BOB DYLAN Vinyl & CDs

Review: Three decades before he released The Philosophy of Modern Song - an insightful book devoted to 66 tunes that both impacted his career and the music world at large - Bob Dylan issued Good As I Been to You. The under-heralded 1992 album, Dylan's first solo acoustic album in nearly 30 years and first all-covers effort in nearly twenty years, can be seen as a prophetic prelude to what has become the Nobel Laureate's celebrated late-career arc. It's also an absorbing continuation of the custom Dylan has embraced since he first picked up a guitar.

Review: "It's grown on me as well. I think this song has something to do with the classical world, something that's out of reach. Someplace you'd like to be beyond your experience. Something that is so supreme and first rate that you could never come back down from the mountain. That you've achieved the unthinkable." So said Bob Dylan himself in a 2020 New York Times interview when asked why 'When I Paint My Masterpiece', his 1971 sleeper hit, had made its way to the forefront of live shows in more contemporary times. Opening with that track, this album reflects the score of the 2021 concert movie, Shadow Kingdom, which in itself reaffirms the artist as one of the 20th, and 21st Century's greatest songwriters. There's really nothing more to say.

Review: Although it's only appearing now, Bob Dylan's 40th album was recorded back in 2021 and formed the soundtrack to Alma Ha'rel's intimate concert film, Shadow Kingdom: The Early Songs of Bob Dylan. The concert depicted in the film, in which Dylan ran through songs from the first part of his career on a sound stage in Los Angeles, was something of a fiction, with the actual recordings featured being captured in a West Hollywood studio. That's what we get here: Dylan delivering decidedly bluesy folk and Americana interpretations of songs from the formative years of his career, ably supported by a cast of musician friends including Don Was (up-tight bass) and country legend T-Bone Burnett (guitar). Dylan's superb songs have never sounded better.

Review: The latest chapter in the highly acclaimed Bob Dylan Bootleg Series takes a fresh look at the 1997 album 'Time Out of Mind', the rock and folk legend's 13th LP, celebrating the grammy award winning album and its enduring impact 25 years after its original release. This quadruple LP box set edition includes a new 2022 remix of the eleven original recordings on 'Time Out of Mind' by Michael H. Brauer. Also included are 12 previously unreleased outtakes and alternate versions of songs written for 'Time Out of Mind', including demos and unreleased versions of iconic tracks as "Love Sick", "Not Dark Yet" and "Make You Feel My Love", a track that has withstood the test of time to be covered more recently by Adele. A huge offering to Bob Dylan fans that would make a great gift to that super fan you know...

Review: "The lyrics are the real thing, tangible, they're not metaphors," Bob Dylan told the New York Times when he was first promoting this, his - drum roll - 39th album. Fittingly to the point, 'Rough & Rowdy Ways', released six decades into his career, deserves a very special place in the heart and minds of everyone who encounters it. Honest and direct, it's easily one of the most personal and open from the legend's oeuvre, and arguably the record most willing to compromise with listeners. Feelings are not hidden, instead they're impossible to miss. Adding to the open-veined impact are the arrangements themselves. Dylan has never shied away from paring back, but here his still-sensational voice is given so much room you almost want to wrap it up in your arms for fear it's too exposed. In short, potentially the closest thing any of us will get to having an actual conversation with this icon.