It's hard to believe that back when super producer Rick Rubin and Johnny Cash first got together to put out American Recordings in 1994, Johnny Cash was pretty much considered a washed up old has been. Yes, everyone could easily agree that he would go down as a Country legend, but c'mon, had anyone really paid attention to any new albums he'd released since the 70's? Everyone these days praises the man in black due to a strong following courtesy of the American series albums and the bio-pic Walk The Line, but if a certain balding and bearded Hip-Hop/Metal-head hadn't gone out on a limb, we may not even be talking about Cash except for his much heralded 50's and 60's work.

A bit of back-story then for American V: after Johnny's wife June Carter-Cash passed away in 2003 and before his own demise six months later, Cash and Rubin worked tirelessly to make one more American series album before Johnny joined the Ghost Riders in the Sky. American V: A Hundred Highways is the fruit of their labor and it's a shame that Cash didn't live to see its release, because American V is the best release in the series since the first installment. Even though I absolutely revered Cash's cover of Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt", I have to say that American IV was a giant disappointment and had me wondering if this collaboration between two geniuses had hit the bottom of the well. I mean, did we really need Cash covering such overdone schlock such as "Danny Boy" and the Eagles' "Desperado"? I think not. But American V finds Cash in concept album mode and that concept is the very thing that was staring him dead in the face: the death of his wife and his own mortality bearing down upon him.

Cash knew he was soon to be a goner and the only two original tracks here, "Like The 309" and "I Came To Believe" deal with death in his way. "Like The 309" deals with a familiar topic in Cash's lore, a train heading outbound. This train however is the train he foresees will be carrying his own body in a wooden box and his soul to the pearly gates. "I Came To Believe" is Johnny's own testimonial to his Christian faith. A man this certain of a higher power has no fear of dying, and you can certainly hear it in Cash's trembling warble. Unlike American IV, all the covers chosen here are solid and damn good. My favorites though have to be the foot stomps and hand claps that lead the rendition of the traditional "God's Gonna Cut You Down" and the two songs that no question are in tribute to the late love of Johnny's life (June Carter), "Love's Been Good To Me" and "Rose Of My Heart." Do I love this album because it'll most certainly be the last recordings ever from one of the most legendary musicians of all time? That's probably part of it. But even if Cash had recorded this album in perfect health, I still think this album would be just as powerful. American V holds even more command though when the listener takes into consideration just what Cash went through to get it made.