After 1994's
American Recordings revitalized
Johnny Cash's career, he and producer
Rick Rubin had to come up with an encore, and in some respects 1996's
Unchained was the sort of album many were expecting
American Recordings to be. Instead of the solo acoustic approach of
American Recordings,
Unchained paired
Cash with a noted rock band
Rubin had worked with in the past --
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, whose roots-conscious style and Southern heritage would seemingly make them compatible with the Man in Black. There's no arguing that
Petty and his band sound fully committed on
Unchained and deliver uniformly heartfelt and expert performances. However, part of what made
American Recordings so effective was the opportunity to hear
Cash's emotionally forceful vocals with only the most minimal accompaniment, and as good as
the Heartbreakers are, in their presence
Cash sounds a bit more restrained and less willing to push himself. Also, while having
Cash cover
Glenn Danzig's "Thirteen" worked unexpectedly well on
American Recordings, taking on
Beck and
Soundgarden doesn't fare nearly as well here, and
Cash's version of "Memories Are Made of This" may have been a better match in theory, but it doesn't quite make it in practice. But there are more than a few triumphant moments on this disc, including inspired recuts of "Country Boy" and "Mean Eyed Cat," a dignified and deeply felt interpretation of
Petty's "Southern Accents," and a rollicking tear through "I've Been Everywhere" for the finale. If
Unchained didn't seem like an event or an instant classic like its immediate predecessor, it confirmed
Cash was still a vital artist with plenty of life in him, no mean feat for a man of 64 who'd been making records for more than 40 years. ~ Mark Deming