Bob Dylan album

Album   Released Publisher Rating
Christmas in the Heart (Deluxe Version) 2009 Columbia
Together Through Life (Deluxe Edition 2CD/1DVD) 2009 Columbia
The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs - Rare and Unreleased 1989-2006 [Deluxe Edition 2008 Columbia/Legacy
The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs - Rare and Unreleased 1989-2006 (1 CD Version) 2008 Columbia
Dylan (2007 3-CD Deluxe Edition) 2007 Sony Music Distribution
Dylan (2007 2 Disc) 2007 Sony Music Distribution
Modern Times (CD/DVD) 2006 Sony Music Distribution
The Collection, Vol. 2: Freewheelin' Bob Dylan/Times They Are A-Changin'/Another Side [2005 2005 Sony Music Distribution
The Collection, Vol. 3: Blonde on Blonde/Blood on the Tracks/Infidels (2005 Reissue) 2005 Columbia
The Collection, Vol. 4: Nashville Skyline/New Morning/John Wesley Harding (2005 Reissue) 2005 Columbia
The Collection: Oh, Mercy/Time Out of Mind/Love and Theft (2005 Reissue) 2004 Columbia
Masked and Anonymous (Bonus Disc) 2003 Sony Music Distribution
Love and Theft (Bonus CD) 2001 Sony Music Distribution
Love and Theft (Remastered) 2001 Columbia
Essential Bob Dylan (Australian Bonus Tracks) 2000 Col
The Essential Bob Dylan (3.0) 2000 Columbia/Legacy
The Essential Bob Dylan (Limited Tour Edition) 2000 Sony Music Distribution
MTV Unplugged (CD/DVD) 1995 Sony Music Distribution
Greatest Hits, Vol. 3 (Australia) 1994 Sony Music Distribution
Oh Mercy (Remastered) 1989 Columbia
Slow Train Coming (Remastered) 1979 Columbia
Street Legal (Remastered) 1978 Sony Music Distribution
Desire (Remastered) 1976 Columbia
Blood on the Tracks (Remastered) 1975 Columbia
Planet Waves (Remastered) 1974 Sony Music Distribution
Nashville Skyline (Japan) 1969 Sony Music Distribution
Nashville Skyline (Remastered) 1969 Columbia
John Wesley Harding (Remastered) 1967 Columbia
John Wesley Harding (Japan) 1967 Sony Music Distribution
Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits (Sundazed) 1967 Sundazed
Blonde on Blonde (Vinyl Classics) 1966 Columbia
Blonde on Blonde (Remastered 2-CD) 1966 Columbia
Blonde on Blonde (Remastered 1-CD) 1966 Columbia
Highway 61 Revisited (Japan) 1965 Sony Music Distribution
Bringing It All Back Home (Remastered) 1965 Columbia
Bringing It All Back Home (Japan) 1965 Sony Music Distribution
Another Side of Bob Dylan (Remastered) 1964 Sony Music Distribution
The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (Remastered) 1963 Sony Music Distribution
Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (Japan CD) 1963 Sony Music Distribution
Bob Dylan (LP) 1962 Sundazed
Back to the topChristmas in the Heart (Deluxe Version)
Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
Released:
October 13, 2009
Label:
Columbia
Rating:
Genre:
Folk
Styles:
Christmas
Rock & Roll
Americana
After the initial shock fades, the existence of Christmas in the Heart seems perhaps inevitable. After all, the thing Bob Dylan loves most of all are songs that are handed down from generation to generation, songs that are part of the American fabric, songs so common they never seem to have been written. These are the songs Dylan chooses to sing on Christmas in the Heart, a cheerfully old-fashioned holiday album from its Norman Rockwell-esque cover to its joyous backing vocals. Apart from the breakneck "Must Be Santa," which barrelhouses like a barroom, Dylan doesn't really reinterpret these songs as much as simply play them with his crackerjack road band, dropping in a little flair -- restoring "we'll have to muddle through somehow" to "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," singing the opening of "O Come All Ye Faithful" in its original Latin -- but never pushing tunes in unexpected directions. Many would argue that having Dylan croon these carols is unexpected enough and, true, there are times his gravelly rumble is a bit pronounced, but nothing here feels forced, it all feels rather fun, provided you're on the same wavelength as latter-day Bob, where the sound and swing of the band is as important as the song, where there's an undeniable nostalgic undertow to all the proceedings. And, of course, there's no better time for celebratory sound, swing, and nostalgia than the holidays, which may be why Christmas in the Heart is a bit of a left-field delight.
Track # Track Time Composer
1 Here Comes Santa Claus 2:35 Autry, Haldeman
2 Do You Hear What I Hear? 3:02 Regney, Baker
3 Winter Wonderland 1:53 Smith, Bernard
4 Hark the Herald Angels Sing 2:30 Traditional
5 I'll Be Home for Christmas 2:54 Ram, Gannon, Kent
6 Little Drummer Boy 2:53 Simeone, Davis, Onorati
7 The Christmas Blues 2:54 David Jack Holt, Cahn
8 O' Come All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles) 2:48 Traditional
9 Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas 4:06 Martin, Blane
10 Must Be Santa 2:48 Fredericks, Moore
11 Silver Bells 2:36 Livingston, Evans
12 The First Noel 2:30 Traditional
13 Christmas Island 2:28 Moraine
14 The Christmas Song 3:57 Torme, Wells
15 O' Little Town of Bethlehem 2:17 Traditional
Price: $21.98     35 Reviews
Deluxe Edition includes five exclusive holiday cards. 2009 holiday release, the first Christmas album from the legendaryFolk/Rock singer/songwriter. Christmas In The Heart is Dylan...
Back to the topTogether Through Life (Deluxe Edition 2CD/1DVD)
Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
Released:
April 28, 2009
Label:
Columbia
Rating:
Genre:
Folk
Styles:
Album Rock
Rock & Roll
Blues-Rock
By all accounts, Together Through Life arrived quickly, cut swiftly by Bob Dylan and his touring band in the fall of 2008, surprising the label upon its delivery a couple months later, then rushed into stores in April 2009, just half a year after the release of the monumental archive project Tell Tale Signs. Given the speed of its creation, it fits that the album has a spontaneous, kinetic kick, feeling so alive that it's a little messy, teeming with contradictions, crossed signals, and frayed ends. That liveliness turns Together Through Life into a much lighter affair than its weighty predecessor, Modern Times, which was tinged with doom and had thematic unity, two things missing from this comparatively breezy affair. If Together Through Life is about any one thing, it is -- as its title and cover photo elliptically suggest -- the enduring power of romance, how it provides sustenance and how its absence can make life hard. But all this suggests that Dylan has turned in a meditation on the meaning of life and love here, when its core charm is its very modesty. It's an old-fashioned ten tracks, clocking in at 45 minutes, a simple set of songs co-written with Robert Hunter -- Jerry Garcia's lyricist and previous Dylan collaborator, co-writing the irresistibly jaunty "Silvio" in 1988 -- and delivered without adornment, its clean yet earthy production slyly emphasizing the musical variety here. Sonically, this is right in line with Dylan's 2000s albums, the sound of a well-lubricated traveling band easing into the same chords it plays every night, but this isn't strictly roadhouse rock & roll: Dylan remains fixated on pre-rock & roll American music, emphasizing the blues but eager to croon love-struck ballads. In this context, David Hidalgo's accordion -- which appears so often it soon ceases to be noteworthy -- can suggest a romantic stroll down Parisian streets or a steamy sojourn with Doug Sahm in a Tex-Mex border town, but everything here is recognizably, thoroughly Dylan's mythic picturesque America that stretches from the hazy past to the barbed present. While the music is proudly, almost defiantly, rooted in the past, with Dylan borrowing Willie Dixon's "I Just Want to Make Love to You" wholesale for the riotous "My Wife's Home Town," there's no avoidance of the present here, with Bob even going so far as to turn the omnipresent catch phrase "It's All Good" into a mordantly funny rocker. Dylan's not just aware of the modern-day vernacular, he's wound up with an album that fits the spirit of 2009: it's troubled but hopeful, firmly in favor of love and romance, but if that fails there are always romantic dreams and sardonic jokes to get you through life. [A two-CD/one-DVD Deluxe Edition was also released.]
Track # Track Time Composer
1 Beyond Here Lies Nothin' 3:50 Dylan, Hunter
2 Life Is Hard 3:39 Dylan, Hunter
3 My Wife's Home Town 4:15 Dixon, Dylan, Hunter
4 If You Ever Go to Houston 5:48 Dylan, Hunter
5 Forgetful Heart 3:42 Dylan, Hunter
6 Jolene 3:50 Dylan, Hunter
7 This Dream of You 5:54 Dylan
8 Shake Shake Mama 3:37 Dylan, Hunter
9 I Feel a Change Comin' On 5:25 Dylan, Hunter
10 It's All Good 5:27 Dylan, Hunter
11 Howdy Neighbor/Don't Take Everybody to Be Your Friend/Diamonds Are a G 1:00:16 Burnett, Gabler, Guidry, Ling, McCain, Mcgraw, Morris, Robin, Styne, Tharpe, Wheeler
12 (DVD) N/A N/A
Price: $26.98     56 Reviews
Deluxe: Special 2CD/DVD limited edition package in a jewel box with slipcase includes: - Together Through Life collectible poster - Together Through Life sticker - Bonus CD of Bo...
Back to the topThe Bootleg Series, Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs - Rare and Unreleased 1989-2006 [Deluxe Edition
Review by Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
Released:
October 07, 2008
Label:
Columbia/Legacy
Rating:
Genre:
Folk
Styles:
Rock & Roll
Singer/Songwriter
Tell Tale Signs is perhaps the most appropriately titled of all the volumes in Bob Dylan's official Bootleg Series thus far. Containing 27 tracks, the material here dates from the albums Oh Mercy through to 2006's Modern Times. It presents a carefully prepared sonic treat of a genuine enigma's musical world-view. Dylan may be an icon, but if it wasn't already obvious, he seems to perceive the modern world as a strange place that he no longer understands, nor wishes to. The music here is startling in its depth and presentation. It begins with one of the two versions of "Mississippi" included; the song first appeared on Love and Theft, but was written for the Time Out of Mind sessions five years earlier. This one, with only Daniel Lanois' electric guitar as backing, shows Dylan in full voice, and performing it as a midtempo blues. It's jauntier in tempo, but harder, leaner, and wearier than the released version. Even more shocking is "Most of the Time," which has become a signature of Lanois' production style with its warm, thickly padded guitars and muffled drums. This one features Dylan solo with harmonica and guitar. It comes off as a statement of actuality about strengths and weaknesses rather than as a treatise of denial in the aftermath of lost love. It feels like a back-porch country song here, with different lyrics that underscore the singer's steely determination. There are some truly amazing stops along the way. The unreleased "Red River Shore" would have shifted some of the darkness on Time Out of Mind to some declaration of empathy and even tenderness had it been released. Likewise, "Marchin' to the City," one of the best slow blues Dylan has ever written, offers a respite from the desolation on that album. Soundtracks get represented, too: the alternate take of "Tell Ol' Bill," from North Country, is a semi-rag tune with rambling honky tonk piano, and "Huck's Tune," from Lucky You, creates a more complex look at the male lead in the film with a Celtic undertow in the melody. Disc one closes with a burning live reading of "High Water (For Charley Patton)," with overdriven electric guitars replacing the banjo.

A real surprise on disc two is a dynamite reading of Robert Johnson's "32-20 Blues" that was originally recorded for the covers-only World Gone Wrong, but left in the can. A completely unreleased tune, "Can't Escape from You" portrays Dylan the folksinger as a lover of early rock & roll ballads. In his own wrecked way, he pays homage (in waltz time) to the Platters, Doc Pomus, Leiber & Stoller, and Cisco Houston with a lonely B-3 and trebly guitars. There are two takes of "Dignity" here as well (one on each disc), the first a prophetic gospel solo piano version and the second a full-band roots rock rave-up. The version of "Ring Them Bells" recorded live at New York's Supper Club is so utterly moving that it raises goosebumps and leaves the studio version in the dust. The disc closes with the greatest moment on the whole set: "'Cross the Green Mountain," from the Gods and Generals soundtrack. Veteran Dylanologist Larry Sloman claims in his truly brilliant and incisive liner notes that this "might be his finest hour as a songwriter." The amazing thing? It's not just hyperbole. In all, even in some of its familiarities, Tell Tale Signs feels like a new Bob Dylan record, not only for the astonishing freshness of the material, but also for the incredible sound quality and organic feeling of everything here. It's a carefully presented set, but it's full of life and crackling energy and offers yet more proof -- as if any were needed -- that Dylan remains as cagey, unpredictable, and yes, profound and relevant as he ever was. [There is also an expensive deluxe version of this set that includes an exclusive bonus CD with 12 extra tracks. These include a third version of "Mississippi," and a second one of "Ring Them Bells," but it also includes wonderful live readings of "Tryin' to Get to Heaven Before They Close the Door,"and "Cold Irons Bound," the unreleased "Duncan and Brady," from 1992 on the aborted David Bromberg sessions, and the traditional ballad "Mary and Tthe Soldier," a cutting-room floor outtake from World Gone Wrong. There is also a 150-page 8"x8" book featuring pics of Dylan's singles, as well as a larger format CD booklet with more photos and complete track details. All of it packaged in a hardcover solid slipcase.]
Track # Track Time Composer
1 Mississippi (#) 6:03 N/A
2 Most of the Time (Alternate Version #2)(#) 3:35 N/A
3 Dignity (Piano Demo)(#) 2:12 N/A
4 Someday Baby (Alternate Version)(#) 5:57 N/A
5 Red River Shore (#) 7:34 N/A
6 Tell Ol' Bill (Alternate Version)(#) 5:29 N/A
7 Born in Time (#) 4:13 N/A
8 Can't Wait (Alternate Version #2)(#) 5:43 N/A
9 Everything Is Broken (Alternate Version)(#) 3:11 N/A
10 Dreamin' of You (#) 5:49 N/A
11 Huck's Tune (From Lucky You) 4:04 N/A
12 Marchin' to the City (#) 6:32 N/A
13 High Water (For Charlie Patton) (Live)(#) 6:46 N/A
14 Mississippi (Unreleased Version #2) 6:21 N/A
15 32-20 Blues (#) 3:05 N/A
16 Series of Dreams (#) 6:26 N/A
17 God Knows (#) 3:07 N/A
18 Can't Escape from You (#) 5:12 N/A
19 Diginty (#) 5:23 N/A
20 Ring Them Bells (Live at the Supper Club) 4:58 N/A
21 Cocaine Blues (Live)(#) 4:40 N/A
22 Ain't Talkin' (Alternate Version)(#) 6:08 N/A
23 The Girl on the Greenbriar Shore (Live)(#) 2:24 N/A
24 Lonesome Day Blues (Live)(#) 7:35 N/A
25 Miss the Mississippi (#) 3:21 N/A
26 The Lonesome River 3:04 N/A
27 'Cross the Green Mountain (From Gods and Generals) 8:14 N/A
28 Duncan & Brady (#) 3:48 N/A
29 Cold Irons Bound (Live)(#) 5:46 N/A
30 Mississippi (Unreleased Version #3) 6:19 N/A
31 Most of the Time (Alternate Version #2)(#) 4:43 N/A
32 Ring Them Bells (Alternate Version)(#) 3:10 N/A
33 Things Have Changed (Live)(#) 5:22 N/A
34 Red River Shore (Unreleased Version #2) 7:05 N/A
35 Born in Time (Unreleased Version #2) 4:11 N/A
36 Tryin' to Get to Heaven (Live)(#) 5:09 N/A
37 Marchin' to the City (Unreleased Version #2) 3:43 N/A
38 Can't Wait (Alternate Version #2)(#) 7:28 N/A
39 Mary and the Soldier (#) 4:11 N/A
Price: $169.98     53 Reviews
For the first time ever, this is the only book that shows all of the 7-inch covers spanning Bob Dylan's career, taken from a fan's personal collection. Includes: * two-CD set w...
Back to the topThe Bootleg Series, Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs - Rare and Unreleased 1989-2006 (1 CD Version)
Review by Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
Released:
October 07, 2008
Label:
Columbia
Rating:
Genre:
Folk
Styles:
Rock & Roll
Singer/Songwriter
Tell Tale Signs is perhaps the most appropriately titled of all the volumes in Bob Dylan's official Bootleg Series thus far. Containing 13 tracks, it adds up to disc one of the two-disc version; the material here dates from the albums Oh Mercy through to 2006's Modern Times. It presents a carefully prepared sonic treat of his turn-of-the-century musical world view. Dylan seems to perceive the modern world as a strange place; one he no longer understands, nor wishes to. The music here is startling in its depth and presentation. It begins with an unreleased version of "Mississippi," a song recorded for inclusion on Time Out of Mind, but which ended up on Love and Theft five years later. This one, with only Daniel Lanois' electric guitar as backing, reveals Dylan in full voice, performing it as a midtempo blues. It's jauntier in tempo, but harder, leaner, and wearier than the released version. Even more shocking is "Most of the Time," which has become a signature of Lanois' production style with its warm, thickly padded guitars and muffled drums. This alternate take, however, features Dylan solo with harmonica and guitar. It comes off as a statement about strengths and weaknesses rather than as a treatise of denial in the aftermath of lost love. It feels like a backporch country song here, with different lyrics that underscore the singer's steely determination. As the album flows, there are some truly amazing stops along the way. The unreleased "Red River Shore" would have shifted some of the darkness on Time Out of Mind and added some evidence of empathy and even tenderness to it. Likewise, "Marchin' to the City," one of the best slow blues Dylan has ever written, offers a respite from the desolation on that album. Soundtracks get represented here, too: the alternate take of "Tell Ol' Bill," from North Country, is a semi-rag tune with rambling honky tonk piano, and "Huck's Tune," from Lucky You, creates a more complex look at the male lead in the film with a Celtic undertow in the melody. This set closes with a burning live reading of "High Water (For Charley Patton)," with overdriven electric guitars. While most hardcore Dylan fans will purchase the double-disc version -- containing 14 more tracks -- this single CD is equally a delight, and easier to listen through in one sitting. Dylanologist Larry Sloman claims in his liner notes that this "might be his finest hour as a songwriter." It's not just hyperbole. In all, Tell Tale Signs feels like a new Bob Dylan record, not only for the freshness of the alternate material, but also for the incredible sound quality and organic feeling of its music. It's a carefully presented set, full of life and crackling energy, and offers yet more proof -- as if any were needed -- that Dylan remains as cagey, unpredictable, profound, and relevant as ever.
Track # Track Time Composer
1 Mississippi (#)(Version) 6:03 N/A
2 Most of the Time (Alternate Version)(#) 3:35 N/A
3 Dignity (Piano Demo)(#)(Version) 2:12 N/A
4 Someday Baby (Alternate Version)(#) 5:57 N/A
5 Red River Shore (#)(Version) 7:34 N/A
6 Tell Ol' Bill (Alternate Version)(#) 5:29 N/A
7 Born in Time (#)(Version) 4:13 N/A
8 Can't Wait (Alternate Version)(#) 5:43 N/A
9 Everything Is Broken (Alternate Version)(#) 3:11 N/A
10 Dreamin' of You (#)(Version) 5:49 N/A
11 Huck's Tune (Album Version)(Version) 4:04 N/A
12 Marchin' to the City (#)(Version) 6:32 N/A
13 High Water (For Charley Patton) (Live)(#)(Version) 6:46 N/A
Price: $11.98     12 Reviews
Bob Dylan's Tell Tale Signs: The Bootleg Series Vol. 8 is the 8th installment in the best-selling and critically lauded Bootleg Series which launched in 1991 which was released ...
Back to the topDylan (2007 3-CD Deluxe Edition)
Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
Released:
October 02, 2007
Label:
Sony Music Distribution
Rating:
Genre:
Folk
Styles:
Contemporary Pop/Rock
Album Rock
AM Pop
Country-Rock
Political Folk
Psychedelic
Folk-Rock
Rock & Roll
Singer/Songwriter
In 1985 Bob Dylan's Biograph established the blueprint for weighty rock & roll retrospectives, blending rare and unreleased material with classics over the course of a three-disc set that wound up being the template for rock & roll boxes for the next 20 years or so. Twenty-two years later, Dylan's second triple-disc retrospective arrived, and it's quite a different beast, bucking all the conventions that Biograph instituted. Simply called Dylan, thereby creating confusion with the 1973 rarities set Dylan that Columbia released in a pique of anger as he recorded with Asylum briefly, the set is nothing more and nothing less than a concise introduction to Bob, with all the rarities trimmed away. As befitting its companion status to Todd Haynes' impressionistic biopic I'm Not There -- where no less than six actors played the Bard, including actress Cate Blanchett -- Dylan comes in a multitude of forms, beginning with a terse single disc, then expanding out to a three-disc set, which is then offered in a variety of limited-edition sets. Although the single disc is good, it's the three-disc set that commands attention for it's a truly exceptional encapsulation of his work.

Yes, there are great, even significant, songs missing -- no other songwriter has quite as deep a catalog -- but the remarkable thing is that there is no dip in quality here, thanks to judicious selections from the '80s but also Dylan's remarkable comeback of the late '90s/2000s. It was the great third act that his great career needed, and while he is sure to make more great music, the 22 years uncovered by Biograph but present her turn Dylan into a richer aural biography. It hits many, but not all, of the '60s and early-'70s highlights, soft-sells the scatteredness of the '80s albums by picking the best songs (including "Blind Willie McTell," unearthed on the first Bootleg Series; nothing can quite save those slick, cavernous productions), and in this context the '90s and 2000s work sounds even more impressive. This doesn't give you everything you should hear, but as an introduction to Dylan in his entirety, this can't be beat.
Track # Track Time Composer
1 Song to Woody 2:41 Dylan
2 Blowin' in the Wind 2:48 Dylan
3 Masters of War 4:33 Dylan
4 Don't Think Twice, It's All Right 3:39 Dylan
5 A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall 6:51 Dylan
6 The Times They Are A-Changin' 3:14 Dylan
7 All I Really Want to Do 4:05 Dylan
8 My Back Pages 4:23 Dylan
9 It Ain't Me, Babe 3:34 Dylan
10 Subterranean Homesick Blues 2:19 Dylan
11 Mr. Tambourine Man 5:26 Dylan
12 Maggie's Farm 3:56 Dylan
13 Like a Rolling Stone 6:09 Dylan
14 It's All Over Now, Baby Blue 4:14 Dylan
15 Positively 4th Street 3:54 Dylan
16 Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 4:35 Dylan
17 Just Like a Woman 4:52 Dylan
18 Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine) 3:29 Dylan
19 All Along the Watchtower 2:31 Dylan
20 You Ain't Goin' Nowhere 2:44 Dylan
21 Lay Lady Lay 3:19 Dylan
22 If Not for You 2:41 Dylan
23 I Shall Be Released 3:03 Dylan
24 Knockin' on Heaven's Door 2:31 Dylan
25 On a Night Like This 2:58 Dylan
26 Forever Young 4:56 Dylan
27 Tangled Up in Blue 5:41 Dylan
28 Simple Twist of Fate 4:17 Dylan
29 Hurricane 8:34 Dylan, Levy
30 Changing of the Guards 6:34 Dylan
31 Gotta Serve Somebody 5:24 Dylan
32 Precious Angel 6:33 Dylan
33 The Groom's Still Waiting at the Altar 4:05 Dylan
34 Jokerman 6:17 Dylan
35 Dark Eyes 5:07 Dylan
36 Blind Willie McTell 5:53 Dylan
37 Brownsville Girl 11:05 Shepard, Dylan
38 Silvio 3:07 Dylan, Hunter
39 Ring Them Bells 3:01 Dylan
40 Dignity 5:37 Dylan
41 Everything Is Broken 3:15 Dylan
42 Under the Red Sky 4:10 Dylan
43 You're Gonna Quit Me 2:48 Traditional
44 Blood in My Eyes 5:04 Traditional
45 Not Dark Yet 6:30 Dylan
46 Things Have Changed 5:09 Dylan
47 Make You Feel My Love 3:34 Dylan
48 High Water (For Charley Patton) 4:04 Dylan
49 Po' Boy 3:07 Dylan
50 Someday Baby 4:56 Dylan
51 When the Deal Goes Down 5:01 Dylan
Price: $49.98     46 Reviews
DYLAN is a career-spanning retrospective of Bob Dylan's music. This definitive Bob Dylan collection chronicles the artist's four decades of groundbreaking studio recordings, as wel...
Back to the topDylan (2007 2 Disc)
Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
Released:
October 02, 2007
Label:
Sony Music Distribution
Rating:
Genre:
Folk
Styles:
Contemporary Pop/Rock
Album Rock
Country-Rock
Political Folk
Psychedelic
Folk-Rock
Rock & Roll
Singer/Songwriter
AM Pop
The single-disc distillation of the triple-disc 2007 set Dylan weighs in at 18 tracks -- considerably shorter than the 51-track box, but it covers the same ground, beginning with "Blowin' in the Wind" and ending with "Someday Baby" from his 2006 album Modern Times. That's a lot to cover in one disc, so it's inevitable that some details are glossed over, but this isn't intended to be a thorough introduction, the way that the triple-disc set is. Instead, this is a basic primer built upon the standards including "The Times They Are a-Changin'," "Mr. Tambourine Man," "Like a Rolling Stone," "Rainy Day Women No. 12 & 35," "All Along the Watchtower," "Lay Lady Lay," and "Knockin' on Heaven's Door." This doesn't make for a deep introduction, but it's not intended to be: it's merely a disc with all of the biggest Bob songs, the first ever to be released, actually. On that level it works as either the simplest introduction to Dylan ever, or as the best all-the-hits collection he's ever had.
Track # Track Time Composer
1 Blowin' in the Wind 2:47 Dylan
2 The Times They Are A-Changin' 3:13 Dylan
3 Subterranean Homesick Blues 2:20 Dylan
4 Mr. Tambourine Man 5:26 Dylan
5 Like a Rolling Stone 6:09 Dylan
6 Maggie's Farm 3:56 Dylan
7 Positively 4th Street 3:54 Dylan
8 Just Like a Woman 4:51 Dylan
9 Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 4:36 Dylan
10 All Along the Watchtower 2:33 Dylan
11 Lay, Lady, Lay 3:19 Dylan
12 Knockin' on Heaven's Door 2:33 Dylan
13 Tangled Up in Blue 5:42 Dylan
14 Hurricane 8:34 Dylan, Levy
15 Make You Feel My Love 3:33 Dylan
16 Things Have Changed 5:09 Dylan
17 Someday Baby 4:56 Dylan
18 Forever Young 4:55 Dylan
19 Most Likely You Go Your Way (Original Version)(*) 3:40 Dylan
20 Most Likely You Go Your Way (Mark Ronson Remix)(*) 3:27 Dylan
Price: $22.98
International pressing of his 2007 collection features a bonus CD single that includes two tracks, 'Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I’ll Go Mine)'(Mark Ronson Remix) and 'Most Lik...
Back to the topModern Times (CD/DVD)
Review by Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
Released:
August 29, 2006
Label:
Sony Music Distribution
Rating:
Genre:
Folk
Styles:
Psychedelic
Folk-Rock
Rock & Roll
Blues-Rock
Singer/Songwriter
Contemporary Pop/Rock
Album Rock
When Bob Dylan dropped Time Out of Mind in 1997, it was a rollicking rockabilly and blues record, full of sad songs about mortality, disappointment, and dissolution. 2001 brought Love and Theft, which was also steeped in stomping blues and other folk forms. It was funny, celebratory in places and biting in others. Dylan has been busy since then: he did a Victoria's Secret commercial, toured almost nonstop, was in a couple films -- Larry Charles' Masked and Anonymous and Martin Scorsese's documentary No Direction Home -- and published the first of a purported three volumes of his cagey, rambling autobiography, Chronicles. Lately, he's been thinking about Alicia Keys. This last comment comes from the man himself in "Thunder on the Mountain," the opening track on Modern Times, a barn-burning, raucous, and unruly blues tune that finds the old man sounding mighty feisty and gleefully agitated: "I was thinkin' 'bout Alicia Keys/Couldn't keep from cryin'/She was born in Hell's Kitchen and I was livin' down the line/I've been lookin' for her even clear through Tennessee." The drums shuffle with brushes, the piano is pumping like Jerry Lee Lewis, the bass is popping, and a slide guitar that feels like it's calling the late Michael Bloomfield back from 1966 -- à la Highway 61 Revisited -- slips in and out of the ether like a ghost wanting to emerge in the flesh. Dylan's own choppy leads snarl in the break and he's letting his blues fall down like rain: "Gonna raise me an army, some tough sons of bitches/I'll recruit my army from the oldest villages/I've been to St. Herman's church and said my religious vows/I sucked the milk out of a thousand cows/I got the pork chop, she got the pie/She ain't no angel and neither am I...I did all I could/I did it right there and then/I've already confessed I don't need to confess again."

Thus begins the third part of Dylan's renaissance trilogy (thus far, y'all). Modern Times is raw; it feels live, immediate, and in places even shambolic. Rhythms slip, time stretches and turns back on itself, and lyrics are rushed to fit into verses that just won't stop coming. Dylan produced the set himself under his Jack Frost moniker. Its songs are humorous and cryptic, tender and snarling. What's he saying? We don't need to concern ourselves with that any more than we had to Willie Dixon talking about backdoor men or Elmore James dusting his broom. Dylan's blues are primitive and impure. Though performed by a crackerjack band, they're played with fury; the singer wrestles down musical history as he spits in the eye of the modern world. But blues isn't the only music here. There are parlor songs such as "Spirit on the Water," where love is as heavenly and earthly a thing as exists in this life. The band swings gently and carefree, with Denny Freeman and Stu Kimball playing slippery -- and sometimes sloppy -- jazz chords as Tony Garnier's bass and George Receli's sputtering snare walk the beat. Another, "When the Deal Goes Down," tempts the listener into thinking that Dylan is aping Bing Crosby in his gravelly, snake-rattle voice. True, he's an unabashed fan of the old arch mean-hearted crooner. But it just ain't Bing, because it's got that true old-time swing.

Dylan's singing style in these songs comes from the great blues and jazzman Lonnie Johnson (whose version of the Grosz and Coslow standard "Tomorrow Night" he's been playing for years in his live set). If you need further proof, look to Johnson's last recordings done in the late '50s and early '60s ("I Found a Dream" and "I'll Get Along Somehow"), or go all the way back to the early years for "Secret Emotions," and "In Love Again," cut in 1940. It is in these songs where you will find the heart of Dylan's sweet song ambition and also that unique phrasing that makes him one of the greatest blues singers and interpreters ever. Dylan evokes Muddy Waters in "Rollin' and Tumblin." He swipes the riff, the title, the tune itself, and uses some of the words and adds a whole bunch of his own. Same with his use of Slim Harpo in "Someday Baby" -- who may have copped his riff from Muddy anyway. Those who think Dylan merely plagiarizes miss the point. Dylan is a folk musician; he uses American folk forms such as blues, rock, gospel, and R&B as well as lyrics, licks, and/or whatever else he can to get a song across. This tradition of borrowing and retelling goes back to the beginning of song and story. Even the title of Modern Times is a wink-eye reference to a film by Charlie Chaplin. It doesn't make Dylan less; it makes him more, because he contains all of these songs within himself. By his use of them, he adds to their secret histories and labyrinthine legends. Besides, he's been around long enough to do anything he damn well pleases and has been doing so since the beginning.

Modern Times expresses emotions and comments upon everything from love ("When the Deal Goes Down," "Beyond the Horizon") to mortality ("The Levee's Gonna Break," "Ain't Talkin") to the state of the world -- check "Workingman's Blues #2," where Dylan sings gently about the "buyin' power of the proletariat's gone down/Money's getting shallow and weak...they say low wages are reality if we want to compete." But in the next breath he's put his "cruel weapons on the shelf" and invites his beloved to sit on his knee. It's a poignant midtempo ballad that walks the line between the topical songs of Cisco Houston and Woody Guthrie to the love songs of Stephen Foster and Leadbelly. One can feel both darkness and light struggling inside the singer for dominance. But in his carnal and spiritual imagery and rakish honesty, he doesn't give in to either side and walks the hardest path -- the "long road down" to his own destiny. This is a storyteller, a pilgrim who's seen it all; he's found it all wanting; he's found some infinitesimal take on the truth that he's holding on to with a vengeance. In the midst of changes that are foreboding, Modern Times is the sound of an ambivalent Psalter coming in from the storm, dirty, bloodied, but laughing at himself -- because he knows nobody will believe him anyway.

Dylan digs deep into the pocket of American song past in "Nettie Moore," a 19th century tune from which he borrowed the title, the partial melody, and first line of its chorus. He also uses words by W.C. Handy and Robert Johnson as he extends the meaning of the tome by adding his own metaphorical images and wry observations. However, even as the song is from antiquity, it's full of the rest of Modern Times bemusement. "The Levee's Gonna Break" shakes and shimmies as it warns about the coming catastrophe. Coming as it does on the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, it's a particularly poignant number that reveals apocalypse and redemption and rails on the greedy and powerful as it parties in the gutter. There are no sacred cows -- when Dylan evokes Carl Perkins' exhortation to put "your cat clothes on," it's hard not to stomp around maniacally even as you feel his righteousness come through. The great irony is in the final track, "I Ain't Talkin'," where a lonesome fiddle, piano, and hand percussion spill out a gypsy ballad that states a yearning, that amounts to an unsatisfied spiritual hunger. The pilgrim wanders, walks, and aspires to do good unto others, though he falters often -- he sometimes even wants to commit homicide. It's all part of the "trawl" of living in the world today. Dylan's simmering growl adds a sense of apprehension, of whistling through the graveyard, with determination to get to he knows not where -- supposedly it's the other side of the world. The guitar interplay with the fiddle comes through loud and clear in the bittersweet tune. It's like how "Beyond the Horizon" uses gypsy melodies and swing to tenderly underscore the seriousness in the words. It sends the album off with a wry sense of foreboding. This pilgrim is sticking to the only thing he knows is solid -- the motion of his feet.

Modern Times portrays a new weird America, even stranger than the old one, because it's merely part of a world consumed by insanity. In these ten songs, bawdy joy, restless heartache, a wild sense of humor, and bottomless sadness all coexist and inform one another as a warning and celebration of this precious human life while wondering openly about what comes after. This world view is expressed through musical and lyrical forms that are threatened with extinction: old rickety blues that still pack an electrically charged wallop, porch and parlor tunes, and pop ballads that could easily have come straight from the 1930s via the 1890s, but it also wails and roars the blues. Modern Times is the work of a professional mythmaker, a back-alley magician, and a prophetic creator of mischief. He knows his characters because he's been them all and can turn them all inside out in song: the road-worn holy man who's also a thief; the tender-hearted lover who loves to brawl; the poetic sage who's also a pickpocket; and the Everyman who embodies them all and just wants to get on with it. On Modern Times, all bets are off as to who finishes the race dead last, because that's the most interesting place to be: "Meet me at the bottom, don't lag behind/Bring me my boots and shoes/You can hang back or fight your best on the frontline/Sing a little bit of these workingman blues." There is nothing so intriguing as contradiction and Dylan offers it with knowing laughter and tears, because in his songs he displays that they are both sides of the same coin and he never waffles, because he's on the other side of the looking glass. Modern Times is the work of an untamed artist who, as he grows older, sees mortality as something to accept but not bow down to, the sound that refuses to surrender to corruption of the soul and spirit. It's more than a compelling listen; it's a convincing one.

[Modern Times was also released as a special edition with a bonus DVD containing four videos. There's the black-and-white eight millimeter video of "Blood in My Eyes," from World Gone Wrong; the strange, studio-audience-dressed-in-black video for "Love Sick," from Time Out of Mind; the cleverly done one for "Things Have Changed," from the Wonder Boys soundtrack; and the studio live one of "Cold Irons Bound," from the film Masked and Anonymous.]
Track # Track Time Composer
1 Thunder on the Mountain 5:55 Dylan
2 Spirit on the Water 7:42 Dylan
3 Rollin' and Tumblin' 6:01 Dylan
4 When the Deal Goes Down 5:04 Dylan
5 Someday Baby 4:55 Dylan
6 Workingman's Blues #2 6:07 Dylan
7 Beyond the Horizon 5:36 Dylan
8 Nettie Moore 6:52 Dylan
9 The Levee's Gonna Break 5:43 Dylan
10 Ain't Talkin' 8:48 Dylan
11 Blood in My Eyes (DVD)(*) 5:09 N/A
12 Love Sick (DVD)(Live)(*) 4:05 N/A
13 Things Have Changed (DVD)(*) 3:52 N/A
14 Cold Irons Bound (DVD)(*) 6:00 N/A
Price: $15.98     103 Reviews
First new album in 5 years featuring 10 new songs. Special limited edition deluxe package includes: Book style package Expanded booklet with never-before-seen photographs Bonus DVD...
Back to the topThe Collection, Vol. 2: Freewheelin' Bob Dylan/Times They Are A-Changin'/Another Side [2005
Review by Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
Released:
April 05, 2005
Label:
Sony Music Distribution
Rating:
Genre:
Folk
Styles:
Political Folk
Psychedelic
Folk-Rock
Singer/Songwriter
This is the slipcase version of the second volume in Sony's three-pack of Bob Dylan albums -- they are issuing his entire catalog this way. While some of these volumes put two fine recordings together with a dog, there is nothing but gold here on Collection, Vol. 2: Freewheelin' Bob Dylan/Times They Are A-Changin'/Another Side; all are from Dylan's early years as a "folk" musician. Freewheelin' contains "Girl from the North Country," "Masters of War," "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall," "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right," and "Blowin' in the Wind." The Times They Are A-Changin' contains the classic title cut, "Ballad of Hollis Brown," "With God on Our Side," "One Too Many Mornings," and "Boots of Spanish Leather," to name a few. And finally there's Another Side of Bob Dylan, which marked the beginning of his transition; although it's still entirely acoustic, it gave listeners the first real glimpses of Dylan's imagistic, poetic, and humorous sides, though there are fine topical songs here, as well, including "Chimes of Freedom." Also here are "My Back Pages," "It Ain't Me Babe," "All I Really Want to Do," and "Ballad in Plain D." In other words, these three recordings together pack a wallop and are a fine introduction to Dylan for those seeking to discover him, almost from the very beginning.
Track # Track Time Composer
1 Blowin' in the Wind 2:49 Dylan
2 Girl from the North Country 3:23 Dylan
3 Masters of War 4:38 Dylan
4 Down the Highway 3:32 Dylan
5 Bob Dylan's Blues 2:28 Dylan
6 A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall 6:53 Dylan
7 Don't Think Twice, It's All Right 3:41 Dylan
8 Bob Dylan's Dream 5:02 Dylan
9 Oxford Town 1:50 Dylan
10 Talkin' World War III Blues 6:27 Dylan
11 Corrina, Corrina 2:44 Dylan, Chatmon, Williams
12 Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance 2:00 Thomas, Dylan
13 I Shall Be Free 4:48 Dylan
14 The Times They Are A-Changin' 3:15 Dylan
15 Ballad of Hollis Brown 5:05 Dylan
16 With God on Our Side 7:08 Dylan
17 One Too Many Mornings 2:40 Dylan
18 North Country Blues 4:33 Dylan
19 Only a Pawn in Their Game 3:32 Dylan
20 Boots of Spanish Leather 4:39 Dylan
21 When the Ship Comes In 3:17 Dylan
22 The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll 5:47 Dylan
23 Restless Farewell 5:34 Dylan
24 All I Really Want to Do 4:05 Dylan
25 Black Crow Blues 3:14 Dylan
26 Spanish Harlem Incident 2:25 Dylan
27 Chimes of Freedom 7:10 Dylan
28 I Shall Be Free No. 10 4:48 Dylan
29 To Ramona 3:52 Dylan
30 Motorpsycho Nitemare 4:33 Dylan
31 My Back Pages 4:23 Dylan
32 I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Have Never Met) 4:23 Dylan
33 Ballad in Plain D 8:17 Dylan
34 It Ain't Me Babe 3:34 Dylan
Back to the topThe Collection, Vol. 3: Blonde on Blonde/Blood on the Tracks/Infidels (2005 Reissue)
Review by Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
Released:
April 05, 2005
Label:
Columbia
Rating:
Genre:
Folk
Styles:
Rock & Roll
Singer/Songwriter
This third volume in Sony's collection edition of Bob Dylan's catalog is one of the more curious entries, as it assembles Blonde on Blonde, Blood on the Tracks, and Infidels. Given the other volumes in the series, it's a given that chronological order isn't the M.O; it would seem as though there is some kind of wacky aesthetic principle at work. There are some real thematic reasons for the juxtaposition of the first two LPs, and both of them are considered among Dylan's finest records, but Infidels -- in juxtaposition -- is a cipher, full of deep reggae grooves, apocalyptic sentiment, and Judeo-Christian obsessions -- and a fine love song or two. This would be an interesting place to start for the novice Dylan fan.
Track # Track Time Composer
1 Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 4:36 Dylan
2 Pledging My Time 3:50 Dylan
3 Visions of Johanna 7:33 Dylan
4 One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later) 4:54 Dylan
5 I Want You 3:07 Dylan
6 Stuck Inside of a Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again 7:05 Dylan
7 Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat 3:58 Dylan
8 Just Like a Woman 4:53 Dylan
9 Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine 3:30 Dylan
10 Temporary Like Achilles 5:02 Dylan
11 Absolutely Sweet Marie 4:57 Dylan
12 4th Time Around 4:35 Dylan
13 Obviously 5 Believers 3:35 Dylan
14 Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands 11:19 Dylan
15 Tangled Up in Blue 5:41 Dylan
16 Simple Twist of Fate 4:17 Dylan
17 You're a Big Girl Now 4:34 Dylan
18 Idiot Wind 7:47 Dylan
19 You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go 2:55 Dylan
20 Meet Me in the Morning 4:21 Dylan
21 Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts 8:52 Dylan
22 If You See Her, Say Hello 4:47 Dylan
23 Shelter from the Storm 5:00 Dylan
24 Buckets of Rain 3:22 Dylan
25 Jokerman 6:18 Dylan
26 Sweetheart Like You 4:35 Dylan
27 Neighborhood Bully 4:37 Dylan
28 License to Kill 3:38 Dylan
29 Man of Peace 6:32 Dylan
30 Union Sundown 5:25 Dylan
31 I and I 5:12 Dylan
32 Don't Fall Apart on Me Tonight 5:56 Dylan
Back to the topThe Collection, Vol. 4: Nashville Skyline/New Morning/John Wesley Harding (2005 Reissue)
Review by Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
Released:
April 05, 2005
Label:
Columbia
Rating:
Genre:
Folk
Styles:
Country-Rock
Psychedelic
Folk-Rock
Rock & Roll
Blues-Rock
Singer/Songwriter
Contemporary Pop/Rock
Album Rock
This three-disc set compiles a trilogy of three of Bob Dylan's most experimental and exciting recordings. Collection, Vol. 4 includes the seminal Nashville Skyline, John Wesley Harding, and New Morning. The first two showcase Dylan in the company of top Nash Vegas session players like Pete Drake, Kenneth Buttrey, and Charlie McCoy, among others, and showcase a more laid-back, folksy, down-home style. Nashville Skyline resulted in the hits "Lay Lady Lay" and the fine "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here with You,"as well as a stellar duet with Johnny Cash on "Girl from the North Country." John Wesley Harding offers some of the songwriter's most memorable and poetic tunes as well, including "I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine," "The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest," "All Along the Watchtower," and "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight." New Morning is something of an anomaly in a season of them, rushed out as it was in the wake of the commercially and critically disastrous Self Portrait (which seems to be bad). With a host of musicians, including David Bromberg and Charlie Daniels, it is a quirky, elliptical offering that walks the line between rock, country, blues, and folk, and contains "If Not for You," "Sign on the Window," and "If Dogs Run Free." For those who don't already have them, this box is a fine addition to the Dylan shelf, containing three idiosyncratic but very satisfying albums that ultimately portray an artist in the heat of transition.
Track # Track Time Composer
1 Girl from the North Country 3:44 Dylan
2 Nashville Skyline Rag 3:14 Dylan
3 To Be Alone with You 2:10 Dylan
4 I Threw It All Away 2:26 Dylan
5 Peggy Day 2:05 Dylan
6 Lay Lady Lay 3:21 Dylan
7 One More Night 2:25 Dylan
8 Tell Me That It Isn't True 2:43 Dylan
9 Country Pie 1:39 Dylan
10 Tonight I'll Be Staying Here with You 3:23 Dylan
11 If Not for You 2:42 Dylan
12 Day of the Locusts 4:00 Dylan
13 Time Passes Slowly 2:35 Dylan
14 Went to See the Gypsy 2:51 Dylan
15 Winterlude 2:23 Dylan
16 If Dogs Run Free 3:41 Dylan
17 New Morning 3:59 Dylan
18 Sign on the Window 3:41 Dylan
19 One More Weekend 3:12 Dylan
20 The Man in Me 3:10 Dylan
21 Three Angels 2:09 Dylan
22 Father of Night 1:29 Dylan
23 John Wesley Harding 3:00 Dylan
24 As I Went Out One Morning 2:52 Dylan
25 I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine 3:55 Dylan
26 All Along the Watchtower 2:34 Dylan
27 The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest 5:35 Dylan
28 Drifter's Escape 2:48 Dylan
29 Dear Landlord 3:18 Dylan
30 I Am a Lonesome Hobo 3:24 Dylan
31 I Pity the Poor Immigrant 4:16 Dylan
32 The Wicked Messenger 2:05 Dylan
33 Down Along the Cove 2:25 Dylan
34 I'll Be Your Baby Tonight 2:39 Dylan
Back to the topThe Collection: Oh, Mercy/Time Out of Mind/Love and Theft (2005 Reissue)
Review by Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
Released:
July 13, 2004
Label:
Columbia
Rating:
Genre:
Folk
Styles:
Psychedelic
Folk-Rock
Rock & Roll
Singer/Songwriter
Contemporary Pop/Rock
Album Rock
The assemblage in one box of Bob Dylan's Oh Mercy/Time Out of Mind/Love and Theft is part of Sony's Collection series. It's difficult to know who the targeted audience is. Certainly, hardcore fans have these albums already, and it's difficult to know why newbies would choose these three instead of the earlier "classic" offerings. But the music business is a curious animal and follows its own instincts -- or those of its competitors. The high-quality rating here is for the music on these discs, not the packaging, which is simply dreadful. Dylan's Oh Mercy, released in 1987, was his first great record since Slow Train Coming, and his last until Time Out of Mind. Both sets were produced by Daniel Lanois. Love and Theft was released in 2001 and garnered nearly universal acclaim. All of the albums here are remastered versions.
Track # Track Time Composer
1 Political World 3:48 Dylan
2 Where Teardrops Fall 2:32 Dylan
3 Everything Is Broken 3:15 Dylan
4 Ring Them Bells 3:00 Dylan
5 Man in the Long Black Coat 4:35 Dylan
6 Most of the Time 5:04 Dylan
7 What Good Am I? 4:45 Dylan
8 Disease of Conceit 3:43 Dylan
9 What Was It You Wanted 5:02 Dylan
10 Shooting Star 3:13 Dylan
11 Love Sick 5:21 Dylan
12 Dirt Road Blues 3:36 Dylan
13 Standing in the Doorway 7:43 Dylan
14 Million Miles 5:52 Dylan
15 Tryin' to Get to Heaven 5:21 Dylan
16 'Til I Fell in Love with You 5:17 Dylan
17 Not Dark Yet 6:29 Dylan
18 Cold Irons Bound 7:15 Dylan
19 Make You Feel My Love 3:32 Dylan
20 Can't Wait 5:47 Dylan
21 Highlands 16:31 Dylan
22 Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum 4:46 Dylan
23 Mississippi 5:20 Dylan
24 Summer Days 4:52 Dylan
25 Bye and Bye 3:16 Dylan
26 Lonesome Day Blues 6:05 Dylan
27 Floater (Too Much to Ask) 4:59 Dylan
28 High Water (For Charley Patton) 4:04 Dylan
29 Moonlight 3:23 Dylan
30 Honest With Me 5:49 Dylan
31 Po' Boy 3:05 Dylan
32 Cry a While 5:05 Dylan
33 Sugar Baby 6:40 Dylan
Back to the topMasked and Anonymous (Bonus Disc)
Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
Released:
July 15, 2003
Label:
Sony Music Distribution
Rating:
Genre:
Folk
Styles:
Country-Rock
Political Folk
Psychedelic
Folk-Rock
Soundtracks
Contemporary Pop/Rock
International Pop
Album Rock
Rock & Roll
Singer/Songwriter
Americana
Throughout his career, Bob Dylan has delighted in confounding expectations and reveled in being cryptic, but few projects have been as deeply confounding and cryptic as his 2003 film, Masked and Anonymous, where he stars as rock legend Jack Fate, who has been jailed in a post-apocalyptic, "mythological third-world America" (the words of the film's director, Larry Charles) in the throes of a civil war, but is let out of prison to perform at a "dubious benefit concert" (the words of Alan Light, who contributes necessary but still confusing liner notes). Within this scenario pass scores of celebrity cameos, all eager to be seen onscreen with the legend himself, particularly after the career revival of Love and Theft, along with numerous Bob Dylan songs, only a handful of which are sung by him and most of which are in radical reinterpretations (several sung in different languages). Perhaps this all makes sense within the film -- Light claims it does in his liner notes and Salon.com's Stephanie Zacharek raved about it, both citing a sequence where a young girl sings an a cappella version of "The Times They Are A-Changin'," which is absent from the soundtrack (for the record, they were virtually the only two voices praising the film; most critics called it bizarre and embarrassing) -- but condensed to a soundtrack, it's merely baffling.

Some of the interpretations are no more radical than Dylan's own reworkings of his songs -- it is no great stretch to have Shirley Caesar sing "Gotta Serve Somebody" and the Grateful Dead's loping version of "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" is hazily familiar, while Sertab emphasizing the inherent Mideastern vibe of "One More Cup of Coffee" makes sense (though it is not as compelling or risky as recent covers of the tune by Robert Plant and the White Stripes) -- but these are overshadowed by such oddities as the Magokoro Brothers singing an ethereal version of "My Back Pages" in Japanese and Articolo 31's Italian rap version of "Like a Rolling Stone." Standouts include a rollicking bilingual "On a Night Like This" from Los Lobos, the Dixie Hummingbirds recording of a new Dylan tune, "City of Gold," and four new tracks by Bob and his crack touring band of the early '90s, highlighted by a muscular "Down in the Flood" and a new version of "Cold Irons Bound." These, of course, make this necessary to the Dylanphiles who would have bought such an odd album anyway, but their presence makes it hard not to wish for a full album. [Initial pressings of Masked and Anonymous contained a bonus disc touting the fall 2003 Columbia/Legacy reissue series, which contained 15 titles released as Hybrid Super Audio CDs containing both a regular CD and a SACD layer. The remastering sounds superb, particularly on the SACD layer of "Love Minus Zero/No Limit." This disc contains two semi-rarities: the original "Cold Iron Bounds," plus a version of "All I Really Want to Do" taken from the forthcoming Bootleg Series, Vol. 6: Live 1964, The Philharmonic Hall Concert. Overall, it's a really nice sampler.]
Track # Track Time Composer
1 My Back Pages 4:01 Dylan
2 Gotta Serve Somebody 5:49 Dylan
3 Down in the Flood (New Version) 3:36 Dylan
4 It's All over Now, Baby Blue 7:26 Dylan
5 Most of the Time 5:30 Dylan
6 On a Night Like This 3:11 Dylan
7 Diamond Joe 2:32 Traditional
8 Come Una Pietra Scalciata (Like a Rolling Stone) 4:12 Aleotii, Perrini, Dylan
9 One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below) 3:52 Dylan
10 Non Dirle Che Non E' Cosi' (If You See Her, Say Hello) 4:53 Dylan
11 Dixie 2:12 Traditional
12 Señor (Tales of Yankee Power) 7:50 Dylan
13 Cold Irons Bound (New Version) 5:43 Dylan
14 City of Gold (*) 5:35 Dylan
15 All I Really Want to Do 3:15 Dylan
16 Love Minus Zero/No Limit 2:49 Dylan
17 Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again 7:06 Dylan
18 Tangled Up in Blue 5:46 Dylan
19 Gotta Serve Somebody 5:25 Dylan
20 Moonlight 3:24 Dylan
21 Cold Irons Bound 5:44 Dylan
Price: $15.98     14 Reviews
This Limited Edition release includes a Reissue Series Sampler that highlights seven recordings from the upcoming Bob Dylan hybrid Super Audio CD reissue series, the first major up...
Back to the topLove and Theft (Bonus CD)
Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
Released:
September 11, 2001
Label:
Sony Music Distribution
Rating:
Genre:
Folk
Styles:
Psychedelic
Folk-Rock
Contemporary Pop/Rock
Album Rock
Rock & Roll
Singer/Songwriter
Time Out of Mind was a legitimate comeback, Bob Dylan's first collection of original songs in nearly ten years and a risky rumination on mortality, but its sequel, Love and Theft, is his true return to form, not just his best album since Blood on the Tracks, but the loosest, funniest, warmest record he's made since The Basement Tapes. There are none of the foreboding, apocalyptic warnings that permeated Time Out of Mind and even underpinned "Things Have Changed," his Oscar-winning theme to Curtis Hanson's 2000 film Wonder Boys. Just as important, Daniel Lanois' deliberately arty, diffuse production has retreated into the mist, replaced by an uncluttered, resonant production that gives Dylan and his ace backing band room to breathe. And they run wild with that liberty, rocking the house with the grinding "Lonesome Day Blues" and burning it down with the fabulously swinging "Summer Days." They're equally captivating on the slower songs, whether it's the breezily romantic "Bye and Bye," the torch song "Moonlight," or the epic reflective closer, "Sugar Baby." Musically, Dylan hasn't been this natural or vital since he was with the Band, and even then, those records were never as relaxed and easy or even as hard-rocking as these. That alone would make Love and Theft a remarkable achievement, but they're supported by a tremendous set of songs that fully synthesize all the strands in his music, from the folksinger of the early '60s, through the absurdist storyteller of the mid-'60s, through the traditionalist of the early '70s, to the grizzled professional of the '90s. None of this is conscious, it's all natural. There's an ease to his writing and a swagger to his performance unheard in years -- he's cracking jokes and murmuring wry asides, telling stories, crooning, and swinging. It's reminiscent of his classic records, but he's never made a record that's been such sheer, giddy fun as this, and it stands proudly among his very best albums. [A limited edition version of the disc offered a two-track second disc featuring the songs "I Was Young When I Left Home" and an alternate version of "The Times They Are a-Changin'."]
Track # Track Time Composer
1 Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum 4:46 Dylan
2 Mississippi 5:20 Dylan
3 Summer Days 4:52 Dylan
4 Bye and Bye 3:16 Dylan
5 Lonesome Day Blues 6:05 Dylan
6 Floater (Too Much to Ask) 4:59 Dylan
7 High Water (For Charley Patton) 4:04 Dylan
8 Moonlight 3:23 Dylan
9 Honest With Me 5:49 Dylan
10 Po' Boy 3:05 Dylan
11 Cry a While 5:05 Dylan
12 Sugar Baby 6:40 Dylan
13 I Was Young When I Left Home (#)(*) 2:27 Dylan, Traditional
14 The Times They Are A-Changin' (Alternate Version)(Alternate Take)(#)(*) 2:57 Dylan
Price: $20.98     70 Reviews
When we last left the ever-confounding saga that is Bob Dylan's now-superhuman recording career, he'd reunited with producer Daniel Lanois, with whom he cut 1997's Time Out of Mind...
Back to the topLove and Theft (Remastered)
Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
Released:
September 11, 2001
Label:
Columbia
Rating:
Genre:
Folk
Styles:
Contemporary Pop/Rock
Album Rock
Rock & Roll
Singer/Songwriter
Psychedelic
Folk-Rock
Time Out of Mind was a legitimate comeback, Bob Dylan's first collection of original songs in nearly ten years and a risky rumination on mortality, but its sequel, Love and Theft, is his true return to form, not just his best album since Blood on the Tracks, but the loosest, funniest, warmest record he's made since The Basement Tapes. There are none of the foreboding, apocalyptic warnings that permeated Time Out of Mind and even underpinned "Things Have Changed," his Oscar-winning theme to Curtis Hanson's 2000 film Wonder Boys. Just as important, Daniel Lanois' deliberately arty, diffuse production has retreated into the mist, replaced by an uncluttered, resonant production that gives Dylan and his ace backing band room to breathe. And they run wild with that liberty, rocking the house with the grinding "Lonesome Day Blues" and burning it down with the fabulously swinging "Summer Days." They're equally captivating on the slower songs, whether it's the breezily romantic "Bye and Bye," the torch song "Moonlight," or the epic reflective closer, "Sugar Baby." Musically, Dylan hasn't been this natural or vital since he was with the Band, and even then, those records were never as relaxed and easy or even as hard-rocking as these. That alone would make Love and Theft a remarkable achievement, but they're supported by a tremendous set of songs that fully synthesize all the strands in his music, from the folksinger of the early '60s, through the absurdist storyteller of the mid-'60s, through the traditionalist of the early '70s, to the grizzled professional of the '90s. None of this is conscious, it's all natural. There's an ease to his writing and a swagger to his performance unheard in years -- he's cracking jokes and murmuring wry asides, telling stories, crooning, and swinging. It's reminiscent of his classic records, but he's never made a record that's been such sheer, giddy fun as this, and it stands proudly among his very best albums. [In 2003, Columbia/Legacy reissued 15 selected titles from Dylan's catalog as hybrid SACDs, playable in both regular CD players and Super Audio CD players. Each title is packaged as a digipak, containing the full original artwork. On each of the titles, and on each of the layers, the remastered sound is spectacular, a considerable upgrade from the initial CD pressings. Love and Theft was one of five titles that also included a 5.1 Surround Sound mix.]
Track # Track Time Composer
1 Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum 4:46 Dylan
2 Mississippi 5:21 Dylan
3 Summer Days 4:52 Dylan
4 Bye and Bye 3:16 Dylan
5 Lonesome Day Blues 6:05 Dylan
6 Floater (Too Much to Ask) 4:59 Dylan
7 High Water (For Charley Patton) 4:04 Dylan
8 Moonlight 3:22 Dylan
9 Honest With Me 5:49 Dylan
10 Po' Boy 3:05 Dylan
11 Cry a While 5:05 Dylan
12 Sugar Baby 6:40 Dylan
Back to the topEssential Bob Dylan (Australian Bonus Tracks)
Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
Released:
October 31, 2000
Label:
Col
Rating:
Genre:
Folk
Styles:
Country-Rock
Political Folk
Psychedelic
Folk-Rock
AM Pop
Rock & Roll
Singer/Songwriter
Contemporary Pop/Rock
Album Rock
A double-disc set released for the holiday season of 2000, The Essential Bob Dylan is a fine choice for the casual listener who just wants all the songs they know on one collection -- it's Dylan's equivalent of Beatles 1. Outside of the remastering and the previously non-LP (and very good) "Things Have Changed," there's nothing here for collectors, but, then again, that's not who this was designed for. This collection is for the listener who wants "Blowin' in the Wind," "Like a Rolling Stone," "All Along the Watchtower," "Quinn the Eskimo," "Lay Lady Lay," and "Tangled Up in Blue" in one tidy place. Yes, it's easy to find great songs missing, but for those casual fans, and for those looking for a fairly comprehensive yet concise entry point, The Essential Bob Dylan comes close to living up to its title. [The Australian edition sprinkles five extra songs throughout the original track listing: "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?," "I Want You," "Changing of the Guards," "Blind Willie McTell," and "Tight Connection to My Heart (Has Anybody Seen My Love?)."]
Track # Track Time Composer
1 Blowin' in the Wind 2:49 Dylan
2 Don't Think Twice, It's All Right 3:39 Dylan
3 The Times They Are A-Changin' 3:14 Dylan
4 It Ain't Me Babe 3:34 Dylan
5 Maggie's Farm 3:53 Dylan
6 It's All over Now, Baby Blue 4:16 Dylan
7 Mr. Tambourine Man 5:29 Dylan
8 Subterranean Homesick Blues 2:19 Dylan
9 Like a Rolling Stone 6:09 Dylan
10 Positively 4th Street 3:55 Dylan
11 Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window? 3:34 Dylan
12 I Want You 3:06 Dylan
13 Just Like a Woman 4:52 Dylan
14 Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 4:36 Dylan
15 All Along the Watchtower 2:34 Dylan
16 The Mighty Quinn (Quinn the Eskimo) 2:20 Dylan
17 I'll Be Your Baby Tonight 2:41 Dylan
18 Lay Lady Lay 3:18 Dylan
19 If Not for You 2:41 Dylan
20 I Shall Be Released 3:04 Dylan
21 You Ain't Going Nowhere 2:46 Dylan
22 Knockin' on Heaven's Door 2:32 Dylan
23 Forever Young 4:59 Dylan
24 Tangled Up in Blue 5:43 Dylan
25 Shelter from the Storm 5:02 Dylan
26 Hurricane 8:34 Dylan, Levy
27 Changing of the Guards 6:38 Dylan
28 Gotta Serve Somebody 5:25 Dylan
29 Blind Willie McTell 5:52 Dylan
30 Jokerman 6:15 Dylan
31 Tight Connection to My Heart (Has Anybody Seen My Love?) 5:26 Dylan
32 Silvio 3:07 Dylan, Hunter
33 Everything Is Broken 3:13 Dylan
34 Dignity (Original Version) 5:36 Dylan
35 Not Dark Yet 6:29 Dylan
36 Things Have Changed 5:11 Dylan
Back to the topThe Essential Bob Dylan (3.0)
Review by Steve Leggett, All Music Guide
Released:
October 31, 2000
Label:
Columbia/Legacy
Rating:
Genre:
Folk
Styles:
Country-Rock
Political Folk
Psychedelic
Folk-Rock
Contemporary Pop/Rock
Album Rock
Rock & Roll
Singer/Songwriter
AM Pop
This set is exactly the same as Columbia's 2000 double-disc release The Essential Bob Dylan with a third disc included that features six additional songs as a bonus. There's nothing here to get serious fans or collectors excited, except for the intriguing "Things Have Changed," perhaps, and even in this incarnation, it remains a set for casual listeners who want familiar Dylan songs all in one easy package.
Track # Track Time Composer
1 Blowin' in the Wind 2:48 Dylan
2 Don't Think Twice, It's All Right 3:39 Dylan
3 The Times They Are A-Changin' 3:13 Dylan
4 It Ain't Me, Babe 3:35 Dylan
5 Maggie's Farm 3:53 Dylan
6 It's All Over Now, Baby Blue 4:16 Dylan
7 Mr. Tambourine Man 5:28 Dylan
8 Subterranean Homesick Blues 2:19 Dylan
9 Like a Rolling Stone 6:09 Dylan
10 Positively 4th Street 3:55 Dylan
11 Just Like a Woman 4:52 Dylan
12 Rainy Day Woman #12 & 35 4:36 Dylan
13 All Along the Watchtower 2:32 Dylan
14 Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn) 2:19 Dylan
15 I'll Be Your Baby Tonight 2:39 Dylan
16 Lay, Lady, Lay 3:18 Dylan
17 If Not for You 2:41 Dylan
18 I Shall Be Released 3:04 Dylan
19 You Ain't Goin' Nowhere 2:45 Dylan
20 Knoickin' on Heaven's Door 2:32 Dylan
21 Forever Young 4:58 Dylan
22 Tangled Up in Blue 5:43 Dylan
23 Shelter from the Storm 5:03 Dylan
24 Hurricane 8:34 Dylan, Levy
25 Gotta Serve Somebody 5:25 Dylan
26 Jokerman 6:17 Dylan
27 Silvio 3:07 Dylan, Hunter
28 Everything Is Broken 3:14 Dylan
29 Not Dark Yet 6:30 Dylan
30 Things Have Changed 5:08 Dylan
31 Thunder on the Mountain 5:53 Dylan
32 Mississippi 5:21 Dylan
33 Blind Willie McTell 5:54 Dylan
34 Make You Feel My Love 3:33 Dylan
35 Beyond Here Lies Nothin' 3:51 Dylan, Hunter
36 Dark Eyes 5:07 Dylan
Price: $24.98     1 Review
Each Essential Limited Edition 3.0 expanded 3-CD set features the biggest hits and best-loved songs from superstar artists, including material not previously available in an Essent...
Back to the topThe Essential Bob Dylan (Limited Tour Edition)
Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
Released:
October 31, 2000
Label:
Sony Music Distribution
Rating:
Genre:
Folk
Styles:
Country-Rock
Political Folk
Psychedelic
Folk-Rock
Rock & Roll
Singer/Songwriter
AM Pop
Contemporary Pop/Rock
Album Rock
A double-disc set released for the holiday season of 2000, The Essential Bob Dylan is a fine choice for the casual listener that just wants all the songs they know on one collection -- it's Dylan's equivalent of Beatles One. Outside of the remastering and the previously non-LP (and very good) "Things Have Changed," there's nothing here for collectors, but, then again, that's not who this was designed for. This collection is for the listener that wants "Blowin' in the Wind," "Like a Rolling Stone," "All Along the Watchtower," "Quinn the Eskimo," "Lay Lady Lay," and "Tangled Up in Blue" in one tidy place. Yes, it's easy to find great songs missing, but for those casual fans, and for those looking for a fairly comprehensive yet concise entry point, The Essential Bob Dylan comes close to living up to its title. [A limited tour edition adds a third disc including original versions of "John Wesley Harding," "I Threw It All Away," and four more.]
Track # Track Time Composer
1 Blowin' in the Wind 2:49 Dylan
2 Don't Think Twice, It's All Right 3:39 Dylan
3 The Times They Are A-Changin' 3:14 Dylan
4 It Ain't Me, Babe 3:34 Dylan
5 Maggie's Farm 3:53 Dylan
6 It's All Over Now, Baby Blue 4:16 Dylan
7 Mr. Tambourine Man 5:29 Dylan
8 Subterranean Homesick Blues 2:19 Dylan
9 Like a Rolling Stone 6:09 Dylan
10 Positively 4th Street 3:55 Dylan
11 Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window? 3:34 Dylan
12 I Want You 3:06 Dylan
13 Just Like a Woman 4:52 Dylan
14 Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 4:36 Dylan
15 All Along the Watchtower 2:34 Dylan
16 Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn) 2:20 Dylan
17 I'll Be Your Baby Tonight 2:41 Dylan
18 Lay, Lady, Lay 3:18 Dylan
19 If Not for You 2:41 Dylan
20 I Shall Be Released 3:04 Dylan
21 You Ain't Goin' Nowhere 2:46 Dylan
22 Knockin' on Heaven's Door 2:32 Dylan
23 Forever Young 4:59 Dylan
24 Tangled Up in Blue 5:43 Dylan
25 Shelter from the Storm 5:02 Dylan
26 Hurricane 8:33 Dylan, Levy
27 Changing of the Guards 6:38 Dylan
28 Gotta Serve Somebody 5:25 Dylan
29 Blind Willie McTell 5:52 Dylan
30 Jokerman 6:15 Dylan
31 Tight Connection to My Heart (Has Anybody Seen My Love?) 5:25 Dylan
32 Silvio 3:07 Dylan, Hunter
33 Everything Is Broken 3:13 Dylan
34 Dignity (Original Version) 5:37 Dylan
35 Not Dark Yet 6:30 Dylan
36 Things Have Changed 5:10 Dylan
37 John Wesley Harding 2:58 Dylan
38 I Threw It All Away 2:23 Dylan
39 Wigwam 3:07 Dylan
40 Watching the River Flow 3:34 Dylan
41 George Jackson 3:40 Dylan
42 On a Night Like This 2:56 Dylan
Back to the topMTV Unplugged (CD/DVD)
Review by William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
Released:
April 25, 1995
Label:
Sony Music Distribution
Rating:
Genre:
Folk
Styles:
Contemporary Pop/Rock
Album Rock
Psychedelic
Folk-Rock
Rock & Roll
Singer/Songwriter
This show, taped for MTV, finds Dylan turning in an 11-song set, with eight of the songs dating from his 1963-1967 heyday, including such standards as "The Times They Are A-Changin'" and "Like a Rolling Stone." ("John Brown," a powerful antiwar song from 1963, had not been released on a Dylan album previously.) The '70s are represented by "Knockin' on Heaven's Door," and the '80s by "Shooting Star" and "Dignity" (a trunk song, the studio version of which had emerged only the previous November on Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits, Vol. 3). Dylan, accompanied by a competent five-piece band, approaches his material in a gentler fashion than on some of the originals -- "The Times They Are A-Changin'" and "With God on Our Side," for example, seem sadder and less defiant than they did back in 1964. Otherwise, unlike some other Unplugged performances, this one doesn't offer a noticeably different view of the artist's work. But then, Dylan has been unplugged for much of his career, anyway. [A CD/DVD edition was issued in 2007.]
Track # Track Time Composer
1 Tombstone Blues 4:54 Dylan
2 Shooting Star 4:06 Dylan
3 All Along the Watchtower 3:36 Dylan
4 The Times They Are A-Changin' 5:48 Dylan
5 John Brown 5:22 Dylan
6 Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 3:31 Dylan
7 Desolation Row 8:22 Dylan
8 Dignity 6:30 Dylan
9 Knockin' on Heaven's Door 5:30 Dylan
10 Like a Rolling Stone 9:09 Dylan
11 With God on Our Side 7:16 Dylan
12 Tombstone Blues (DVD)(*) N/A Dylan
13 Shooting Star (DVD) N/A Dylan
14 All Along the Watchtower (DVD) N/A Dylan
15 The Times They Are A-Changin' (DVD) N/A Dylan
16 John Brown (DVD)(*) N/A Dylan
17 Desolation Row (DVD)(*) N/A Dylan
18 Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 (DVD) N/A Dylan
19 Love Minus Zero/No Limit (DVD)(*) N/A Dylan
20 Dignity (DVD) N/A Dylan
21 Knockin' on Heaven's Door (DVD) N/A Dylan
22 Like a Rolling Stone (DVD) N/A Dylan
23 With God on Our Side (DVD) N/A Dylan
Price: $15.98     2 Reviews
Back to the topGreatest Hits, Vol. 3 (Australia)
Review by , All Music Guide
Released:
November 15, 1994
Label:
Sony Music Distribution
Rating:
Genre:
Folk
Styles:
Rock & Roll
Singer/Songwriter
Contemporary Pop/Rock
Album Rock
Country-Rock
Political Folk
Psychedelic
Folk-Rock
Contemporary Folk
The 1988 Australian edition of Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits, Vol. 3, All Music Guide
Track # Track Time Composer
1 Positively 4th Street 3:52 Dylan
2 One Too Many Mornings 2:38 Dylan
3 Pledging My Time 3:46 Dylan
4 She Belongs to Me 2:47 Dylan
5 My Back Pages 4:23 Dylan
6 All I Really Want to Do 4:03 Dylan
7 Corrina, Corrina 2:43 Dylan, Traditional
8 House of the Rising Sun 5:18 Dylan, Holmes, White
9 Man of Constant Sorrow 3:05 Dylan, Traditional
10 I Shall Be Around 4:48 Dylan
11 Tombstone Blues 5:56 Dylan
12 4th Time Around 4:36 Dylan
Back to the topOh Mercy (Remastered)
Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
Released:
September 22, 1989
Label:
Columbia
Rating:
Genre:
Folk
Styles:
Contemporary Pop/Rock
Album Rock
Rock & Roll
Singer/Songwriter
Psychedelic
Folk-Rock
Oh Mercy was hailed as a comeback, not just because it had songs noticeably more meaningful than anything Bob Dylan had recently released, but because Daniel Lanois' production gave it cohesion. There was cohesion on Empire Burlesque, of course, but that cohesion was a little too slick, a little too commercial, whereas this record was filled with atmospheric, hazy production -- a sound as arty as most assumed the songs to be. And Dylan followed suit, giving Lanois significant songs -- palpably social works, love songs, and poems -- that seemed to connect with his past. And, at the time, this production made it seem like the equivalent of his '60s records, meaning that its artiness was cutting edge, not portentous. Over the years, Oh Mercy hasn't aged particularly well, seeming as self-conscious as such other gauzy Lanois productions as So and The Joshua Tree, even though it makes more sense than the ersatz pizzazz of Burlesque. Still, the songs make Oh Mercy noteworthy; they find Dylan quietly raging against the materialism of President Reagan and accepting maturity, albeit with a slight reluctance. So, Oh Mercy is finally more interesting for what it tries to achieve than for what it actually does achieve. At its best, this is a collection of small, shining moments, with the best songs shining brighter than their production or the album's overall effect. [In 2003, Columbia/Legacy reissued 15 selected titles from Dylan's catalog as hybrid SACDs, playable in both regular CD players and Super Audio CD players. Each title is packaged as a digipak, containing the full original artwork. On each of the titles, and on each of the layers, the remastered sound is spectacular, a considerable upgrade from the initial CD pressings.]
Track # Track Time Composer
1 Political World 3:48 Dylan
2 Where Teardrops Fall 2:32 Dylan
3 Everything Is Broken 3:15 Dylan
4 Ring Them Bells 3:00 Dylan
5 Man in the Long Black Coat 4:35 Dylan
6 Most of the Time 5:04 Dylan
7 What Good Am I? 4:45 Dylan
8 Disease of Conceit 3:43 Dylan
9 What Was It You Wanted 5:02 Dylan
10 Shooting Star 3:13 Dylan
Back to the topSlow Train Coming (Remastered)
Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
Released:
August 20, 1979
Label:
Columbia
Rating:
Genre:
Folk
Styles:
Contemporary Pop/Rock
Album Rock
Rock & Roll
Singer/Songwriter
Psychedelic
Folk-Rock
Perhaps it was inevitable that Bob Dylan would change direction at the end of the '70s, since he had dabbled in everything from full-on repudiation of his legacy to a quiet embrace of it, to dipping his toe into pure showmanship. Nobody really could have expected that he would turn to Christianity on Slow Train Coming, embracing a born-again philosophy with enthusiasm. He has no problem in believing in a vengeful god -- you gotta serve somebody, after all -- and this is pure brimstone and fire throughout the record, even on such lovely testimonials as "I Believe in You." The unexpected side effect of his conversion is that it gave Dylan a focus he hadn't had since Blood on the Tracks, and his concentration carries over to the music, which is lean and direct in a way that he hadn't been since, well, Blood on the Tracks. Focus isn't necessarily the same thing as consistency, and this does suffer from being a bit too dogmatic, not just in its religion, but in its musical approach. Still, it's hard to deny that Dylan doesn't sound revitalized here, and the result is a modest success that at least works on its own terms. [In 2003, Columbia/Legacy reissued 15 selected titles from Dylan's catalog as hybrid SACDs, playable in both regular CD players and Super Audio CD players. Each title is packaged as a digipak, containing the full original artwork. On each of the titles, and on each of the layers, the remastered sound is spectacular, a considerable upgrade from the initial CD pressings.]
Track # Track Time Composer
1 Gotta Serve Somebody 5:25 Dylan
2 Precious Angel 6:31 Dylan
3 I Believe in You 5:10 Dylan