Turn Up That Noise An eclectic survey of recent recordings. Stephen Grimstead, Editor Johnny Cash Love God Murder (Sony/Columbia/American/Legacy) Step way back for the Man In Black because he's throwing a triple-threat your way, a career-spanning conceptual boxed set, Love God Murder. Since living legend Johnny Cash has been making memorable records for more than four decades (starting with Memphis' own Sun label, back in 1955), there's certainly no dearth of classic material from which to choose. Instead of opting for the oft-tiresome chronological career retrospective, Cash elected to personally compile three separate cross-licensed 16-track titles, each centered around an essential concern. Despite his gruff appearance and earth-rumbling baritone, Johnny Cash has always been able to deliver a heartfelt romantic message without any cloying sentiment. Like all good troubadours, Cash focuses on the basic human emotions that we all feel we're experts at -- fear, hope, loss, loneliness -- all executed with total conviction and an occasional wry smile. Don't let that loping chick-a-boom beat and deadpan delivery fool you, because Mr. Cash has the soul of a poet lurking beneath that rough exterior. This sensitivity permeates the material on the Love disc, with acknowledged gems like "I Walk the Line," "Flesh and Blood," "Ring of Fire," and the sublime "I Still Miss Someone" mixed among lesser-known efforts like "Happiness Is You," "I Feel Better All Over," and "Cause I Love You." Also included on Love are two tracks previously unreleased in the United States: the loopy "My Old Faded Rose" and the very serious "I Tremble for You." The undying love between Johnny Cash and his wife, June Carter Cash, is described honestly in June's liner notes to Love. Their undeniable affection for each other turned out to be inevitable as well, despite significant obstacles. And if it seems incongruent to picture Johnny Cash bemoaning the current lack of romance in the modern world ("What has happened to our love language?" he wants to know), then you've never really listened to the man's music. The second disc, God, also runs the gamut of human emotion, with the addition of hope and deliverance through difficult trials. Cash was pretty much hell-bound through his self-destructive behavior and addictions (alcohol, drugs, just not giving a damn) by the time he and June were finally joined in holy matrimony in 1968, and part of his rehabilitation included his conversion to fundamentalist Christianity. Whether or not you have faith in something bigger than yourself, it's impossible to deny Cash's creed as expressed through gospel music. He rarely resorts to theatrics to tell a dramatic tale, as his weathered voice carries the weight of true belief. Part of the reason Cash left Sun back in 1958 was due to the company's refusal to let him record the gospel album he yearned to make, and inspirational music has been an integral part of his performing repertoire ever since. God includes some obscure Cachet and Ezra sides ("The Greatest Cowboy of All," "When He Comes," and "Man in White") alongside reverent interpretations of Christian standards like "The Old Account," "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," and "Were You There (When They Crucified My Lord)." The only thing out of place on God comes in the form of woefully inadequate liner notes from that pretentious wanker, Bono, of U2 fame, who mistakenly refers to Johnny Cash as "a righteous dude." The third disc, Murder, emerges as the topical one you'd expect from Cash (particularly in the wake of his '90s sessions with heavy-metal producer Rick Rubin -- American Recordings and Unchained). With savvy liner notes from film auteur Quentin Tarantino (who refers to this disc as "songs of hillbilly thug life, poems to the criminal mentality"), Murder is also the only title to feature any concert recordings, an environment in which Cash comes alive when telling his dark fables of consequence and luck gone bad. There's no doubt that Murder summons up the image that most of today's audience has in connection with Cash and his music (you know, the whole "I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die" thing), and it's not wholly unjustified. When Cash recounts the details of unsavory demise (most blood-chillingly in the original mono single version of "Delia's Gone" and "The Sound of Laughter"), he does so with the matter-of-fact manner of one who could very well have done it himself. Cash felt it necessary to add the following admonition: "These songs are just for listening and singing. Don't go out and do it." Cash's impressive song catalog (more than 100 hit singles!) can accommodate a number of other theme reissues, with little or no duplication. How about a Comedy/Tragedy set (ever heard "Chicken in Black"?) or Bitter/Sweet or Slavery/Freedom or Friends/Enemies? The possibilities are almost endless! Both casual and die-hard Cash fans will definitely want the entire boxed set (including an instant collector's item -- a sheet of temporary Love God Murder tattoos). If you've got to choose between the three, Love comes first, followed closely by Murder (God can take care of Him-/Her-/Itself just fine without any help from me). -- David D. Duncan