Quick Hits, Vol. 355 (Johnny Cash, Painted Shield, Eminem, Johnny Blue Skies (Sturgill, dammit))

Johnny Cash - Songwriter.  Please just stop flogging the man's corpse!  These tunes were apparently recorded in 1993, just before Cash began his Rick Rubin phase.  The vultures stripped out the music that was recorded back then, just keeping his voice, and then adding in new instrumentation now.  It is fine, nothing in here is revelatory, and some of these tunes have appeared on other albums from Cash, either older or more recent.  The Dan Auerbach-assisted one is nice.  I just don't understand the need for it.  The version of "Drive On" in here is definitely worse than the one he made with Rubin a few years later.  Not very many streams either - top track is "Well Alright" with 3.4 million streams.

One of the YouTube comments said that this is genius.  C'mon, man.  It's a nice little bop that sort of sounds like "Tennessee Flat Top Box," but also seems like a throw-away little tune he wrote while thinking about doing laundry.  Cute enough but definitely not the level of genius.

Painted Shield - Painted Shield.  This came on to my radar last year when listening to ACL music - Britany Davis is a member of the band, but also Pearl Jam co-founder Stone Gossard is in here.  That piqued my interest.  The funny thing is that when these songs have played along in my queue as I have been working and not entirely paying attention to what is happening, I have heard two very disparate things that don't entirely fit, but they are what my brain came up with.  A few tracks sound sort of like a U2 B-Side, and somewhere in my New Stuff playlist I know there is a whole album of B-Sides from the Atomic Bomb sessions.  But then other songs make me think of the Queens of the Stone Age with a different, more chill lead singer.  Check "Evil Winds" and see if it doesn't remind you of something Josh Homme and company could put together?  And I absolutely dig both of those bands, so this sound is encouraging.  Top streamer is the second track, "Time Machine."  1.3 million streams.

Does that not sound a little like Bono doing his more recent singing style from those Atomic Bomb sessions.  I'M AT A PLACE CALLED VERTIGO! And then once the full band kicks in, those guitar licks make me think of the Queens.  Maybe just me, but I am feeling it.

Eminem - The Death of Slim Shady.  Ugh.  I think I went in to this recently, how a group of guys had a discussion on the beach last year at Spring Break about rappers that are still good.  One guy was very adamant that Eminem had never fallen off and was still throwing heaters.  Just take five minutes with this thing and if you truly believe that then I don't know why you are reading about music at all.  If your brain identifies this as a viable use of your brain space, then your brain needs no more music.  I will readily admit that some of the wordplay and bars on this are still top tier, and a few beats like the "Abracadabra"-sampling "Houdini" are fun.  But I bet he mentions Christopher Reeves ten times on this piece of trash.  At least that many combined mentions of retards and midgets.  I don't even care if he is trying to do a bit of moving along from his old shocking personality, at the same time he's still using those stupid things to move records.  I hate it.  And most of the beats are deeply boring, just a generic thump and snares.  Huh.  "Houdini" ends up being the top streamer too.  Sort of surprised.  543.9 million streams.

"I'm 'bout to reach in my bag bruh" is painful.  And he starts on some of the politically correct/woke stuff in here, but he really digs into on some other songs.  Like I said, he can still throw in some cool-sounding, intricate wordplay that rules, but lyrically it's pretty terrible.  Feels like he isn't moving forward, and nothing on here feels like a keeper that just needs to be heard.  Good with deleting.

Johnny Blue Skies - Passage Du Desir.  You'd hate to not be kept on your toes by my guy Sturgill Simpson, so he released an album under the name Johnny Blue Skies called Passage Du Desir.  Which translates to Passage of Desire.  The pseudonym apparently has to do with a promise that he won't release more than five albums of original material under his own name.  Which is sort of whack.  Anyway, this new disc is a little under inspiring for me, personally.  It sort of sounds like Sailor's Guide, but without those exciting horns and high energy riffs - takes a more quiet and soft tack towards the same oddball horizon though.  It isn't bad, like the funky little groove on "Scooter Blues" is tasty for me, but it mostly just cruises by with each listen.  It has grown on me since last year though, with some of the jammier elements starting to become more pleasant.  The closer "One For the Road" has some Allman-esque licks that I like and gets a little rowdy near the end.  Not many streams for the disc either - not sure if that is because of the pseudonym or just a lack of excitement.  Top streamer is called "Mint Tea," with 4.9 million streams.

Like I said, just kind of bops along and then is gone without leaving a trace.  I like the imagery of another band aid on this bullet hole, but I don't even think that is an original thought.  For sure Taylor Swift already used it, and I'd expect others.  Huh.  Morgan Wallen has a song named "Band-aid on a Bullethole."  So, there you go, the least original country guy out there already used that thought...  The album is nice, it's just not something that snags my attention.  I'd have preferred a little more excitement, but I'll take it over what most of the country world is producing right now.