Like Kinks, yesterday, this is an album it's now impossible to listen to the same way you did when it came out — the difference being that I hadn't been born when Kinks came out, but I had when American IV came out, and I took advantage of this to buy and listen to it before Johnny Cash died a few months later. I know there was a posthumous American V, and apparently American VI will be released at some point, but this is the album we turned to at the time of Cash's passing, and heard it anew as a farewell.
When it came out, the first pleasures were simple ones. Look: Johnny Cash does Depeche Mode! And Simon & Garfunkel?! Apparently there's a Sting cover in there too, though one is not familiar with the original, is one? And I'd never heard the original of Hurt, either. Still haven't. Though the video for that song was another defining farewell. I didn't see it until after he died (was it even released before then?), and when I did, it all seemed so evident that here was a man nearing the end.
OK, switch tack. What are the carbon footprints of different ways of listening to albums. Frequently, if I'm to listen to an album on my computer, then, rather than go downstairs to the music room and hunt the shelves for it, I'll go first to Spotify or We7 to see if they've got it available to stream. And I'm not sure how guilty I should feel about it. Obviously my personal sloth is part of the equation, but if it were to turn out to use less carbon to stream the file remotely than to have the local CD drive churn away, then that would offset a bit of my self-hatred. It's probably the other way round, though, isn't it?
So anyway, I found American IV on Spotify, and Spotify often give you the allmusic review for the album as well. Here's the review for this album. Pretty smart and well-read, I thought. I agree with the bits I feel qualified to assess and marvel at those I don't (so Cash's is one of the best recordings ever of We'll Meet Again? I can't say I've heard more than two). Then I got to the end and saw it was written by Zac Johnson. I count Zac as a friend — he features in The Book, and we met in Minneapolis 15 months ago — and I knew he worked for allmusic, but I didn't know he also wrote reviews, such fine reviews. I definitely agree with Zac about the version of In My Life being a snooze, as well.
Zac doesn't pass comment on Cash's version of First Time Ever I Saw Your Face. I can't think of any other song that has so far featured three times on Music Arcades, all by different singers: , and now Johnny Cash. There must have been another such song, surely? Let me know if can identify one. Anyway, Johnny's is great, but the others are so heart-stopping that he comes in third.
 MusicBrainz entry for this albumWikipedia entry for this album Rate Your Music entry for this album Listen to this album in full at Last.fm Listen to this album in full at We7 |
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