Johnny Cash – Out Among The Stars

As the album continues, Cash and his associates take us on a more varied emotional journey. “She Used to Love Me a Lot” is a contemplative, drum-heavy ode to a woman who was too good for the troubled narrator to love. The song also happens to be a cover of a 1984 song by David Allen Coe. “She Used to Love Me…” is the first single taken from “Out Among the Stars” and was originally recorded by Cash in the early 1980’s, although it was never released. “I’m Movin’ On” and “If I Told You Who It Was” bring back warm memories of earlier Cash works like “A Boy Named Sue”, filled as they are with storytelling, humour, and toe-tapping rhythm. “Call Your Mother” jogs along with a simple guitar and harmonica, musing on the end of a relationship with not just a woman, but her family too.

Things get a little darker with “I Drove Her Out of My Mind”, but the trademark Cash humour and enjoyable wordplay make this song more amusing than upsetting. “Tennessee” and “Rock and Roll Shoes” move into standard mid-tempo country territory, before Carter comes back again to add warm layers of emotion to “Don’t You Think It’s Come Our Time.” “I Came to Believe” is a slow, piano-rich tribute to Cash’s Christian faith, managing to tell a moving story without preaching to the listener. The final track, an Elvis Costello remix of “She Used to Love Me a Lot” is intense and intriguing, increasing the tempo but bringing added depth to the song.

This album covers all the bases for fans of Cash. It takes the listener through highs and lows, love stories and break-ups, with a consistently engaging and varied track list that keeps things fresh. The production remains unobtrusively good throughout; Sherrill is clearly aware that Cash and Carter need very little help to sound appealing to their audience. If you are looking for the ideal gift for a country fan, “Out Among the Stars” is a good place to start.