Description

American V: A Hundred Highways is the album of Johnny Cashs final recordings, the basic tracks for which (i.e., Cashs vocals) were recorded in 2002-2003, with overdubs added by producer Rick Rubin after his death in September 2003. The ailing septuagenarian certainly sounds like hes near the end of his life, but that said, Cash gained even more interpretive depth with age. Listening to this album, one cant get around the knowledge that it is a posthumous collection made in Cashs last days, but even without that context, it would have much the same impact. If the entire series of American recordings makes for a fitting finale to a great career, American V: A Hundred Highways is a more than respectable coda. ~ William Ruhlmann