Johnny Cash

JOHNNY CASH has sung at least two songs of gen-u-ine menace and elegant simplicity – 'Walk The Line' and the one where he explains why he always dresses in black. In these he latched a fearsomely moody voice to a pared down country and western backbeat and curiously evoked the macho spirit of the American heartlands. Now it seems only his bank balance remains black. This disc has an annoying lightness about it which seems odd and wrong for the man but, perhaps, inevitable. Cash croaks through its turgid tunes and country cliches with such a hollow insincerity that nobody cares what "The truck driver said to the waitress". Including the waitress.