Well, it's official. For the first time since - oh, Another Side of Bob Dylan in '64, liberally speaking (pretty much never otherwise), Bob Dylan has released three albums in a row without any major stylistic or personal shakeups. Even more startling: those three records have taken him a full nine years to complete, making for a decade's worth of shuffing, haunted, cowboy-hatted apocalyptic blues croaks from the man who once changed skins like a perpetually moulting snake. Of course, this in and of itself isn't such a bad thing. Anyone who remembers Dylan's notoriously uneven years of the '80s and early '90s, when he seemed to adopt a new work ethic, production style and even religion virtually every time we turned around, can attest to the fact that consistency has its merits. But at the same time, it's hard not to look at Modern Times, the legendary - hell, damn near mythical - singer-songwriter's 31st studio album, and not feel at least a twinge of disappointment. After almost a half century of constant, electric, and yes, sometimes bewildering change, it seems that Bob Dylan has finally settled down.
For context's sake, let's compare the last ten years or so - roughly from 1997's Grammy-winning comeback Time Out of Mind to day - with the ten years that, for better or worse, Dylan will never truly be able to escape: the Sixties. In those days, Bob Dylan seemed more like a force of nature than a man, or even an artist. His rise from a humble debut as a dyed-in-the-wool Woody Guthrie disciple to the world-straddling, controversy-engendering peak of Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde took only three years; and somehow, during that time he developed a highly individual, enormously influential songwriting style, one which tapped deep into the roots of the American cultural consciousness and yet still managed to transcend everything that had come before. The music of Bob Dylan at his mid-'60s zenith (which itself only lasted a little over a year) is beyond folk, beyond blues, beyond pop, rock'n'roll, and even poetry. It is, somehow, all of those things at once; a staggering body of work by any account, made all the more incredible by the fact that its creator was only 25 years old at the time.
But Dylan didn't stop there. Instead, he pulled off the first in a rapid-fire series of major about-faces in late 1967, with the release of John Wesley Harding, a return to pastoral, acoustic-based music which may have been called a throwback to the folk days had it not also contained some of his densest, most impenetrable and richly allegorical lyrics to date. Then, a year and a half later, he surprised us again with Nashville Skyline, a more or less straight-faced stab at traditional country and western long before such genre-dabbling was an accepted norm. And from then on, it's been more or less a given that wherever Dylan might go, he won't be staying there for long. Even the mid-'70s releases which are considered his "first comeback," Blood on the Tracks and Desire, are only companion albums in the sense that both are of great quality and both seem to deal with Dylan's impending divorce from Sara Lownds; listen to these two records back to back and you'll realize soon enough that Dylan could hardly have found a more different way to follow up the austere, confessional Blood than with the strange, vibrant musical gypsy caravan that was Desire and the Rolling Thunder Revue. It may seem strange to assert that, in a career which spans 44 years and over 30 albums, no two Bob Dylan records are quite alike, but it's true.
Article comments
1 - the real mighty quinn
"... He can't keep up with the musical or even cultural trends of the last 30 years - the guy hasn't even acknowledged punk, after all"
obviously you can't even keep up with the facts. when dylan played brixton last november, he did the clash's "london calling" - two nights in a row.
"... One major highlight is the interview with A.J. Weberman himself, including his story about the end of their relationship"
RELATIONSHIP?!?! Weberman was a STALKER. these days he would have been arrested and put in a mental health facility for observation.
"... I'm embarrassed to admit, it actually took that iPod commercial for me to notice the rollicking "Someday Baby""
me too - i'm embarrassed to admit i read this all the way through. what a sad little article about a masterpiece record. too bad you can't hear it.
2 - Zach
Wait, wait, wait. I LIKED the freaking album. Am I understanding correctly that I have to write a total sycophantic BJ of a review in order to be credible? Modern Times is good, but come on, on a Dylan curve? From the guy who gave us Blonde on Fucking Blonde? Not a five-star album or a "masterpiece," by any stretch of the imagination.
As for your taking issue with the Weberman "relationship" remark, that's just semantics. Dylan and Weberman had a much more personal "relationship" than most celebrities and their stalkers; they talked on the phone, remember? And yes, I'm aware that Weberman would have been prosecuted these days. I CALLED him a nutcase. Or were you just skimming for anything you could remotely call me out on? About the only thing I'll concede to you is that, fine, Dylan played a Clash cover. In Brixton. Last November. On two nights. Guess I've got better things to do than scour the dude's setlists.
Is it just me, or did my disparaging comments about "Dylanology" strike a nerve? Eh, "Mighty Quinn?"
3 - jkerouac
dude, i really enjoyed reading yr article. it was well written,insightful, and honest. i wish more reviews were as fair, not sycophantic and not totally critical either. you just laid it out like ya saw it, after all it's just one persons perception. well done
4 - jkerouac
dude, i really enjoyed reading yr article. it was well written,insightful, and honest. i wish more reviews were as fair, not sycophantic and not totally critical either. you just laid it out like ya saw it, after all it's just one persons perception. well done
5 - Dude Skoodle
It was a good article, as a long time Dylan-freak- thats what we were called in the 60s and 70s- that's a compliment.But Dylan does know that times are still a-changing. He just does not think they are changin' for the better. Older people rarely do. He has acknowledged punk though.Have a listen to the 1984 TV SHOWS- I think it was David Lieberman Show. He plays punk style and he loves the Ramones.Also he likes Rap music as he says in Chronicles. By the way when is rap going out of date- can't see myself how it can still come on like the latest thing.The biggest problem with today's music is they don't really talent scout around anymore. The first thing they look at is the physical attractiveness of the artist.The good thing about Bob is that he is an oldman and like Van the man is putting out music- not modelling. When will music executives realise the audience is not looking for a sexual partner- they are looking for music? Dylan is proving that people want good music- not just the latest plastic diva. This is an important contibution that this very nice man- something not generally noted- is making. He is a great man and a kind manand a quality that he has that is not noticed is his exceptional modesty. Thanks for not pumping out the commonly stated nonsense that he is plagiarising Timrod. Do we want a poet laureate of rock music who does not r=bother to read other poets? All great poets are influenced by other poets and adopt and rearrange images and ideas. None of Shakespeare's stories are original and nobody accuses him of plagiarism. Borrowing a few of Timrod's ideas and phrases will promote Timrod and inspire his rediscovery. Nobody has noticed the phrases lifted from Robert Johnson and Walt Whitman in Modern Times. Thank God that Dylan isn't writing in a void like most pop writers these days- the last book those people have read was a raffle book! Overall a thought ful article and you did avoid being a sycophant. You were right not to suspend your right to be critical. In these days of sacred celebrity we need to look at others who may write good songs- no not Sprinsteen or other low quality Dylan imitators!
In our admiration of Bob Dylan we have given up looking for other good writers, instead they manufacture stars out of good-looking people without regard to musical ability.
6 - Debbie Stevens
Crikey, I was given a copy of his new album just recently from a Dylan fan in Tampa Bay-it was the nicest cd I'd listened to in ages and I may not be a real BD follower, but you have to respect and appreciate the man's natural ability to stay true to himself!
I will always treasure his song, 'Lay lady Lay'
Cheers from the land down under!