Modern Times
 | By Bob Dylan Sony, 2006, Audio CD Customer Rating: 322 reviews Recommend |
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First new album in 5 years featuring 10 new songs
At a time when the majority of those his age are drifting into retirement, 65-year-old Bob Dylan has put the capper on a three-record run that ranks with the best in his storied, 44-album career. Like Time Out of Mind and Love and Theft before it, Modern Times is a rootsy, blues-soaked pool of the purest form of Americana — skipping the progressive bells or whistles for an understated backing by his touring band. Dylan's voice, which cracks, rasps and moans from the pop singer's pulpit, hasn't been this rich and emotive since 1976's Desire. And while his lyrics prolong his steadfast allusions to a higher power and his own immortality, they are not without the Dylan mirth, as when he sings of tracking pop queen Alicia Keys from Hell's Kitchen to Tennessee in "Thunder on the Mountain," the album's opener, which teams with "Someday Baby" and "Rollin' and Tumblin'" (for which Dylan misguidedly claims writing credit) as the record's most fiery numbers. Still, it's the Dylan that tells of a slave-loving owner ("Nettie Moore"), brings New Orleans to the front burner ("The Levee's Gonna Break") and plays the part of an eloquent lounge singer ("Spirit on the Water," "When the Deal Goes Down" and "Beyond the Horizon") that makes Modern Times sound just like old times. — Scott Holter
Dylan Classics and Collections
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- Thunder On The Mountain
- Spirit On The Water
- Rollin' and Tumblin'
- When The Deal Goes Down
- Someday Baby
- Workingman's Blues #2
- Beyond The Horizon
- Nettie Moore
- The Levee's Gonna Break
- Ain't Talkin'
Title: Modern Times
Sales Rank: 3549 in Music
Artist: Bob Dylan
Label: Sony, 2006-08-29, Audio CD, 1 Disc
Item Dimensions: 0.21 pounds
Package Dimensions: 5.59 x 4.88 x 0.47 inches, 0.18 pounds
- The more you listen the better it gets
- That's the great thing about Dylan. Sometimes, at first listen, some of his albums are difficult to "get". This is one of those. A lot of the songs are catchy but to a youthful modern ear they don't go anywhere, no huge solo, no self rightoeus pointmaking, just Dylan at his "desolation row" finest. One slow, rambling storytelling song followed by the same. Great… More reviews
- Dylan on top form at 65: trad yet modern, a great album with humor and virtuosity
It's so good to see Bob Dylan continue to create virtual masterpieces after a career spanning almost 50 years, when most former contemporaries have disappeared into obscurity. From his early distinctive Woody Guthrie influenced folk-style, through the years of protest songs as an iconic figure of the 1960s, the truly great albums in the 1970s like "Planet Waves", "Blood… More reviews
- What A Great Album!
- This is one of my favourite Bob Dylan Albums. I have enjoyed this album over and over. The first two songs are obvious crackers, especially Thunder on The Mountain, but When the Deal Goes Down and Workingman's Blues #2 I really like as well. The real slow burner for me is Nettie Moore. That is a great song! Of the so called recent "Trilogy",… More reviews
- In a nutshell
- I have no doubt that this album has been deeply, thoughtfully analyzed to the last breath. I'm just going to speak from the perspective of a long-time Dylan non-fan. For years, I felt that Dylan's best song was Al Yankovic's palindromic "Bob". I never could make sense out of Dylan's 'Tiger Lovin' Blues' (or whatever the real title was), and… More reviews
- Still my soundtrack...
- Finding myself groggy in adulthood, still surprised I cannot believe how fast college went by, I recall a time before I was a fan of Bob Dylan. I knew less in those days. Sheltered in my childhood born of the Protestant persuasion, most of the music I listened to was blatantly Christian for the better part of my life. I had never given much thought back then to the… More reviews
