should do nicely until these guys get around to making a studio recording. (Bob
Ignizio)
Pretty
much covering the entire retro rock rainbow, The Datsuns combine elements of
garage, seventies hard rock, and psychedelia. I’ve seen these guys compared to
everyone from The Stooges to AC/DC to Deep Purple and not without cause. There
are elements of all those bands, and more. Unfortunately this is a perfect
example of a good rock band held back from their full potential by a mediocre
vocalist. Now Iggy Pop was hardly the greatest singer on earth back in his
Stooges days. His delivery was such, however, that you figured you better not
say anything or he’d kick your ass. The vocals here are rough and ragged, but
completely lacking in the sort of confidence and swagger necessary to make it
work. There are a few bright spots on this self titled debut. “MF From Hell” is
such a good song it manages to overcome the band’s shortcomings. “At Your
Touch” is pretty jammin’ too, and shows the most overt Purple influence with its
use of organ. The rest of the album comes close, but no cigar. With so many
other bands doing the seventies rock thing these days there just isn’t enough
here to warrant a recommendation. (Bob Ignizio)
Eyes
Adrift play what used to be called pop music before Britney Spears, Puff Daddy,
N’Sync, and the rest of their worthless ilk tarnished the good name of that
genre. Specifically they play a sort of lightly psychedelic country rock, sort
of like a modern Byrds. That’s not exactly new territory for ex-Meat Puppet
Curt Kirkwood, but it is a change of pace for Krist Novoselic of Nirvana fame.
In addition to holding down the bottom end, Krist gets to sing a few numbers as
well. He’s ok, but I’m glad Kirkwood handles the majority of the vocals.
Delivering the beats is drummer Brad Gaugh, formerly of Sublime. “Sleight of Hand” and “Untried” are great laid back pop songs that in a perfect
world would be all over the radio. The band also plays up their psychedelic
side on a few numbers, most notably on “Pasted”, a lengthy jam that might have
made Jerry Garcia smile. Nothing flashy, just good songs played well. If only
there was still a market for that sort of thing. (Bob Ignizio)
There
aren’t many artists who have been around even half as long as Johnny Cash that
can still put out albums this good. That Cash can make one of the best albums
of 2002 by doing mostly cover songs is even more amazing. But that’s exactly
what he’s done with his fourth collaboration with producer Rick Rubin, ‘The Man
Comes Around’. As with all his other Rubin produced albums, the production is
sparse, emphasizing the acoustic guitars and Cash’s voice with minimal
accompaniment. The album opens with the title track, the only new Cash
composition here, and it’s a good one. Full of apocalyptic imagery delivered in
that unmistakable voice, it’s the kind of song that sends shivers down the
spine. But the rest of the album is just as good, with Cash taking songs as
diverse as Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus”, Nine Inch Nails “Hurt”, Simon and
Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water”, and The Eagles “Desperado” and making
them his own. And don’t give me that, “I don’t like country music” line.
There’s just as much power and passion on this CD as any punk or metal album.
(Bob Ignizio) 
Pretty
much covering the entire retro rock rainbow, The Datsuns combine elements of
garage, seventies hard rock, and psychedelia. I’ve seen these guys compared to
everyone from The Stooges to AC/DC to Deep Purple and not without cause. There
are elements of all those bands, and more. Unfortunately this is a perfect
example of a good rock band held back from their full potential by a mediocre
vocalist. Now Iggy Pop was hardly the greatest singer on earth back in his
Stooges days. His delivery was such, however, that you figured you better not
say anything or he’d kick your ass. The vocals here are rough and ragged, but
completely lacking in the sort of confidence and swagger necessary to make it
work. There are a few bright spots on this self titled debut. “MF From Hell” is
such a good song it manages to overcome the band’s shortcomings. “At Your
Touch” is pretty jammin’ too, and shows the most overt Purple influence with its
use of organ. The rest of the album comes close, but no cigar. With so many
other bands doing the seventies rock thing these days there just isn’t enough
here to warrant a recommendation. (Bob Ignizio)
Eyes
Adrift play what used to be called pop music before Britney Spears, Puff Daddy,
N’Sync, and the rest of their worthless ilk tarnished the good name of that
genre. Specifically they play a sort of lightly psychedelic country rock, sort
of like a modern Byrds. That’s not exactly new territory for ex-Meat Puppet
Curt Kirkwood, but it is a change of pace for Krist Novoselic of Nirvana fame.
In addition to holding down the bottom end, Krist gets to sing a few numbers as
well. He’s ok, but I’m glad Kirkwood handles the majority of the vocals.
Delivering the beats is drummer Brad Gaugh, formerly of Sublime. “Sleight of Hand” and “Untried” are great laid back pop songs that in a perfect
world would be all over the radio. The band also plays up their psychedelic
side on a few numbers, most notably on “Pasted”, a lengthy jam that might have
made Jerry Garcia smile. Nothing flashy, just good songs played well. If only
there was still a market for that sort of thing. (Bob Ignizio)