Rough & Rowdy Ways vinyl

"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.