American II: Unchained (studio album)
by Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash bestography
American II: Unchained is ranked 8th 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 5,278.
(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 II: Unchained on YouTube
American II: Unchained track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 82 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.
American II: Unchained rankings
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American II: Unchained 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 135 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 12/10/2025 09:38 | Leginlists | 796 | 83/100 |
| ! | 12/09/2025 07:29 |  Kingturtle | 7,441 | 73/100 |
| ! | 05/22/2025 15:17 |  imimesis | 2,001 | 81/100 |
| ! | 05/21/2025 02:04 |  EyeKanFly | 8,093 | 65/100 |
| ! | 04/17/2025 23:29 | TheSmiths82-87 | 1,273 | 84/100 |
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 77.7/100, a mean average of 77.5/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 78.2/100. The standard deviation for this album is 10.8.
American II: Unchained favourites
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American II: Unchained comments
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My favourite of the American albums. Rusty cage and southern accents are both epic but the rest of the album has some other wonderful moment. One of the greatest voices in popular music. He could sing the phone book and make people weep. One of the greatest artists of all time, no matter what the genre,
Opinions differ. I think it's the best of the American albums. They are all good though and Rick Rubin deserves a medal for what he did for Johnny. I really think these albums took Johnny to a different level in the cultural consciousness and that he is remembered differently, immortalized really, because of them.
Probably the weakest of the four, but that voice is still there, and the delivery is something else. Rick Rubin's production just strips it back and let's in the aching vulnerability.
My gateway to country and americana.
buzzdainer 09/04/2016 17:06 | #174259
Of all the late-career Johnny Cash recordings with Rick Rubin behind the soundboard, those on Unchained are far and away my favorites. That's partly because I spent many a Friday night drinking beer in my buddy Mark's living room listening to this album. But it's also because this is the album with the most breadth, the one with the most surprising and interesting choices of covers, the one that's most celebratory and most fun. It's unfortunate that Choice Hotels turned Cash's version of Geoff Mack's "I've Been Everywhere" into a goddamned commercial, because it's so great on its own merits: funny, whimsical, and strangely wise. Everything a country star in the twilight of his life ought to be.
The man shines on this album.
Decurso 08/05/2014 13:40 | #118761
An incredible effort from Cash at this late stage of his career. His rendition of Rusty Cage is possibly the single best example of how he could play anything and make it his own.
junodog4 07/14/2012 19:24 | #46419
The 2nd best American recording for Johnny Cash. Notable for 'Rusty Cage'.
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