Category Archives: dylan weekends

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Song of the Day #714: ‘Man in the Long Black Coat’ – Bob Dylan

Oh Mercy was the first Bob Dylan album I heard as a new release. I had spent my 15th year soaking up all of his early material — the 60s albums — but I hadn’t really been aware of the new releases he was putting out at that time. Good thing, considering what they were.

But in my junior year of high school I suddenly became aware of a new Bob Dylan album that was receiving strong critical praise. My memory is a bit fuzzy on this matter now but I believe I might have received Oh Mercy as a gift from my older sister, in college at the time.

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Song of the Day #713: ‘Ring Them Bells’ – Bob Dylan

A year after his worst critical drubbing, for back-to-back stinkers Knocked Out Loaded and Down in the Groove (not to mention the throwaway live album Dylan & The Dead), Bob Dylan made a strong comeback with 1989’s Oh Mercy.

The 80s had been rough for Dylan — the decade certainly goes down as his most uneven and uninspired. Apart from Infidels and Empire Burlesque (two albums that themselves are far from unanimously praised), he released arguably his four weakest albums and threw in two lackluster live albums to boot.

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Song of the Day #707: ‘Silvio’ – Bob Dylan

1988’s Down in the Groove was the other half of the one-two punch in the late 80s that began with Knocked Out Loaded. If possible, this one received even worse reviews than its predecessor. Rolling Stone called this Dylan’s worst album.

I don’t own it, so I can’t render my own verdict here. Sampling its songs, I can’t say I’ve been intrigued enough to spring for the whole album.

Six of the ten songs are covers, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it does betray a lack of effort. Future covers albums by Dylan had a sense of purpose and a cohesive theme… this one seems to be stocked with filler.

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Song of the Day #706: ‘Under Your Spell’ – Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan’s next two studio albums, 1986’s Knocked Out Loaded and 1988’s Down in the Groove, can fairly be described as the low point in his career.

The 80s had started with the back-to-back gospel head-scratchers Saved and Shot of Love only to be partially redeemed by Empire Burlesque. But these two albums suggested Dylan had finally run out of ideas. Knocked Out Loaded‘s eight songs contained just two Dylan originals, a couple of collaborations and three covers.

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Song of the Day #700: ‘Dark Eyes’ – Bob Dylan

One track on Empire Burlesque stands out as completely different in style and sound from the rest of the album. Most of the tracks feel very modern, but the final song — ‘Dark Eyes’ — sounds like it could have fit in nicely on Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan or another of his earliest recordings.

It’s a spare, haunting track that continues the trend of Dylan putting his most transcendent material in the last spot on the tracklist. Might as well go out strong, I suppose.

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