AA.VV.
Masked And Anonymous o.s.t.

A soundtrack that serves both the film with Penelope Cruz, Bob Dylan, John Goodman, Luke Wilson, and Ed Harris, as well as to pay tribute to the great Zimmy with some of his songs recovered from old records but also recorded for the occasion. The album unfolds with some decidedly spot-on choices (such is the case with the performances by the great Grateful Dead, for example) and others that are rather questionable. However, the level of offerings remains generally quite high, and this is a great merit in an album that can still be considered a tribute, with the protagonist featured in four songs. But let's go in order.

One of the proposals that leaves more to be desired is definitely the first, which immediately leaves one baffled, as it is a version of “My Back Pages” by the Japanese Molonoko Brothers which, although musically decent, makes it clear that there are languages that have little or nothing to do with music, and Japanese is certainly one of them. Excellent the gospel by Hirley Caesar who proposes one of the most famous pieces from Bob's Christian period, namely “Gotta Serve Somebody.” Then it's his turn, that of Bob Dylan, who with his current group presents a robust rock-blues, it can be said embellished by his “barked” voice of these times, “Down In The Flood.” Beautiful and heartfelt is the version that the great Grateful Dead do of “It's All Over Now, Baby Blue,” in this case a live version from 1991 with Jerry Garcia at the forefront. Sophie Zelmani then goes on to revisit one of Bob Dylan's pearls, that “Most Of The Time,” which had so enchanted on “Oh Mercy” from 1989, and she does it excellently. Los Lobos make theirs the song that opened “Planet Waves” of 1974, namely “On A Night Like This,” in their usual style halfway between Tex-Mex and Latin. Bob Dylan then returns to let us hear a traditional he had already recorded on “Good As I Been to You,” the album of folk-songs with which he surprised everyone in 1992, namely “Diamond Joe,” and it's proof that his love for country is much more than a fancy of recent years. I can't imagine Bob Dylan writing to Articolo 31 asking them for permission to use their version of “Like A Rolling Stone” (in Italian “Come una pietra scalciata”) for this soundtrack. Nevertheless, the lyrics centered on a story of racism that backfires on the protagonist are excellent. Material is also recovered in Turkey with the singer Sertab who excellently reprises, leaving more or less the same arrangement of “Desire,” the ballad “One More Cup Of Coffee,” with a great voice and a beautiful violin. The piece proposed by Francesco de Gregori (in the inner notes described as “Italian folk hero,” therefore, rightly, highly considered) was well-known since the times of “La valigia dell’attore,” a beautiful Italian version of “If You See Her Say Hello” which becomes “Non dirle che non è così.” Old Bob returns again with another traditional titled “Dixie,” then here’s Jerry Garcia again, this time in a solo version with the beautiful “Senor (Tales of Yankee Power),” originally taken from “Street Legal.” Bob Dylan again with a new recording of “Cold Irons Bound,” a dark rock-blues that appeared on “Time Out Of Mind,” from 1997. The whole is closed by the Dixie Hummingbirds, a country group, which perform a good “City Of Gold.”

The final result of this ensemble is an album that can still be easily listened to from the beginning (okay, from the second track, come on) to the end.