Having wrestled a bewildering amount of personal demons for several decades, Johnny Cash freely admits that he never thought he'd see his 70th birthday. Perhaps that's why, now that he's finally reached that milestone, he's making some of the most gloriously defiant music of his career. In fact there's a strong case to be made that the Man in Black's ill health has only spurred him on to greater heights, giving his mournful compositions an even more powerful resonance than they had before. The Man Comes Around is the fourth in his remarkable series of American Recordings and, like all the others, is a stirring collection of acoustic country music played with a fiery, rebellious rock'n'roll spirit. While the covers ('Bridge Over Troubled Water', Depeche Mode's 'Personal Jesus', Nine Inch Nails's 'Hurt') are all convincingly rendered, it's the originals that really linger in the memory, their lyrical clarity proving that Cash is as sharp an observer of human weakness as he's ever been. And if his stately vocals are a little ragged at times, it only adds to the impression of a mighty talent refusing to go gently into that good night. Just one complaint: the appearances of Nick Cave and Don Henley are totally unnecessary - if there's anyone who doesn't need so-called guest stars to back him up, it's Johnny Cash
