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Apr 10, 2014Out Among the Stars is very much classic Cash.
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Apr 4, 2014These abandoned sessions probably would have been ignored had they been released when first recorded. But to ears and sensibilities realigned to Cash’s brilliance, this really is a lost treasure.
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Apr 4, 2014It proves that even at his most uninterested, Cash couldn't help but make a record with weight, moral complexity and grim humor.
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Apr 1, 2014While the results are neither as energetic and original as the peak Sun Records or Columbia recordings, nor as darkly compelling as the Rubin albums, they’re still a lot better than anyone might have expected.
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Mar 31, 2014It’s easy to be cynical or apprehensive about “lost” tracks resurfacing years later, but there’s enough A-grade material on Out Among The Stars to make its belated arrival something to celebrate.
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Mar 31, 2014It remains a 1980s Johnny Cash album and it wasn’t until Rick Rubin got hold of him 10 years later that he came in from the cold.
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Mar 27, 2014Crucial for all Cash fans.
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Mar 27, 2014Out Among the Stars is a boon for fans of country music history as well as those who just can’t get enough Cash. More importantly, it highlights a missing link between the often disparate eras of a long and complicated career.
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Mar 27, 2014At times the record’s pleasantness feels forced, part of a calculated game plan. But at its best, Out Among The Stars is a gentle reminder of how sweet the everyman missives of the Man In Black could be.
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Mar 26, 2014Placed within the context of Cash’s legendary career, this collection sees the Man in Black shining brightly out among the stars, even at a moment when most of the world wasn’t really interested in stargazing.
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Mar 26, 2014Like much of his work in the 1980s, it is hobbled by poor production, mediocre material, and a general lack of purpose. Nonetheless, all those criticisms aside, this remains an important record.
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Mar 25, 2014Heard in what would have been Cash’s 82nd year, the songs find this icon embracing Music Row conventions without losing his soul.
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Mar 25, 2014Out Among the Stars is a reminder of how easy Cash made it all look even when he was slumping.
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Mar 25, 2014Somewhere in between the high times and the death throes lies Out Among The Stars. The songs contained are mostly simple pleasures, but they’re pleasures nonetheless.
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Mar 21, 2014Out Among the Stars is, at least contextually, a reminder that sometimes things got in Johnny Cash's way, but there are very few forces on Earth that could stifle his voice and conviction when he set his mind to getting a song across.
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MagnetMar 20, 2014You've got an odd, lovingly produced hybrid of old Nashville and new Americana, with a batch og forgettable songs surrounding a few that deserve a place in the canon. [No. 107, p.52]
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MojoMar 20, 2014Sometimes it works but often it just feels odd. [Apr 2014, p.105]
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UncutMar 20, 2014Guitarist Marty Stuart re-recorded his parts, and contemporary shading has been added by Buddy Miller and Jerry Douglas. They don't completely erase the synthetic qualities of the sound, but it's clear that Cash was in fine voice even if the material didn't always suit him. [Apr 2014, p.89]
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Mar 20, 2014Every one of these seem like they could have some kind of potential on the charts, so the fact they were shelved is a bit of a mystery because, when taken together--despite misguided novelties like "If I Told You Who It Was"--it adds up to one of Cash's stronger '80s albums.
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Mar 20, 2014The suits might have been right the first time. It's mostly Sherrill's fault; the slide-heavy arrangements and hokey production flourishes would have sounded remarkably cornpone even 30 years ago.
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Mar 20, 2014Arrangements are unfussy--at least by today’s standards--and Cash’s rich, familiar baritone is in fine shape.