“Modern Times” - Bob Dylan

Picked up the latest release by Bob Dylan - his 44th - over lunch today. I’ve just finished listening to it a third time. I have to say, it ranks up there with some of Zimmy’s best material. The album starts out with “Thunder On The Mountain”, a rollicking six minutes that harkens back to Bringing It All Back Home and Highway 61 Revisited. That feeling is present in three other tracks: “Rollin’ and Tumblin’”, “Someday Baby”, and “The Levee’s Gonna Break.”

“When The Deal Goes Down” is a waltz in the most traditional sense, while “Spirit On The Water” is an out and out love song, and “Beyond The Horizon” recalls classic country. “Nettie Moore” is the only song on the album that hints at Bob’s beginnings, sounding very much like an old folk song. “Ain’t Talkin’”, the final track, tempers what through the first nine tracks has been a relatively upbeat and positive tone throughout the album. “Ain’t Talkin’” is this Modern Time’s “Desolation Row.”

My favorite track on the album, “Workingman’s Blues #2″, is the “Sad-Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands” of this album, and the only other track that comes close to “Ain’t Talkin’” in terms of pure lyrical power. That’s not to say that the other tracks are lacking -they’re not, it’s just that “Talkin’” and “Blues” are just that good.

Maybe in the not too distant future, we’ll look back and find that the trifecta of Time Out Of Mind, Love And Theft and Modern Times ranks right up there with that of Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited, and Blonde On Blonde, but until then, I’ll take this latest installement for what it is; a masterpiece from a true American legend.

5/5