American Recordings (album)
The album marked the beginning of a career resurgence for Cash, who was widely recognized as an icon of American music but whose record sales had suffered during the late 1970s and 1980s.[4] "Tennessee Stud" and "The Man Who Couldn't Cry" were recorded live at the Viper Room, a Sunset Strip, Los Angeles nightclub owned at the time by Johnny Depp.[1] Q magazine deemed it the year's most sincere and ambitious record,[19] while NME found it "uplifting and life affirming because the message is taught through adversity, ill luck and fighting for survival".[11] David Browne, writing in Entertainment Weekly, said Cash remained a captivating singer throughout the austerely arranged country ballads and bizarre reflections, calling the record "his most relaxed and folkiest album in three decades".[20] In other year-end lists, it was ranked 36th by Select,[21] 23rd by NME,[22] 19th by Rockdelux,[23] 17th by Les Inrockuptibles,[24] 15th by The Face,[25] 5th by the Los Angeles Times,[26] 4th by Mojo,[27] and 2nd by OOR.