Rosanne Cash has had a tough time of it lately. In the space of 24 months, her step-mother, father and mother passed away--the latter on Rosanne's 50th birthday.

This album is a meditation on loss, but it's also about how one's loved ones are always present, living or dead.

The first voice you hear on this album is that of Rosanne's father, the great Johnny Cash. Yet, the album is never mawkish or too sentimental. Instead, the music supports the powerful lyrics. "I Was Watching You" is a classic for the ages; "House on The Lake" sounds like a lament influenced by the Delta blues. The title song is truly a keeper.

At the same time, we hear an agrier Rosanne than we are used to. From "Burn Down This Town" to "Like Fugitives", Ms. Cash is angrier than we have heard her, to good effect.

The production, by Bill Botrell and John Leventhal, supports and uplifts the music. The production is unobtrusive in songs like "House on the Lake", but brings texture to songs, as in the title tune, where trumpets evoke Johnny Cash's recording of "Ring of Fire".

Rosanne is consistently able to evoke the sadness, despair and striving that we all experience. All in all, this album is one of the strongest in the Rosanne Cash canon, proving to be a dark partner to "Interiors".

I've never been a big fan of country music, so I'd never really heard Rosanne Cash before. I did like some of her dad's music, but I figured that she was just another second generation "star" who rode her parent's coattails into the limelight.

But when I heard about how this CD came about, and that it dealt with the loss of both parents and a stepmom in less than 2 years, I figured I'd give it a listen. I was amazed at the depth and texture of this recording!

Drom the dramatic opening strains of 'Black Cadillac' to the final notes of 'The Good Intent', this CD sucks you in and will not let go. Musically, each song sets a mood for the hearfelt lyrics it accompianies. This is especially true of the angry 'Burn down this Town' and the somber title tune.

Lyrically, the album mourns, seethes, questions, and even rejoices and comforts transparently. The songs are very well crafted, and even evoked thoughts and emotions that I experienced when my parents died years ago. This is powerful and emotional stuff!

This is one of my favorite albums of 2006, and might appeal not just to country music fans, but to anyone who has ever dealt with the pain of losing someone close.

Of Rosanne Cash's post-hitmaking years releases, I suppose I rank "The Wheel" as high as anything. What I especially enjoy about "Black Cadillac" is that it offers some of the same aural variety as "The Wheel" while also achieving the lyrical intensity of "Interiors". That's a pretty powerful combination, and it makes "Black Cadillac" a rich creation on many levels. While I love the throbbing opening song, I find "God Is in the Roses" most moving of all. To know and experience joy, one has to accept and feel grief as well. I've never heard that thought expressed more eloquently than Ms. Cash does in this song. And she makes the sadness beautiful, too.

This is a great album. Written after her father died, Johnny Cash's presence is felt throughout the album, made obvious by the family sound clips that begin and end the album. The love she felt for her father is so clear and present in this album, it almost feels like you are intruding on her private moments. The songs "I Was Watching You" and "The World Unseen" are profound and moving ballads, and I find myself playing them at night.

The sound quality in the album is a bit rough, like the roadhouse cast much of the music takes on. It really works with this music. The music does suffer a from heavy compression in places that is glaringly and unprofessionally obvious. Does every album really have to go to '11'? But the strength of the music conquers these problems.

No words can give justice to this hauntingly beautiful and heartbreaking masterpiece. Rosanne bares her soul, raw emotion and stark beauty abound. A skillfull songwriter, Rosanne is able to convey emotion at its purest level like no one else can. What makes this album so good is its variety between sweet touching poetry, and raw uptempo rebellion and grief. No emotion is left unexplored. "Black Cadillac" is spine tingling, with her Dad's voice appearing at the beginning and at the end of the album, and in between "Black Cadillac" takes us through a journey of longing, hurt, spirituality and rage and then back. Commercial radio these days has no heart or soul. These songs deserve to be heard; Rosanne is one of the most underrated treasures in the biz. Wake up America--play people that have true heart--Rosanne's "Black Cadillac", Emmylou Harris' "Stumble into Grace" and Anne Murray's "All of Me" (Disc one) will take you where no radio station ever will--in touch with all of life's true and deep emotions. And this is a much deeper space to be in than Madonna dancing in leotards and sampling overplayed 70's ABBA material. I can't be the only one thinking this.