Terrible? I don't agree with that. I thought the new disc was pretty good, myself. Probably one of my five favorite Cash discs, and I've got a boatload. His voice has aged, naturally, but nowhere like, say, John Stewarts- these last few years have obviously been hard on him, but he's mostly sticking to a somewhat limited vocal range and to me, there is some powerful stuff on the disc. I think it's only heightened by the roughness and directness of his vocals. I liked this one better overall than the last two (but not quite as much as his first American Recording.)

And I thought the song Hurt is a perfect choice. I think the man's done a lot of things in his life he regrets, and it's taken its toll on his body and emotions and relationships. It's a dark song, but it's being delivered by a guy who'se known a lot of dark days.

But that's just my opinion.