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Song of the Day #721: ‘Born in Time’ – Bob Dylan

Under the Red Sky is notable for its extensive use of big-name backing musicians. Dylan had played with his share of notables in the past but the lineup on this album looked sort of like a benefit concert.

Contributors included Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughan, Bruce Hornsby, David Crosby, George Harrison, Slash and Elton John. But for all that star power, you’d never guess this wasn’t a typical Dylan backing band. Hornsby and John don’t launch into piano solos that betray their signature sounds… Slash doesn’t start shredding in the middle of ‘Wiggle Wiggle.’ They just play, and they must have had a hell of a time doing it.

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Song of the Day #720: ‘God Knows’ – Bob Dylan

In 1990, a year after Oh Mercy, Bob Dylan ushered in a new decade with an odd collection of simple songs seemingly patterned after nursery rhymes. Under the Red Sky was met with shrugs from critics and fans alike… it certainly wasn’t what people expected after his powerful return to form just a year earlier.

I shared in that reaction, not quite sure what to make of the album. At the time, my knowledge of Dylan’s catalog was limited to his undisputed classics from the 60s and 70s, plus Oh Mercy, so the concept of a Dylan album that was more of a lark was new to me. As a result I gave it a few listens and filed it away.

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Keane – Night Train

I have a soft spot for EPs. Artists who find themselves between albums — and the touring and publicity machine that comes with album releases — can keep their creative juices flowing with these musical quickies, and fans don’t have to wait years for new material. Favorite artists of mine such as Ben Folds and Belle and Sebastian have put out some of their best work on EPs.

The Web has made EPs something of an anachronism. It’s easier now to upload a new track to your website — paid or free — and offer up new music in breadcrumb fashion. That’s how Lil Wayne became the hottest rapper in the world before he ever released a proper album. But I remain a CD guy, and I prefer a physical EP to a group of downloaded songs that I can’t hold in my hand.

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Song of the Day #719: ‘What a Feeling’ – Heather Nova

I generally have an uncannily good memory when it comes to music. I can remember when I bought an album, when I first listened to it, when I first played it for somebody else. I remember throwaway comments my wife or kids or other family members make about specific songs and artists.

Yes, I generally have a very good memory when it comes to music. But sometimes I find myself at a complete loss. I have a dozen or so artists in my CD collection who may well have found their way there via magical elves as far as I’m concerned, so little recollection do I have of their origin.

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Eminem – Recovery

Eminem’s sixth studio album, Recovery is perhaps more notable for what’s not on it than what is. You won’t find Paul here, or Steve Berman or Ken Kaniff. No skits at all, in fact, among the disc’s 17 tracks. No D12 collaboration, no MTV-friendly celebrity-obsessed party jam. And most surprising of all, no Slim Shady. That is, none of the schoolyard accents and serial killer fantasies that have typified Marshall Mathers’ alter ego since he got his start more than a decade ago.

What you do get in Recovery is easily Eminem’s finest album since 2002’s The Eminem Show and a true rival to his masterpiece, 2000’s The Marshall Mathers LP. By definition, Recovery can’t deliver the shocking cultural drop-kick of that album — Eminem is a thoroughly known quantity now — but artistically it’s right there with it.

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