The Legend of Johnny Cash, Vol. II

The stellar phenomenon that is Johnny Cash continues to burn ever more brightly and the release of this second instalment in the Legend series has been made to take further advantage of the country great's resurgent popularity following the success of the 2005 biopic Walk The Line. Vol. II *adds a further 20 songs gleaned from Cash's illustrious career and, as with *Vol. 1, the compilation begins with tracks from his early recording days in the 1950's and takes a musical journey through the decades up to the release of his more recent material.

None of this will be new to the ardent Cash fan but for the legions of fresh listeners out there that have just taken the "Man in Black" to their hearts, this record provides a goldmine of essential Cash tunes and will no doubt provide the inspiration to delve deeper still into the Cash back catalogue. The album is littered with gems and it's a testament to the quality of Cash's register that so many were unable to make it onto the first instalment. Included here with early classics such as "Home of the Blues", "The Ways Of A Woman In Love" and "The Long Black Veil" are two great duets on Bob Dylan songs, "It Ain't Me Babe" sung with June Carter Cash and "Girl From the North Country" sung with the man himself, plus some great covers from later in his career of songs such as Tom Petty's, "I Won't Back Down" and a great live version of Leonard Cohen's, "Bird on a Wire".

As a whole the album makes great listening and stealing the classic concert promoter's line from "The Night Hank Williams Came to Town", you could say, 'you get your value for money in the first few songs and then the rest is free!'.