Modern Times--oh Hell yeah.

This diary is partly inspired by elveta's diary the other day.  There was some good conversation there, so if you're a Dylan fan and missed it, it's good stuff.

While Bob Dylan's latest has been getting mostly amazing reviews, there have been a few scattered "well it's no Love and Theft"s around.  Well I finally had a chance to pick up the new album today and give it a few listens.  No, it's not Love and Theft--I'm pretty sure it's better.

Musically, Modern Times continues L&T's strange feeling of being outside time.  But where L&T's musical genre jumping seemed like conscious playfulness, Modern Times' genre choices sound more natural and necessary--much less self-aware.

And damn, but this is the best produced Dylan album ever--casual without the messiness you find on so many Dylan albums.  And sure, the messiness on albums like Planet Waves or Desire or Street Legal (or Highway 61, etc.) has always been part of the charm.  But you hear Modern Times, and you kinda wonder what "Changing of the Guards" or "One More Cup of COffee" might have sounded like if they'd been treated more carefully.

Lyrically, Modern Times is less jumpy than L&T.  That nonsequitous, existential lightness shows up from time to time, but the songs seem more grounded this time around.  I actually worried when I read that the first track talked about Alicia Keys.  But it really works.

And the vocals!  Jumping Jesus, they're great!  Dylan's growl sounds like a sexed-up crooner half the time, and like a creaking coffin lid the other half--sometimes both at once. The man's voice is pure voodoo.

Every Dylan review through 1975 used Blonde on Blonde as the marker.  Every Dylan album after 1975 has used Blood on the Tracks.  That's all over.  Love and Theft wasn't an anomaly.  We're living in a genuine Dylan "on" period.

As for the politics, I've never really thought of Dylan as being a protest singer.  But I did get a kick out of how he ended the song "The Levee's Gonna Break":

If it keep on rainin', the levee gonna break
If it keep on rainin', the levee gonna break
Some people still sleepin', some people are wide awake.

Yep, some people are wide awake alright.  And many more are waking up.  Now go buy this record!