Thursday, September 9, 2010

#174 Johnny Cash - The Fabulous Johnny Cash

More Cash! Moving forward a couple of years to his Columbia Records debut.

The sound here is more polished, a bit richer, with a good deal of oooo-waaaa-infused backing vocals. I'm surprised all over again how music of this era focuses on the vocals, how the drums and guitar are so spare, and so low in the mix. It's not really in line with my preferences, to be honest, and here the vocals are a bit more polished than I'd like. Subject-matter-wise, its much more overtly religious, and the songs of longing are more "I miss you" than "I don't deserve you". These themes (and a lack of tales of debauchery) rob us of that image of Cash as a damaged man, an image that was so appealing on his first album. If nothing else, this one makes me appreciate Hot and Blue Guitar more. Of course, the vocals are still incredible, and the guitar lines are classic and clean, good enough for 3/5

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