American III: Solitary Man (studio album)
by Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash bestography
American III: Solitary Man is ranked 5th best out of 126 albums by Johnny Cash on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by Johnny Cash is At Folsom Prison which is ranked number 320 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 5,301.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
Upcoming concerts
Listen to American III: Solitary Man on YouTube
American III: Solitary Man track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 81 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.
American III: Solitary Man rankings
Romanelli
Norman Bates
Tamthebam
Leonard
dihansse
AleJohnMariAmerican III: Solitary Man collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 125 members
American III: Solitary Man ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 242 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 09/14/2025 21:18 | LittleM1971 | 5,809 | 81/100 |
| ! | 06/12/2025 22:39 | mrmcrook | 983 | 77/100 |
| ! | 04/27/2025 18:06 | SD100852 | 1,229 | 76/100 |
| ! | 11/17/2024 07:26 | thepurplemartin | 554 | 76/100 |
| ! | 07/25/2024 01:18 | Proto | 3,733 | 33/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album is rated in the top 2% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 78.0/100, a mean average of 77.1/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 78.3/100. The standard deviation for this album is 13.1.
American III: Solitary Man favourites
Showing latest 20 members who have added this album as a favourite | Show all 29 members
American III: Solitary Man comments
Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 11 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Maximum Rated First |
Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)
My favorite from his resurgence era. This is great. Mainly covers but he's got such a unique killer voice he can totally make any of them his own. Title track's the highlight. Also does a dynamic version of Nick Cave's 'Mercy Seat'
This is only the second Cash album I have listened to after At Folsom Prison. I recognise many of the covers and like his stamp on them. I will look to work through his back catalogue based on these two albums
Not up to 4, but standouts are The Mercy Seat, I See a Darkness and a lovely Wayfaring Stranger.
I think this is Cash's best album. I think American IV suffers a bit from Cash covering pretty untouchable songs (like Bridge over Troubled Water or In my Life), but in this album the songs he covers are ones that could be improved by Cash's magical touch. Tom Petty also adds some amazing backup vocals on a few songs, and the instrumentation is more lush here than on most of the other "American" albums.
Fantastic.
Everything Cash grabs he makes It his. I am a guy that appreciate as a high standard for a artist to compose his own music, but Cash, much like João Gilberto, has his own touch on everything, he makes it transcend, and there are some musics that I can only appreciate on his voice.
LedZep 05/29/2018 22:46 | #215782
The Mercy Seat and I See A Darkness are two songs that I think are perfect 100. And their covers here are just as brilliant as the originals. How did he do it?
Brad1770 12/16/2017 09:47 | #203265
The Man In Black delivers here, you know what you’re getting. The cover of Neil Diamonds Solitary Man and Nick Caves Mercy Seat are really great. This album would make an excellent entry point if you’re looking to discover JC.
Graeme2 12/01/2013 17:05 | #95818
Mercy seat is one of the best covers you will ever hear. Stunning.
drivebytornado 02/26/2013 00:58 | #66148
I think these American Recordings series should really be sold as Johnny Cash, by Rick Rubin. As Rubin's influence is what made the difference in Cash's career over the last decade of his life. What a gift that was to the music world. Every one of these is superb. While this one isn't my personal favorite, it still has some amazing moments, such as the covers of Neil Diamond's "Solitary Man" U2's "One" and Will Oldham's "I See A Darkness."
Your feedback for American III: Solitary Man
A lot of hard work happens in the background to keep BEA running, and it's especially difficult to do this when we can't pay our hosting fees :(
We work very hard to ensure our site is as fast (and FREE!) as possible, and we respect your privacy.
