Saturday, September 19, 2020

Bob Dylan Rough And Rowdy Ways 2020

After almost eight years, we get a new Dylan album with all original songs. After three releases covering the American songbook, I was ready. Would we get another Tempest? Modern Times? Well, no. But there is some fine music to be heard.

I love Bob Dylan's music, and he's made some truly great records. I don't know that this is the classic that other reviewers have raved up, but it has some great moments, and has an overall tone that is quietly powerful. Dylan's voice is the same ragged mess it has been for 20 some years, and he sings with it beautifully. If singing is notes, well, you know, Bob's in trouble. But if singing is getting feeling across to the listener, that ragged voice works as well as any. And the lyrics are clear above a frequently soft, delicate instrumental backing. Bob still has stuff to say, and you don't need to analyze and parse the lyrics to get his meaning. He's quite direct on this one.

The writing is sly, funny, dramatic and dark. I Contain Multitudes opens as a tongue-in-cheek boast. The stomping blues of False Prophet accommodates Dylan's dark rasp as well as one of the few instances of hot guitars. The other, Goodbye Jimmy Reed, rocks steady. But much of this record is very laid back, slow, quiet music with Dylan's voice and words. I could go for a few more up-tempo songs. There's a love song (I've Made Up My Mind To Give Myself To You), an ode to poetry (Mother Of Muses), cautionary tales (Black Rider, Key West), and slow blues (Crossing The Rubicon). The writing is direct and understandable, and the phrasing that is embedded in Dylan's lyrical skill is as evident as ever.

Then there's the 17 minutes of Murder Most Foul. It's good. It follows from JFK's assassination to stories and visions and snapshots of a world mostly in decline. It is a moving song, and a fine display from a songwriter that keeps in forward motion despite the odds. 

If you gave up on Dylan during the eighties or nineties, you really should check out 2001's Love and Theft and 2006's Modern Times. If you've been following Dylan's recent work, you'll probably find this one to your liking also.

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