Still, listeners would be well-advised to approach Black Cadillac with an open mind, since its rewards are much too substantial for a mere aversion of production values to spoil. A song like "The World Unseen" would be stunning no matter who was behind the mixing board: a meditation on the young Cash's coming to terms with her father, which mixes allusions to the Nativity and Johnny's own history with truly affecting results. It's spectacular enough to make this album well worth the numerous listens it takes to get past the gloss - and I'm happy to say that it's not the only track to encourage such persistence. More rarely, there are even cases when the production justifies itself on first listen - as on "World Without Sound", which surprises with stabs of jazzy horns, background harmonies and "When I'm 64" clarinets; an almost Beatlesesque feel to compliment Cash's John Lennon-referencing lyrics.

It's worth examining, too, that Cash should choose Lennon to mention on this deeply personal, pain-inspired record, since his Plastic Ono Band virtually invented the concept of pop confessional. Of course, Plastic Ono is an all-time classic for precisely the same reason Black Cadillac isn't quite: Lennon, unlike Cash, made the wise decision to wed his stark and primal emotions to equally stark and primal music. But to say that Rosanne Cash fell a little short of one of the greatest records of the 20th century is hardly a harsh criticism; this is an excellent work on its own terms, a sublime reckoning of life, loss and time which tackles some truly monumental topics and pulls it off beautifully. Would I like to hear it remixed by a less commercially-minded producer? You bet I would. But Black Cadillac is so damned good as it is, I don't even mind that I never will.

Reviewed by Zach Hoskins