Tuesday, September 05, 2006
If there is a wearier cliche about Dylan albums than "It's his best since "Blood on the Tracks"", I don't know what it is, but talk about his last three sides being a "comeback" has got to be closing in. The problem, of course, is that we've all been burned by a Dylan album or two. Greil Marcus may have put it best when he was confronted by "Self Portrait", but it has happened to us all. My moment came with "Street Legal", yours may be different, but we all approch a new Dylan release a little warily. Sure, "Time Out of Mind" was a return to his songwriting form, but it's sooo depressing, when do you ever feel like listening to it? And yes, "Love and Theft" proved that he still had a sense of humor-- and had "Mississippi" on it-- a song he'd given to Sheryl Crow first, proving that there are still pop stars interested in his stuff, and that his stuff still held the potential for mass appeal. But the fact is that "Modern Times" represents a step up from both of these. His singing is better, for staters. The guitar sound is better. The songs are sharper, and more consistant. There isn't a song on this side that couldn't find its way onto a good playlist or mix CD. It really is the first time I've put a new Dylan side in the drawer and wanted to play it again as soon as it was over since-- well, it's the first new Dylan CD that this has ever happened to me with. I was still listening to vinyl the last time.
// posted by Bill @ 4:12 PM 
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