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Well, well, well, the Bobster has gone and done it again, he has re-visited one of the most reviled periods of his career (as he did with Vol 10) and shown us that perhaps the criticism that was meted out back in the late '70's and early 80's was undeserved. This of course is the period when he announced that he was a born again Christian and the three albums he produced over this period, Slow Train Coming, Saved and Shot of Love, reflected that conversion. Now because of the criticism I had avoided these albums, I remember as a young rock fan new to the delights of rock music, Sounds giving Saved a one star review and that stuck with me for many years. When this collection was announced a couple of months ago I thought 'WHAT!!!???!!', but then I remembered what had happened with Vol 10 of this excellent series when he revisited his Self Portrait, New Morning period that also came in for great criticism and that volume made so many have to re-think their criticism. Would this have the same effect?
Now I'm not a follower of any organised religion, I don't attend church (or chapel here in Wales) except for the odd wedding or funeral, but although I'm not religious that does not mean I do not appreciate many great artistic works that are influenced by religion. I enjoy listening to Handel's Messiah and Bach's Mass in B Minor, I appreciate the beauty of many great paintings that are influenced by religious themes and I enjoy the odd bit of gospel music and this is what we have here, some excellent gospel music sung by Bob Dylan and performed by one of his best touring bands.
I've seen Bob Dylan live on a few occasions and let's face he can be a pretty sloppy performer at times, his vocal delivery in particular can grate and give the impression he doesn't care. One of the things that stands out on this particular set of recordings is the passion in his vocal delivery, it's clear he's loving performing these songs, they really are coming from the heart. Added to that the backing band are top notch with five backing singers and two keyboard players to give it that real gospel feel, they really do deliver, the version of Shot of Love in this set is delivered with such passion I nearly did a Jake Blues and flip flopped down the kitchen and hallway with joy and shout Hallelujah!!, nearly but not quite. We also get the opportunity to hear how Dylan is constantly re-working his music, a few of the songs on this set are repeated to show how they evolved over a short space of time. Compare the version of Slow Train that opens disc 1 with the version from two years later that opens disc 2. The first version is closer to the studio version, whilst the later version there is more chugging feel from the backing band, both are wonderful to listen to and go to show why when he's on form Dylan can be such a mesmerising, but at times frustrating, live performer.
I have of course gone for the cheap 2 disc version, my pockets are not deep enough to afford the all singing box set, but as with with Vol 10 this has been a really pleasant surprise, and I'm quite taken with it. It won't be to everyone's taste, some may find the religious message in the songs is still too much, all I would say to those people is give this a chance, so much of the criticism that was aimed at this period was down to the shock of Dylan's conversion. Time is a healer and now we can approach these songs with a far more open mind that perhaps we could 38 years ago. Check it out there really are some delights here.
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Great album , slight letdown with slipcase .
Great cd set , ( purchased as USED) covering a time in Dylan's journey when he converted to Christianity , I'm a fan of his Christian stuff so I quite enjoyed listening to these recordings. Cds and small book/booklet came in perfect condition , no problem with playback of the CDs , BUT sadly the top edge of the slipcase was quite badly damaged , but I'm okay with that considering the price . So it's 4/5 for the condition of the slipcase , but would be a 5 for the CDs and booklet and delivery . My personal fave album by Dylan is John Wesley Harding .
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- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 6 October 2019
- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 November 2017
