772 Bob Dylan - Love and Theft (2001)

 772 Bob Dylan - Love and Theft (2001)

Studio Album - Blues/Jazz




About the Act:

Bob Dylan is a singer/songwriter/artist who is one of the most influential and successful songwriters in the world ever. He has had an enormous cultural impact, especially in his native America. He started in 1961 as a folk singer coming out of the beat generation, and annoyed a lot of his fans when he embraced electric instruments in 1965/6. He toured and recorded with his band "The Band". He explored country music in the early 70s, became a Born-Again Christian in the late 70s and produced several Christian-related albums. His career has meandered a bit since then but he is still active.

About the Album:

This was his 31st studio album, and the first recorded with a new band, the Never Ending Road Tour Band.

My History with this Album:

None

Review:

This is Bob Dylan, so the defining characteristics are his voice, which at this stage in his career sounds like he hasn't cleared his throat in 20 years, and so is full of gargling phlegm, and somewhat gravelly. Hi is less nasal than I expected from his 60s stuff, and less sweeping around the notes, but still somewhat. The other defining characteristic is the words. He has always been regarded as one of those songwriters about whom the word "poet" could be applied, and I like the term "wordsmith". There is a diverse range of subject matter, and quite a few that could be regarded as story songs, or at least from points of view that are probably not actually his life. There is, as would be expected, a wry humour running through everything, as if it is being sung with a kind of crooked smile. There are some good turns of phrase.

So, the other major aspect to talk about is the musical style. If you only know of Bob Dylan's early folk output, then you might be surprised by this. Roughly half of the songs could be described as Blues, although there is significant variation within that, including proper 12-bar blues, and some Rock and Roll, and even Rockabilly, and one possibly Bluegrass. The other half are really vocal jazz, the kind of thing that would not be out of place sung by Frank Sinatra, or, well if I say they are like Winter Wonderland, maybe you'll get the idea.

 In general the arrangements are rich and full. The band are excellent, well-played and strong. Compared to some bands, very professional, rather than emotionally invested, which gives the album a laconic feel which suits the songs to be honest.

I liked it, I could listen to it again. The strongest feature is the song writing (no surprise there) and my favourite track was the first one, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum.

7.3/10


Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/4BcfuxQ4EO07Y53yr6YhAJ

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJa9tNjcs3vKaMOl-VHhLfl1sAXvcUbP2

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_and_Theft_(Bob_Dylan_album)



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