Various Artists
All Aboard: A Tribute to Johnny Cash

Campus Correspondent Review By Chad Comello
North Central College

If Johnny Cash were a young man today, he’d probably be way into punk. That’s why the concept behind the punk-fueled All Aboard: A Tribute to Johnny Cash works so well. The Man in Black was the punk-rocker of his time, downing prescription drugs while bucking the establishment, all the while making the definitive music of his generation.

This tribute album works better with that in mind. Some of the covers lean more heavily towards straight country like Casey James Prestwood’s twangy “I Still Miss Someone” and the fiddle-driven “Wreck of the Old ‘97” by Chuck Ragan. Most of them try to update Cash’s dusty ballads with some modern edge: the standards “The Man in Black” and “Cry Cry Cry” are given a guitar-slamming update by the Bouncing Souls and the Flatliners respectively, while the Gaslight Anthem tries to out-badass Cash’s most recent track “God’s Gonna Cut You Down” but don’t succeed; no one can out-badass Johnny Cash.

Cash was country singer, but he could also throw down. These covers each try to celebrate one of those traits; some are forgettable, like “Country Boy” by Fallen From the Sky, which adds a grittier voice and calls it a punk tribute. But some represent a side of Cash not-too-often seen, like Ben Nichols’ thoughtful “Delia’s Gone.” Maybe the years of listening to Johnny Cash are talking here, but the songs that work are the ones that don’t stray too far from what Cash gave us originally. The concept of All Aboard is good and the motive pure, but the actual songs fall just short of memorable.