10 Darkest Rock Albums Of The 90s

5. American Recordings - Johnny Cash

So...it might be cheating to actually end up putting a country artist on a list like this...but is it really? If there was any non-rockstar that embodied what it meant to live the rock star lifestyle, Johnny Cash earns the title without question. After years of lackluster sales and the bad boy persona in the rearview, American Recordings gave us our first glimpse at what the Man in Black had been up to all these years.

Produced in collaboration with Rick Rubin, American Recordings shows Cash sounding a lot more sinister in his older age, donning the same type of outlaw tunes that he was used to singing back in the days of Folsom Prison. On tracks like Delia's Gone, Cash is so matter of fact in detailing a lonesome man killing his wife and trying to cover it up just like he did on songs like Cocaine Blues years before.

If anything, the age in his voice makes the whole thing seem that much more sinister. The more you listen to this rugged badass talk about the crimes he's committed, the more you start to understand how much of his life has been spent on the darker side of town. This is a man that's still prepared for danger and is showing no signs of repenting any time soon.

 
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