| San Antone |
03-15-2022 03:14 AM |
Just jumping into the discussion about Dylan's Rough and Rowdy Ways (2020) and his late period in general. For me the albums starting with Good as I Been to You (1992) and World Gone Wrong (1993) were a return to form. After the wasteland of the '80s I found it very refreshing for him to return to the guitar/vocal style and singing old songs.
I acknowledge Oh, Mercy as his best release in the '80s, but I have a problem with Daniel Lanois's production, on that as well as Time Out of Mind. This is not to say that I avoid them, but they are not among the ones I consider his best.
For me the entire period post 1992 has albums where Dylan has a good band, doing some good songs, and singing in a good voice. My main complaint is that they don't seem to be very distinguished, i.e. I can't tell one from the other in my memory. They don't have a strong individual character like the earlier ones. I can easily call to mind John Wesley Harding, or Bringing It All Back Home, or Blood on the Tracks. Those records are specific in my mind.
But the late records are all a blur. It could be that I just haven't listened to them that much, I mean, listened closely to them. I usually have them in a playlist just randomly playing in the background. But when I do pick one and play it in sequence I am always surprised at how good it sounds compared to all of the records after BOTT (except there are some individual songs that are exceptional).
I even can enjoy the three "Frank Sinatra" records, mainly because I like the band he put together for them. But they are odd. The only one from this late period that I never listen to is the Christmas album. But that is more of a factor that I don't listen to any Christmas albums. Not my thing.
His latest is very good, IMO. Very evocative, moody, and dark. But I must confess losing interest after about the first three minutes of "Murder Most Foul." I guess I'm not that interested in the JFK assassination, even though I remember it well from my childhood.
I say all this without thinking of myself as a Dylan obsessive who likes everything he does. I have my favorites, which are all fairly early. John Wesley Harding is my favorite, but I like all of the albums before that one. After that nothing sticks out until, as I said, Good as I Been to You, etc.
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