Modern Times

It was announced today that Bob Dylan's excellent new album, "Modern Times" has topped the U.S. charts. No small feat for even the most acclaimed singer/songwriter in rock history to pull off in these "modern times". It's Mr. Zimmerman's first number one album since 1976's "Desire" and his fourth number one album overall. I doubt he'd ever admit it, but somewhere deep down inside he must feel gratified.

"Modern Times" is Dylan's first album of new material in five years. His last two albums, 1997's Grammy award winning "Time Out Of Mind", and 2001's "Love and Theft" were widely hailed as a return to form, and Dylan has delivered on the high expectations for "Modern Times". Like "Love and Theft", Dylan produced "Modern Times" himself under the pseudonym Jack Frost. According to Columbia Records it's the final installment in a trilogy alongside "Time Out Of Mind" and "Love and Theft".

"Modern Times" finds Dylan and his touring band mining much the same musical territory as "Love and Theft". It's a positively prehistoric and thoroughly intoxicating synthesis of blues, country, gospel, jazz, rockabilly and Tin Pan Alley style pop that Dylan espouses nowadays. Lyrically, Dylan is concise and to the point. That's not to say the songs on "Modern Times" aren't wordy. They are in the sense that most of the songs feature many different verses, but the surreal imagery and twisted word play of his mid-sixties work is long gone, replaced with a direct and very deliberate use of language. There are a couple typically cryptic lines scattered throughout the album's ten songs, most notably the already infamous reference to Alicia Keys on "Thunder On The Mountain". For the most part though Dylan's new lyrics are as straightforward as they've ever been, and they're all delivered with that impeccable phrasing he's long been famous for.

The album gets off to a rollicking start with the country-blues shuffle of "Thunder On The Mountain". Dylan's clearly enjoying himself here, as he is on the album's other uptempo country-blues numbers, "Rollin' And Tumblin'" (an update on the blues standard of the same name) and the infectious "Someday Baby" (currently featured on iTunes' TV adverts for the album). Track four, "When The Deal Goes Down", is a standout. It's built upon a dreamy foundation of steel guitar and strings and features some of Dylan's most touching lyrics. "Workingman's Blues No. 2" is another standout track. It features a descending chord progression somewhat reminscent of "Forever Young". The album ends in classic Dylan fashion with a near ten minute epic entitled "Ain't Talkin'", in which he effortlessly tosses off verse after haunting verse over a moody groove in A minor. The mood is dark, but the very last chord takes a surprising change from A minor to A major, offering a hint of redemption, the light at the end of the tunnel, if you will. It's a damn fine ending to a damn fine album. An album that holds up alongside some of his greatest work.

I must give kudos to Dylan's touring band, Tony Garnier, George C. Receli, Stu Kimball, Denny Freeman and Donnie Herron. Their accompanient throughout "Modern Times" is masterful. These guys can certainly play, but they know when NOT to play. Every single note is in it's right place, much like Dylan's own impeccable phrasing. The guitar interplay between Stu Kimball and Denny Freeman is rock solid, as is the the rhythm section of Tony Garnier and George C. Receli. It's Donnie Herron who applies the sweetening on steel guitar, violin, viola and mandolin, and he does so with a master's touch. Dylan himself played guitar, harmonica and piano during the sessions.

I find Dylan's late career creative bloom very inspiring to say the least. Over the last couple of years he's collaborated with Martin Scorcese on his "No Direction Home" documentary, published the first volume of his autobiography "Chronicles" (volumes two and three are said to be forthcoming), embarked on a weekly radio show for XM satellite radio, and of course, is still on his "never ending tour", in which he radically reworks a host of songs from his back catalogue night after night. It appears that Bob will "keep on keepin' on" until the day he dies, just like the wandering minstrel, the romantic troubadour he is. We can only hope that day remains a long way away when he still has so much to give....

The other day the Dylan mailing list sent me this link to the video for "When The Deal Goes Down". It was directed by Bennett Miller of "Capote" fame and stars Scarlett Johansson. It looks like it was filmed with an old super 8, or it was made to look that way anyway. It can be viewed here.