Johnny Cash
Out Among The Stars

THE REVIEW

Legends never die, and sometimes they come back! And it seems that this year it's Johnny Cash's turn, one of the most acclaimed singer-songwriters in the world and in history, the so-called "American Fabrizio De André," the man who dressed in black for the poor and the imprisoned. A new posthumous album, which this time has nothing to do with the saga of the American Recordings, those 6 albums (the last 2 posthumous) recorded with the namesake record label, which helped bring his fame back to the stars after the period of crisis that plagued him throughout the 80s, amidst accidents and hospitalizations. In fact, the material that has been recovered, thanks to his son John Carter Cash, comes from that period, songs recorded between 1981 and 1984, and finally published after 30 years.

Sometimes, upon the release of an unreleased album after the death of the author or authors, there's someone who cries out about the record companies' interest in making money without the approval of the deceased artist, or who simply believes that if that material was never published, there must have been a reason. Well, if only all posthumous records sounded like this! Because here we probably have the best Johnny Cash of that decade. It's dark, melancholic, which better reflects his timeless figure, as the album cover already suggests: him, dressed completely in black, on a barren and sad landscape. This "Out Among the Stars" is filled with potential missed hits, such as "She Used to Love Me a Lot," a cover of David Allan Coe, the track used as a promo for the album's release, here reinterpreted in a slightly more melancholic way, all marked by his unmistakable baritone voice. Guests are certainly not lacking, like his wife June Carter Cash, providing vocal support for the country-rock piece "Baby Ride Easy" and the passionate "Don't You Think It's Come Our Time," and his colleague Waylon Jennings (with whom, a year later, he would become part of the supergroup The Highwaymen) in the rock ‘n' rolling "I'm Movin' On." But even in that difficult period that Johnny had to endure, there was always room for his unwavering love for faith, as he recounts in "After All" and "I Came To Believe".

All in all, a record that does not make us miss the previous American Recordings publications at all; indeed, this "Out Among the Stars" is an important testimony to further enrich Johnny's story, as famous as it is still mysterious on certain points.

RATING = 8.5/10