The first disc is the essence of The Essential Johnny Cash. Spanning a mere eight years, this disc features Cash at his songwriting and musical peak. It begins with selections from Cash’s Sun Records era, which includes the rockabilly gems “Cry, Cry, Cry” and “I Walk the Line.” The first CD also includes the haunting story-song “Don’t Take Your Guns to Town,” and the mariachi-inflected “Ring of Fire.” The first half of The Essential Johnny Cash is a marvelous expression of solitude, indignation and emptiness and an explication of Cash’s mystique.
The second disc is a bit of a letdown, mostly because it includes many more collaborative endeavors. The duets with Cash’s wife, June Carter Cash, feel somewhat inappropriate, interrupting the solitary tone established in the previous disc. “Girl from the North Country,” a duet with Bob Dylan, also doesn’t quite work. Cash’s wonderful voice, which U2’s Bono calls “the most male voice in Christendom,” clashes with Dylan’s weak bleats. But the second disc does have a couple of must-haves: live renditions of “Folsom Prison Blues” (unfortunately, the studio version is absent) and “A Boy Named Sue.” The Essential Johnny Cash is indeed an essential recording for the novice who wants an introduction to the Man in Black. The ideal “essential” collection would have Columbia strip the album down to the core of the first disc.
––William K. Lee
Dakota Moon
A Place to Land
Elektra
A recipe for a new sound that is not quite new at all: soulful BoysIIMen harmony without quite so much harmony, guitars that used to be reserved for Styx cover-bands, and pop sensibilities that seem stuck in adult contemporary. Sadly, what results from this recipe is Dakota Moon, whose second album A Place to Land combines everything but does nothing well. Vocals that could reach heights in “So Good for You” become a falsetto mess. “Looking for a Place to Land” contains a catchy hook, but the rest of the album has nothing particularly redeeming to recommend even a second listen.
When a group rehashes Eagle Eye Cherry without any audible emotion, then something is seriously wrong. Nor is the singing of the sort that plumbs any emotional depths. In “Lonely Days,” over-produced guitar licks dilute the vocals of what might have been the starkest ballad. The prominence of the guitar makes Dakota Moon unique, but rarely does it work. In “Release Me” the simple chords do complement the singers well, but in effect the song degenerates into a pop ballad.
When the band (Ray Artis, Joe Dean, Malloy, and Ty Taylor) do try to rock out, the music almost always fails, so the album ends up containing what appears to be numerous half-songs, with only a few catchy pop songs to make the listen worthwhile.
––Jimmy Zha