Written off countless times, watching his peers fade and fall away, he’s somehow found the energy to rise each time, re-casting and reinventing his work in the process. Opening with a stellar ‘Love Sick’ highlights include an emotive ‘Tryin’ To Get To Heaven’ and a fantastic take on ‘Not Dark Yet’, both recorded at UK shows – Birmingham and Sheffield, respectively.Ĭlosing with an emphatic ‘Highlands’ from a Newcastle, Australia show in 2001, the sheer passion of these recordings underlines Dylan’s prowess at raging against the dying of the light. What this disc does emphasise, however, is the stunning quality of the musicians around him, and the confident virility that Dylan displayed as a performer in the aftermath of the record’s release. Communication isn’t exactly his forte these days, either. The modern Dylan live experience can be a marmite one – his voice has changed, and he enjoys toying with the material. The torch song ‘Make You Feel My Love’ is stripped to bare essentials, yet already feels special – few would predict that it would wind up being covered by Adele, P!NK, Billy Joel, and around 200 other artists… but it carries a certain magic, a sparkle right from the off.ĭisc Four collects live material from this period, and its stand-alone worth perhaps doesn’t reach the crystal-pure levels of those outtakes. On this record, Dylan worked with alacrity, inspiration unbound.Īs ever with Bootleg Series, it’s fascinating for fans to hear familiar material in its earlier form. A work of great ambition, the band feel unified, whole it also dismisses speculation that a 20 (plus) minute version remains in the vaults. It’s a work of incredible passion.Ī lengthy run-through ‘Highlands’ illustrates how complete this song truly was. An earlier version of ‘Mississippi’ is fascinating, a salute to the dark inspirations of Southern mythology so, too, is ‘Dirt Road Blues’, a paean to folk art, to rule-breaking, dominated by a searing, endlessly emotive Dylan. Near-telepathic about-turns dominate the alternate takes on ‘Love Sick’, his vocal continually reaching the venomous heights of the original release.
‘Time Out Of Mind didn’t produce that many outtakes or alternative arrangements, but the deft experimentation on show fully illustrates the astonishing musicality within Dylan’s band. Which do you prefer?ĭiscs Two and Three are, for this writer, where the true gold can be found. That said, it’s fascinating to listen to what Jack Frost has tampered with – placed side by side, this seems to be the start of a long-running fan debate.
FRAGMENTS DYLAN FULL
‘Time Out Of Mind’ has always thrived in attempting to pin down emotions just out of reach, and this increased clarity doesn’t quite serve the full project it’s different, sure, but for those who cherished the unique nature of the original recording, it doesn’t add much. While some songs benefit from a slightly more stream-lined approach, others lost an almost undefinable quality.
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