Bob Dylan
Knocked Out Loaded

"Knocked Out Loaded" is a significant example of the Dylanian chaos of the eighties and competes for the unenviable title of worst studio work of the Duluth minstrel (if we exclude the eponymous 1973 album, consisting solely of covers). Recorded with little care during the breaks of tours with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and released in July 1986, the album features some of the most irritating solutions of the Dylanian career, always characterized after the sixties by many high (and very high) and low moments.

The opening two tracks, the little edifying march of "You Wanna Ramble" (H. Parker Jr. cover) and the absurd almost zecchino d'oro style chorus of "They Killed Him" (K. Kristofferson cover) are surely one of the worst possible introductions. The first original track of the collection is "Driftin' Too Far From Shore", a rather mediocre song further marred by the synthesized intro of the keyboards played by Dylan himself. Slightly more acceptable is "Precious Memories", a song with vague reggae flavors enriched by Larry Meyers' mandolin. "Maybe Someday", irreparably spoiled by unpleasant vocal harmonies and the inappropriate presence of the trumpet, introduces us to the only track truly worthy of Bob's songwriting, namely that "Brownsville Girl" co-written with actor Sam Shepard, a piece that could have been better developed musically but flows pleasantly due to precise cinematographic references. "Got My Mind Made Up", composed with Tom Petty, as the only interesting note, presents the use of an unusual instrument in these parts like the conga (played by Philip Lyn Jones); the album finally closes with "Under Your Spell", a ballad neither praiseworthy nor shameful (co-writer Carole Bayer Sager).

After this album, the late-eighties Dylan would head through other fairly stumbling projects towards the realization of the penultimate masterpiece of his career, the beautiful "Oh Mercy".