Coming out of a month-long NBA Draft coma with records piling up. Let’s start with these three:
Together Through Life — Bob Dylan (Columbia): “I’m listening to Billy Joe Shaver/And I’m reading James Joyce/Some people they tell me/I got the blood of the lamb in my voice,” the Bard of Hibbing sings near the end of Together Through Life. It’s a classic self-description, but one of the few real quotables on this album from a man who will be remembered primarily for his words. In its casual musicality and vocal playfulness, Together Through Life is a less momentous companion to Dylan’s 2001 masterpiece “Love & Theft”, a compilation of folk rock, 12-bar blues, and crooner pop this time supplemented by some Tex-Mex accordion courtesy of Los Lobos’ Dave Hidalgo. Unfortunately, the songs — simpler, more romantic — don’t hold up like those on “Love and Theft” (or even the more recent Modern Times): The mystery doesn’t deepen, the jokes don’t retain their snap. A good record made better by its relatively snug 10-song/45-minute length and gathering momentum, but minor Dylan. (“I Feel a Change Comin’ On,” “It’s All Good,” “Beyond Here Lies Nothin'”)
Grade: B+
