Johnny Cash - The man comes around

This was an interesting cash album to pick i know, as it is an album of covers, but as i looked through cash' back catalogue ( of over 90 odd releases ) I realised that perhaps the "best of" triple CD of his i own( borrowed/stole ) was as much Johnny as i could take so thought i would give this one a go. Another reason is that i heard the cover of Nine Inch Nails "Hurt" recently and was absolutely blown away. ( yes, i realise it was released 7 years ago ) There is something about the frailty of Cash's voice, something honest, something that conveys pain, sorrow and hurt so eloquently. I'm not going to bother going into a history of all the pain in Johnny's life that gave him this colourful voice as i am not knowledgable enough and could not do it justice ( for a brief rundown try here ) or try steve turner's biography for a complete and precise account of his life. The covers on this album span many genres, as well at the NIN track, there's sting's murder ballad 'hung my head', depeche modes 'personal jesus', beatles 'in my life' and american classics 'we'll meet again', 'desperado' and 'bridge over troubled water'. As good a voice as Cash' is, it's also the arrangements of the songs that make this album extra special, with great acoustic reworkings of all the songs and some guests vocals from Nick Cave, Fiona Apple and Don Henley.