Customer Reviews

Unchained (Reis)

5 star:		(77)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Nashville is cruel to its veteran performers, but they have found a way to fight back. When Johnny's career as a recording artist seemed finished, he found a new producer, Rick Rubin, and together they have gone from strength to strength. They recorded four albums together and the last one, recorded only a few months before his death, became Johnny's first gold album in 23 years. The recipe for success is simple - go right back to Johnny's roots in the fifties, when his sound was simple and uncluttered, and don't worry about the radio stations that are obsessed with listeners in their twenties and thirties. If the music strikes the right chord, those people will buy it anyway.

This was the second album Johnny and Rick recorded together and it contains many of the elements you expect from them. Tom Petty and his band provided the musical backing - and they certainly did a good job.

There are some stunning covers including Sea of heartbreak (Don Gibson), Rusty cage (Soundgarden), Memories are made of this (Dean Martin), Southern accents (Tom Petty) and I've been everywhere (Hank Snow). Actually, most of the songs are covers and they are all excellent.

There is a new version of Mean eyed cat, a song Johnny wrote and recorded in the fifties. In the liner notes, Johnny says that the original version was unfinished, but was released anyway, so he finally completed the song more than forty years later. Johnny also wrote Country boy and Meet me in heaven.

Johnny has a long and varied recording career behind him, but this is one album that appeals to both country fans and rock fans. It has that indefinable something that cuts across musical preconceptions. Regardless of your own musical preferences, forget your preconceptions about country music and enjoy this excellent album.

Before the marginally talented Garth Brooks became a boy wonder who could do no wrong, Johnny Cash ruled (his early 70s variety show was a top ten television hit). Fortunately or unfortunately, Cash doesn't look good in a tight pair of jeans, which is why he hasn't been on the radio ever since they dropped the "and Western" from Country and Country artists started writing pop songs and began hiring guitar players from washed up 80s metal acts. As a result, Cash has become an ironic alternative icon. Well, thank god for tight jeans and multinational, multibillion dollar music peddlers.

This man is brilliant. This record is brilliant. No other country and western artist of his generation would have gone to see Black Sabbath (with the original lineup) and later describe it as "the most amazing concert" he had ever been to. Remember that Cash was covering Bob Dylan songs back when The Byrds were being panned by the critics and booed out of Nashville for their (rather bold) ventures into Country and Western.

He does like soft and pretty folk ballads (e.g. The One Rose and Memories are Made of This) and they are (although good) not the bright spots on this album. Don't get me wrong: these songs are very good, but they disrupt the listening experience as they seem to have been wedged in between some of the truly great tracks on this CD.

"Spiritual" (even with it's cliche, Lynyrd Skynyrd chord progression), "Mean Eyed Cat", "I've Been Everywhere", "I Never Picked Cotton", "Rowboat" and of course, "Rusty Cage" are the bright spots and "Southern Accents" might be the greatest... er... "Country and Western" song ever written.

These seven songs are worth the price of the CD even though the worst song on this album is very good and the rest are great.

Can we maybe get Steve Albini to remix it?

"Unchained" is one of the best albums I've ever heard, and I personally own well over three hundred albums and listened to countless others. My private collection includes music from many genres, from gospel to gangsta rap to hair metal, yet few of them match the quality of music and the amount of emotion contained on "Unchained" and all of Cash's other recordings for the American label.

I don't want to come across as an eager fan of Cash, because other than his "Highwayman" collaboration with Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, and Waylon Jennings, I've never listened to a lot of his music or owned any of his albums. I always knew he was the man in black, but now I know why. His voice isn't the greatest, but it captures pain, pleasure, power, and weakness perfectly. He sounds like a man that's been through hell and back, and wouldn't mind another trip through if given the chance.

Just look at the lineup of artists who back him up here: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Marty Stuart, Flea, Mick Fleetwood, Lindsay Buckingham. He covers some great songs like "Southern Accents" and "I've Been Everywhere," then pumps out the Soundgarden tune, "Rusty Cage." All of this is packed neatly with some of Cash's own tunes. Somehow it all fits together and NONE of it sounds as if Cash sold out. He makes everything on this album his own.

Personal favorites include "Southern Accents," "Spiritual," and "I Never Picked Cotton." "Mean Eyed Cat" is another great tune.

Forget about all of the labels of "Country," "Rockabilly," and "Rebel" that have been slapped on Mr. Cash throughout the years. This music is Johnny Cash, no more, no less.

Highly recommended.

Though lacking this monicker, "Unchained" was the second collaboration of Cash and Rick Rubin in the American series. Much different from "American Recordings," "Unchained" features musical accompaniment by the likes of Tom Petty and Flea (from the Red Hot Chili Peppers), and an overall more upbeat sound.

Folks have differing opinions on the reinterpretations of more modern tunes like Beck's "Rowboat" and Soundgarden's "Rusty Cage." Personally, they feel a little forced, but they're still decent efforts.

There are some great classic country tunes here, including an extended version of Cash's own "Mean Eyed Cat." And of course, there's "I've Been Everywhere"--infamously used (and abused) on a certain motel chain's ad campaign.

For those who bought "American IV" for the darker tunes like "Hurt" and "I Hung My Head," this album might not match your taste, but I would still recommend it if only to hear the other side of Cash.

1. What is the text about? An album by Cash, backed most of the time by Tom Petty and many Heartbreakers (I think). Popular songs countrified and Cash's own work.
2. What is good about it? The songs are great, and Cash's voice has a power that often transcends the work. Petty's backing, particularly on "Sea of Heartbreak," is great. Also fantastic is Cash's cover of Beck's "Rowboat," and "Country Boy."
3. What is not so good about it? Well, you might not like it if you hate country music, but then again, you might.
4. Who might like it? Those fans who like myself dabble in genres other than rock music (e.g. fans of Lyle Lovett, De La Soul, Dwight Yoakum) will like it. Classic country fans of people Willie Nelson will also dig it.
5. Personal bias: I think Cash is almost as important to the history of popular music in America as Elvis Presley.

Johnny Cash is a true legend of American music and this is undoubtedly some of
his finest work.
Johnny Cash's American recordings, resulting from his unconventional partnership
with rap metal producer Rick Rubin in the early nineties, have been nothing
short of phenomenal. The five albums currently released under Rubin's label have
become true highlights of Cash's career and after long deliberation I have
decided that 'Unchained' is the greatest of them all.
'Unchained' sees Cash backed by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, so clearly there
is a much rockier feel to this album than the other acoustically based efforts,
but it works like a dream! Apparently Tom Petty hailed this album as his band's
finest work and it's not hard to see why, they are ON FIRE!
'Unchained' blends Country and Rock 'n' Roll beautifully and the overall sound
created by Petty's band suits Cash's voice to a tee. And Boy, Is Cash in great
voice on this one! At the time of recording, Johnny's voice had matured like a
fine wine and lost none of its colossol power (unlike the later American
Recordings where illness added much frailty to the great man's vocals). Listen
to the end of 'Spiritual' and you will be blown away by the power in which he can
belt it out with so much control and emotion. I'm actually getting shivers down my
spine just replaying it in my head right now!
What is also amazing about this album is the variety of different material
contained and how well it all fits together. Along with original material, Cash
covers songs from country traditionalists such as Jimmie Rodgers and Hank Snow to modern and
alternative rockers such as Beck and Soundgarden. Cash has proven throughout his
recent recordings that he has the unique ability to take songs from almost any genre
and make them his own to the point where you could easily believe that the Man in
Black had written them himself.
It is difficult to select highlights of the album as I class it as a highlight
from start to finish. From the highly energetic, rock fuelled 'Rusty Cage',
'Country Boy', 'Mean Eyed Cat' and 'I Never Picked Cotton' (just to name a few!)
to the soulful and reflective 'Spiritual', 'Southern Accents', 'Meet me in
Heaven' and 'Unchained', this album goes places few could ever dream of!
If you love Johnny Cash, buy this! If you've never heard Cash, buy this and you
will love him! If you have heard him and don't love him, 'Man, What is wrong
with you?!?'

I always thought Johnny Cash was OK, but never really got it. "Boy Named Sue" "Cocaine Blues" "Ring of Fire", fine, good stuff. But it never hit me. This album, from start to finish, just gets a hold of you. I stumbled upon it in my roommate's collection and threw it in the CD player one day and found a new favorite album. "Spiritual" is gorgeous, a highpoint. "Mean Eyed Cat" and "The Kneeling Drunkard's Plea" are both bluesy rockers that pick up side two and keep you going. "Southern Accent" was already a favorite when Tom Petty recorded it, but Cash's version, with Petty and the Heartbreakers backing him is as powerful a song as I've ever heard. There really just isn't a dead moment on the entire album. If you are new to Johnny Cash, this is where I would start, you probably won't stop there.

Flush from the Contemporary Folk Grammy success of AMERICAN RECORDINGS, Cash and producer Rick Rubin rewrote the rules on this one...no recordings in Rubin's living room or the Cash cabin..they needed a studio for the full band assembled here. They couldn't have asked for a much better one: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers back Cash and put a real rockabilly edge into tunes when called for and a laconic rootsy country sound when that's what's needed. Add to the pot superstar turns from the likes of Marty Stuart, Flea, Lindsey Buckingham, and Mick Fleetwood and you have an imposing setting to place Cash's rumbling baritone in.

It's the band that's the mixed blessing for me. While I don't feel they could do a much better job, at times I find myself wishing they weren't doing ANY job...the riveting factor of AMERICAN RECORDINGS derived from its barebones "Here's Cash..love him or don't" aspect and you lose that on this one. But when the band is there to rock behind Cash, well, it's phenomenal.

HIGHLIGHTS:
Tom Petty adds a nice harmony and 2/5 of Fleetwood Mac join in on a nice take on "Sea of Heartbreak". The writing on "Rusty Cage" will cause me to borrow some Soundgarden CDs from the library to see if I've been missing anything. It's probably the hardest rocking track here and Cash's defiant vocal sounds as if he plans to SING his way out of it. "Country Boy" is blazing rockabilly with an amphetamine vocal and some killer bass (the CD doesn't identify who plays it but Cash should offer them special thanks). "Memories are Made of This" takes a fairly schmaltzy sounding Dean Martin tune, strips it to a country shuffle, and reveals it as a pretty good song. I always thought "Southern Accents" was a middling tune for Petty but in Cash's hands it's a manifesto. The string sound (Chamberlain organ I'm guessing?) swells JUST the right amount but not enough to make it bathetic. The title track is the best of the gospel material here. "I've Been Everywhere" is a great Hank Snow update.

LOWS:
"The One Rose (That's Left in my Heart)" just doesn't grab me lyrically. I've no doubt it's considered a "Classic" by many but that doesn't mean I have to like it. I'll be in the clear minority here but I didn't find "Spiritual" as moving as many others did. The tremeloed guitar played fairly basic progressions and while I thought Cash sang it well, it's just not as compelling as the other gospel themed material here.

BOTTOM LINE:
I miss the starkness of Cash and his acoustic on some of the ballads (I think "Spiritual" would have been better that way...) but this is still GREAT material. It's probably the best place to start if you're a Cash newbie wondering what the fuss is about because it's more immediately accesssible than some of the other American releases (or Cash's back catalogue). Fans of Cash's Sun days will find him rocking harder than he has since then. If you like this one, go for AMERICAN RECORDINGS, SAN QUENTIN, or FOLSOM PRISON next.

I don't care what kind of music you like. I don't care how old you are or where you're from or how smart you think you are. This is human music, raw and honest and true. If you have a soul, this album and Johnny Cash's voice will touch it. There is no better music.

After a quiet decade, Johnny Cash exploded in the 1990s with American Recordings. Producer Rick Rubin (of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Public Enemy, and so on) found Johnny's sound, and together they created four monster albums: American Recordings, Unchained, American III and American IV. The last is the most popular, probably because he released it just before he died. American III is also very popular, but the first two are not receiving as much praise as they deserve.

On Unchained, Johnny sings with Tom Petty and his band The Heartbreakers, and the combination is perfect. The best songs on the album are "Rusty Cage," "Memories are Made of This," "Spiritual," "Unchained" and Hank Snow's "I've been Everywhere." On these you can hear Johnny's voice explore the full range of human emotions, from humor to desperation, from gratitude to anger and spiteful rebellion. Johnny is a rare singer because he can express so many emotions, and a rare artist because he does.

I recommend American III and IV just as highly.

The revival of Johnny Cash's legendary career in the 1990's was rightfully entrusted to uber-producer Rick Rubin who got immediate results with 1994's barely-produced (in truth little more than monophonic demo tapes) "American Recordings", an album which succeeded strictly on the force of the intimacy of Cash's vocals and steadily effective three-chord acoustic guitar playing. The album was acclaimed by music critics and the music establishment (winning a Grammy in the Contemporary Folk category) as well as introducing Johnny Cash to a whole new generation of music fans less inclined to listen to country music in general.

"Unchained" picks up where "American Recordings" left off, only this time Cash is given a veritable "Who's who" of backing musicians (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Lindsey Buckingham and Mick Fleetwood, former Duran Duran sideman Steve Ferrone, Red Hot Chili Pepper bassist Flea, as well as the Nashville axe slinger Marty Stuart who got his start as a touring guitarist with Cash ages prior) well-equipped to support a sublime choice of material (a Dean Martin standard given a lovely solo treatment that would be at home on "American Recordings", a grunge anthem from Soundgarden that Chris Cornell couldn't have either recognized or exceeded, Petty's own "Southern Accents", which sounds as though it was written for Cash all along, as well as the talking blues highwayman classic "I've Been Everywhere" and a redux of old Sun Records-era Cash originals "Mean-Eyed Cat" and "Country Boy").

This album just cranks from start to finish...Alternative/Indie god Beck's "Rowboat" sounds like it's been a country standard for decades, and those songs that actually HAVE ("The One Rose" and "Sea Of Heartbreak") sound as though they could have been written exclusively for this album. Such is the power and the timelessness of Johnny Cash.

This album likewise won Grammy appreciation, for "Country Album of the Year (1997)" despite almost no radio play either on country or rock-oriented radio stations. Sometimes common sense has to overcome the beauracracy (or the stupidity) that is modern radio programming; it helps to have a truly gifted artist like Johnny Cash at the helm. In my opinion this album (the last before Cash was diagnosed, correctly or otherwise, with Parkinson's Syndrome) represents the high point of Cash's time with Rick Rubin, and in fact may very well be his best album overall since the live recordings from Folsom and San Quentin prisons in 1968 and 1969, respectively. In an era of slickly-produced, remix-ready crossover country acts, "Unchained" stands out as a shining example of what real country music (and in fact, what real AMERICAN music) should sound like.