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On form: Bob Dylan's first album for five years show that he's still got it
Bob Dylan
Modern Times (Columbia)
***
We last heard a Bob Dylan album five years ago; the curate's egg that was Love And Theft.
Since then the once-prolific enigma has, by all accounts, been too busy touring, writing his autobiography and even carving out a new sideline as a DJ to make a new album.
Released on Monday and available now in snippets on the internet, Modern Times shows that his muse is almost as perky as it was in the Sixties when he entranced a generation.
Like Love And Theft and its patchy predecessor Time Out Of Mind, Modern Times is a downbeat, spartan affair. In tracks such as When The Deal Goes Down and Beyond The Horizon he is so laid back it's a wonder he doesn't fall over, while on Someday Baby it's so courtly you can almost imagine the grizzled old soul playing it on a porch in the Deep South.
In short, nobody would claim Modern Times is a great Dylan album but it is a good one.
The man himself is on surprisingly clear-voiced form, whether it's mentioning the young soul singer Alicia Keys on Thunder On The Mountain or remembering his protest singer roots on the lengthy Workingman's Blues #2.
These 10 songs will take a while to sink in - Dylan never was one for the instant hit - and he's far more concerned with the personal than the political these days, but there are moments where the old genius and anger flicker.
The closing track, Ain't Talkin', suggests Dylan has lost none of his cynicism, while The Levee's Gonna Break is as ominous and threatening as its title.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
Seeing Bob Dylan live was on my list of '1000 things to do before I die', so I went along to the concert at Wembley on Sunday last with an open mind.
I have many of his albums including the most recent but I found his 'live' voice so gravelly and indistinct I could barely make out a word - this, together with subtle, and not so subtle variations in the older - more well known songs, left me feeling like I'd missed out on something and it was all an anti-climax.
If only he'd forged a rapport with us as the audience I'd feel that I had some lasting memories to take home with me.
Maybe, like Picasso he's a genius who feels he doesn't need to show it in his later years.
However, having said all that, his band, though for Bob I thought a little overpowering, were very good and 'tight' and judging by the cheering and clapping of the 'Dylan Diehards' all around me, perhaps I was in the minority afterall.
- Andy Lewis, Mayo, Ireland
I have enjoyed Dylan's music since I was 15 years old (1960's), his music has signposted important times in my life, both happy and sad. I felt a little depressed listening to Modern Times, as it has reminded me of my advancing years and impending mortality!
- Margaret, England
I'm not a massive Dylan fan - this is the first album of his that I have owned - but I was expecting a little more than this. The songs are best described as middle of The road - no more than average blues tunes and his voice is, well, the less said the better. The words cracked, thin and strangulated come to mind. Strangely enough, though, I have found myself humming along in distracted moments in the last couple of days... perhaps the album's a 'grower' after all.
- Francis, Wimbledon, UK
Open your eyes George - this is going to be proclaimed the ALBUM OF THE YEAR!
- Alan Dean, Dallas Texas
