Universal 

 The teaming of Johnny Cash with uber-producer Rick Rubin for the American Recordings series was always a thing of brilliance. That it captured Cash in his final years, as he saw life wind to its end, imbued his original tunes and even the ever-unlikely selection of covers with a very real sense of reverence.
    American VI is as it suggests, the sixth in the series and with the great man having passed away in 2003, it has come to a point where we have arrived at what could be called the leftovers of what was recorded during the latter sessions with Rubin.
    Some have called it a footnote to the greater, earlier work and this does ring true, however hearing Cash in the likes of Ain’t No Grave, Redemption Day, Cool Water and his last-penned song, I Corinthians 15:55, really does bring the sentiment (and the loss of this man) home.
    While it all ends on a somewhat absurd note with the traditional Hawaiian ode, Aloha Oe, it must be said that the juxtaposition of Cash’s voice on this feather-lite tune, serves as a bittersweet farewell.

BOB GORDON