Johnny Cash Remixed is as the name states a remix of some of the best (or at least the most famous) Johnny Cash songs. With the passing of Johnny Cash it seems like there is more and more releases/material that is coming out. I wouldn’t say this is the best Cash release in the past few years but it is still very good.

The quality of the album is great which is to be expected with many great “analog” samples of Cash in many (all?) the songs. Many of the artists that were involved were really able to manage a stunning display or creativity while still keeping a “feel” of a Johnny Cash song which was really important to me. Johnny Cash isn’t simply an artist you can copy or recreate. You have to go above and beyond what most artists are capable of; and many of the artists were able to achive this which was a great suprise to me.

Kennedy covering Sugartime, Pete Rock covering Flosom Prison Blues and Count De Money covering Big River really stand out as artists who were really able to understand what the songs were about and “got them”. These guy went above and beyond re-creating the Cash songs.

The 1 big downside to this album is the snoop dogg remix which is the biggest piese of crap I have heard in the long time. When I saw the artists who were involved in the remixes the first thing that came to mind was how pissed I was going to be at how bad he would handle the song. I don’t know who thought snoop dogg would be capable of covering (any?) I walk the line without completely destroying the song. He goes above and beyond with his remix to show how much of an artist he is NOT and how much of a douchebag he is. I could go on about how awful snoop dogg remixes the song (for many many more pages) but I will just leave it at simply being so bad it almost ruins the entire album if it wasn’t for so many real musican and artists doing such a stunning job and carrying his excrement filled ego.

Should you check this album out? Hell yeah you should. If your a hardcore Cash fan you most likely will not buy this because of your music preference, but everyone else will love this album. Its a great combination of rock and various other artists styles of music (hiphop, electorinic, mixing, sampels).

I walk the line (Snoop Dogg)
Big River (Count De Money )
Get Rhythm (Phlip Steir)
Doin’ My Time (The Heavy)
Coutnry Boy (Sonny J)
Leave that Junk Alone (Alabama)
Portof Lonely Hearts (Midnight Juggernauts)
Folsom Prison Blues (Pete Rock)
Straight A’s in Love (Troublemaker)
Sugartime (Kennedy)
Rock Island Line (Wolf)
Belshazzar (Machine Drum)
I heard that Lonesome Whistle Blow (Apparat)

The Eruptors “Bad time to be having a good time” is the first release for this Ireland based band with a release date in the early months of 2008.

This release was a pretty fun listen too with quirky fast songs with a traditional punk rock and roll sound with a bit of UK style rock added into the mix which always adds something to a bands sound for people in North America.

The album is fast with a few really good songs that really stand out (One minute decision). I will admit though that I like nearly all their unreleased demo songs then about 1/2 of the songs on this album. It could be that the album I received was a pre-release without nearly as many songs as the release did so I might not be hearing every song that is on the album.

All in all “Bad time to be having a good time” is a great album to check out. I would rather see them live though because it seems like the album dosen’t grab the full power that this band would carry live.

Track Listing

Dawn of the earth
theme from the Eruptors
insert #1
Gravelrash
One minute decision
Unleash the dogs of war
Insert #2
Battlestar Eruptica
Insert #3
My baby’s not at home
Insert #4
Devils got angel’s wings
Skate fast@ Die Hard! (album everion)
Return to the dawn of the earth