[.ca] Murder

the brilliance of a dark vision:
If Johnny Cash is a country singer, as most people insist he is, he is certainly an odd one, as this CD -- which owes everything to the ballad tradition and nothing to honkytonk music -- attests. In fact, Cash has always been a folk singer in a Nashville context. Listening to a collection like this, you wonder how this guy could have survived, much less prospered, in an industry that has marketed some of the most soul-deadening dreck to which the human ear has ever been subjected, and that seems grimly determined to do even worse. Cash, on the other hand, just keeps sounding better. I first heard "Folsom Prison Blues" in the late 1950s, and hearing it again now, I am more convinced than ever that it is one of those rare perfect songs. I don't think I'll ever cease my sense of wonderment at that brilliant couplet about the rich folks drinking coffee and smoking big cigars -- what an utterly original, precise image -- and then: "Those people keep a-movin'/And that's what tortures me." Cash has never been sentimental about his outlaws, either; the characters in these songs are truly bad guys, most of them outright psychopaths -- in other words, no Robin Hoods, no sensitive, misunderstood rebels and social outcasts. He rewrote, but did not invent, "Delia's Gone" (a century-old Georgia murder ballad); yet it's hard to imagine a more cold-blooded version, one that burrows deep into the angry soul of a man who, in a fit of jealous rage, commits an act of hideous violence and forfeits his humanity. "Cocaine Blues," fusing two traditional songs (one sharing the title, the other usually called "Little Sadie"), is sung in the voice of a man who, if he ever had a conscience, lost it long ago in an orgy of substance abuse. Brilliant, terrifying stuff. Still, esthetically speaking, the news isn't all good. There's nothing wrong with his "Long Black Veil," except that the song has been done to death and deserves a rest. Though well meaning, "Jacob Green" is more sermon than song, the one genuinely boring cut here. And why aren't Bruce Springsteen's "Johnny 99" and Eric von Schmidt's "Joshua Gone Barbados" -- both from Cash's inexplicably underappreciated album (now CD) Johnny 99, released originally in 1983 -- not here? But nearly everything else on this CD is testament to the enduring work of a great American artist, a man whose dark vision soared above Nashville's hollow pieties and inane cliches. It's only now, perhaps, that we are finally starting to grasp just how good Johnny Cash, now in the twilight of a great career, was.

Wonderfully Dark Masterpiece:
I just bought Murder, and I've been listening to it all day. I don't really like country music, but after hearing the double CD Man in Black, I became interested in Johnny Cash's music. I really like the new themed cd's and when I found out about this one, I had to get it. All the songs have a story to tell, and they're all great. I can't wait to hear the Love album, but I'm sure it will be just as great as this one. Five stars all the way.

The Man in Black at his Darkest.:
I have not listen to Johnny Cash since I was a child. After listening to Mike Ness "Cheating at Solitaire" I decided to listen to one of Ness's Idols The Man in Black. I bought this Cd because I knew the songs Long Black Vail,and Folsom Prison Blues. Ater playing the CD 3 times I was still wanted to here it again. I highly Recomend this Cd to all music fans.

Don't try this at home, kids...:
You can't go wrong with a bunch of Johnny Cash songs about getting drunk and killing people. The Man in Black personally selected the cuts on this comp, and there are a few surprises among the expected homicidal classics-witness the cajun-inspired romp "Orleans Parish Prison" and Cash's nuanced cover(beautifully producd by Billy Sherill) of Bruce Springsteen's "Highway Patrolman." Other semi-obscurities include the chain gang shuffle/honky tonk boogie "Goin' to Memphis" and a delightfully twisted comic version of the traditional death house lament "Joe Beam." Though "Murder"'s concept may seem restricting, this compiltion contains enough variety and great music to please casual music fans and Johnny Cash freaks alike.

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