Emerson College’s only independent, student-run newspaper since 1947

The Berkeley Beacon

Emerson College’s only independent, student-run newspaper since 1947

The Berkeley Beacon

Emerson College’s only independent, student-run newspaper since 1947

The Berkeley Beacon

Dylan looks back to tradition for modern Times

Modern Times is not Highway 61 Revisited, nor is it Blonde on Blonde.

Modern Times, is for lack of a better phrase, modern Dylan.

Dylan himself has been busy lately with his autobiography, a Martin Scorsese documentary( No Direction Home), a satellite radio show and more legs of the aptly titled ” Never ending Tour” ( now in its 18th year)- but Modern Times is his first studio album since 2001’s Love and Theft.,First thing’s first: This isn’t your father Bob Dylan.

Modern Times is not Highway 61 Revisited, nor is it Blonde on Blonde.

Modern Times, is for lack of a better phrase, modern Dylan.

Dylan himself has been busy lately with his autobiography, a Martin Scorsese documentary( No Direction Home), a satellite radio show and more legs of the aptly titled ” Never ending Tour” ( now in its 18th year)- but Modern Times is his first studio album since 2001’s Love and Theft.

Modern Times, self produced under the pseudonym Jack Frost, is a collection of songs ranging from country twang, rhythm and blues shuffle to affectionate, longing ballads.

Not the lack of the word ” rock” in the aforementioned description, In a time when Dylan is celebrating his past with many different projects, casual fans- and admittedly, the most recent Dylan album in my collection is 1975’s Blood on the Tracks- may be disappointed to pick up an album that caters more to a relaxing summer afternoon than a Vietnam protest rally.

On the first track, “Thunder on the Mountain,” Dylan name checks Alicia Keys, then sings, ” I been looking for her even clear through Tennessee influence throughout the album.

In “Nettie Moore,” he sings, “I’m a cowboy band,” and that band, which Dylan recently told Rolling Stone is his best ever, looks like rough riders and features steel guitar, cello, and a mandolin.

“Rollin’ and Tumblin,”” the appropriately titled third track, is the closest thing to rock on the album, with a chuck Berry-like swing to it and slide guitar that gets stuck in your head.

She’s of Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World” can be heard all over: When the Deal Goes Down: before it hits a guitar fill borrowed from the Eagles’ ” Desperado.”

” Someday Baby,” the song Dylan can be seen playing in new Ipod adds, is the standout track of Modern Times. Good ole blues guitar licks and a steady, jazz-like drum beat accompany Dylan, who sounds like a traditional blues singer from the southern Delta. The trademark young, nasally voiced Dylan has given way to the mature bluesman of today.

” Workingman’s Blue #2,” a soft ballad with piano by Dylan himself, features a bit of his classic politics and a chorus of ” You can hang back or fight your best on the frontline/ Sing a bit of these workingman’s blues.”

The band swings through the breezy “Beyond the Horizon” like a lounge band; “The Leeve’s Gonna Break” is more blues shuffle, while ” Ain’t Talkin” is close to nine minutes of slow burning country scorn.

The track Lengths of the album may seem a little long, with only one song clocking in at less than five minutes, but who are we to tell Dylan when to stop?

Highway 61’s “Desolation Row,” regarded as a Dylan masterpiece, clocks in at over 11 minutes.

There is plenty here for the Dylan diehard to spend time deciphering ( is he really a big fan of Alicia Keys?0, but if you are expecting another ” Like a Rolling Stone” or ” Subterranean Homesick Blues,” stick with ’60s Dylan.

If you want a rollicking country and blues album with some breezy ballads thrown in to listen to on your back porch while you drink PBR in a lawn chair, pick.

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