Search - Johnny Cash :: Mystery of Life

3 stars for non cash fans maybe

ty7777 | USA | 04/28/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"For those of you who bought rockabilly blues or another reissue from that time like it and weren't satisfied, I'd say this is much different. The remakes of Hey porter and Wanted man are great and the guitar is pretty fitting. Kickin' but rough like Cash's voice on here. Goin' by the book is an honest to God Rock song. And it is a good one that Cash sings naturally. A song about apocolypse kind of stuff that seems pretty familiar these days. Beans for Breakfast is probably one of the funniest songs Cash ever did to the contrast of goin by the book and is mentioned in the liner notes written by June Carter Cash. This song is tough to explain but imagine a song about a man who- on second thought nevermind. I wouldn't do it justice. Just say that it is hysterical and absurd- a new favorite of mine. There is a duet with Tom T. Hall here on one of his songs. In my opinion everything clicks and the U2 session was really not bad but didn't really click with the album itself. I only heard it once but I don't recall it being a duet so much as a u2 backs cash session and u2's crew produces it. Easy Rider and the Mystery of Life I think would be enjoyable to all of his fans. This in my opinion clicks way better than Rockabilly blues and is now one that I consider to be a classic. I love the album. Hell, I love anything Wanted man is on. The sound quality by the way is GREAT. Crisp, clear, bright sounding music. This is good, particulary after a few listens. Maybe every single song won't be memorable to you, but this is not a slouch record with one or two good ones like so many albums are. This is an evenly good effort. 35:04 time."

I'll go somewhere and sing my songs again.

Johnny Heering | Bethel, CT United States | 08/21/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This album came out after Johnny Cash was dropped by his longtime label Columbia Records, but before he made his "comeback" with American Recordings. In many ways, these are the "forgotten" years of Johnny's career. This album is somewhat of a mixed bag. There are some great songs here and there are some not-so-great songs. There are two songs here that I love. One of them is "The Greatest Cowboy of Them All", who is Jesus, by the way. The other one is "Beans For Breakfast", which is a very funny song about a hungry, nasty, lonesome man. Of course, "Hey Porter" and "Wanted Man" are great songs, but these remakes don't quite measure up to Johnny's original versions of the songs. Most of the other songs are decent, if somewhat forgettable. "Angel and the Badman" isn't bad, but it uses the exact same melody as Johnny's old hit "The Man in Black". Of course, I should mention the bonus track, "The Wanderer", which is a U2 recording that Johnny sings. It's a good song, but it doesn't match the "sound" of the rest of the songs on the album. This CD will probably only be of interest to serious Johnny Cash fans, casual fans need not apply."