Bob Dylan
Modern Times

THE REVIEW

He has returned among us after five years with an album of new songs... Bob Dylan!

Yes, indeed five years have passed since the dull and uninspired "Love and Theft" (2001), yet during this time the old Bob hasn't been missed at all, since there was always one of his albums on the shelves of new releases, be it live, bootleg series, anthologies, etc. The fact that a new album of his has come out is truly an event, because Bob Dylan has great historical importance; he was the one who brought rock to the masses. If Elvis is the first, Bob is the Second; if Elvis is the King, Bob is the Prince, and Stones and Beatles are the Barons; if Elvis is God, Bob is the Messiah... thus the importance of this return is clear, the thirty-second studio album of his, titled "Modern Times": upon first listening, the album seems very beautiful, deeply inspired, if nothing else.

"Thunder on the Mountain" opens in the right way: a good hard rock'n'roll, followed by the piano ballad "Spirit on the Water" with some passages reminiscent of Dylan's best times. Yet another overwhelming Rock-Blues (and it won't be the last): "Rollin and Tumblin" in which our man rewrites only the lyrics, since the music was composed by the great Muddy Waters, then comes "When the Deal goes Down", a ballad that smells a bit of country led by a pedal steel guitar. We reach the middle of the album with "Someday Baby", a fast rock-blues with a refrain citation from another Muddy Waters song "No Trouble"; followed by one of the best episodes on the album "Workingman's Blues": an excellent ballad with a great chorus. Approaching closure with the country ballad "Beyond the Horizon" and the romantic "Nettie Moore". But before the end, old Bob wants to get us moving a bit with the boogie "The Levee's Gonna Break" based on "When the Levee Breaks" by Memphis Minnie. We reach the end, and maybe we feel a bit sorry, with "Ain't Talkin", a minor key ballad with dark and cynical tones.

Undoubtedly a good album, very homogeneous that alternates more rock moments (perhaps the most predictable but also the most fun) with more relaxed and refined ones. The strengths of the work are Dylan's voice, always a bit nasal and croaky, but this time warmer, hoarse, and understandable, and the band, tight at the right moments and precise in others, although the sound is perhaps too clean, and not least the songwriting, which remains one of the most beautiful in modern music, of modern times. All in all, one must be very happy, and I don't know how many would have expected such a performance.

P.S. The limited edition also contains a DVD with four beautiful video tracks:

1. Blood in My Eyes: promotional video for the album "World Gone Wrong" (1993)

2. Love Sick: live at the Grammy Awards in New York City on February 25, 1998

3. Things Have Changed: promotional video for the soundtrack of the film Wonder Boys (2000)

4. Cold Irons Bound: taken from the film Masked and Anonymous, recorded on July 16, 2002.

I recommend the purchase and wish you lovely hours listening to the stories of old and croaky Bob.