Description
Time Out of Mind is the thirtieth studio album by the American singer and songwriter Bob Dylan, released on Columbia Records in September 1997. The album was recorded 1996-97 by Mark Howard at Criteria Recording Studios in Miami, Florida; with Daniel Lanois producing in association with Jack Frost Productions. All songs written by Bob Dylan.
The album has an atmospheric sound, the work of producer Daniel Lanois, whose innovative work with carefully placed microphones and strategic mixing was detailed by Dylan in his memoir, Chronicles: Volume One. (Although Dylan has spoken positively of Lanois’ production style, he expressed dissatisfaction with the sound of Time Out of Mind. Dylan has self-produced his subsequent albums.) Dylan wanted the sound of the album to be influenced by early blues musicians, such as Charley Patton, Little Walter, and Little Willie John, and he recommended that Lanois listen to their recordings to prepare for the sessions. Time Out of Mind is hailed as one of Dylan’s best albums, and it went on to win three Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year in 1998.
The details of Bob Dylan’s Christian journey are complex and difficult to understand. This album has been regarded by the secular press as an important album and it is an intriguing listen from a Christian perspective too. This is Dylan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. It is a journey from being «Love Sick» and having the «Dirt Road Blues» to the «Highlands» of the heavenly kingdom. It is an album about feeling the dual pulls of heavenly and human love when those you love do not share your trust in God. The album is by turns apocalyptic, then grim, humorous and then grim again. «Make You Feel My Love» could easily be speaking of the Messiah’s love for mankind. It could just as easily be a song of deep and never-ending human love. It depends on where you are standing. I guess. This album is not easy listening (there is too much human pain for that) but its riches are revealed with each subsequent hearing. [Darren Hirst, Cross Rhythms, February 1998]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/time-out-of-mind/190392344)
CD tracklist:
01. Love Sick
02. Dirt Road Blues
03. Standing In The Doorway
04. Million Miles
05. Tryin’ To Get To Heaven
06. ‘Til I Fell In Love With You
07. Not Dark Yet
08. Cold Irons Bound
09. Make You Feel My Love
10. Can’t Wait
11. Highlands
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette, 180g 12-inch vinyl double LP, and CD by Columbia Records.
What can be said about Bob Dylan that hasn’t already been said? He is a living Rock and Roll legend and after 30 odd years, he’s still going strong. Stronger than ever. Fellow rock legend Van Morrison once remarked that Bob Dylan is “The world’s greatest living poet.” Following up a pair of albums of mostly blues standards, Dylan has returned with all original material to prove Morrison’s remark true. Or has he?
Bob Dylan not only won three Grammys this year, he also received a standing ovation after coherently crooning the languished «Love Sick» despite the interruption of a clumsy, shirtless dancer with the words “Soy Bomb” emblazoned on his chest. Seemingly unruffled, Dylan played on while the interloper was forcibly removed. We’re sure Bob has seen worse in his lifetime. He’s been knocking around too long to be bothered, and Time Out of Mind proves it by specifically addressing both his age and subsequent world weariness with a set of eleven haunting tunes. The ghosts of blues, jazz, country and gospel wander here with dignified purpose. The message is intact and decipherable, unlike his infamous performance of «Masters of War» in 1991, when he received an honorary Grammy award but left his fans in dismay. Despite being preoccupied with dark themes of death, despair, and ubiquitous solitude, Dylan has received a new lease on life through the making of this hallowed record. This rumored return to greatness is qualified and worthy of respect.
Dylan was quoted as saying, “We got a particular type of sound on this record that you don’t get every day.” Time Out of Mind finds him paying homage not only to a host of blues greats, but also to himself. The sweeping retro sound recalls shades of his earlier glory while infusing it with contemporary freshness in the production. His intelligible vocals are in the foreground, with layers of gently-muted music farther back in the mix – as if a wet blanket was draped apparition-like over the speakers. Not surprisingly, the overall effect is acclaimed producer Daniel Lanois’s doing, and conjures the soothing feeling of Cowboy Junkies’s Trinity Sessions.
The last time Bob won an album Grammy, it was back in the 70’s for Slow Train Coming, but Time Out of Mind is an entirely different spirit. For starters, the enthusiasm of a vibrant, newfound Christian faith is still notably absent. Perhaps his faith has merely matured along with the man, for Bob still offers the casual glimpse into the spiritual world. In «Dirt Road Blues» he is “praying for salvation,” and later he intones his intention to try “to get to heaven, before they close the door.” He even goes as far as to claim in «Til I Fell in Love with You» that “God is my shield; I know He won’t lead me astray.” Yet later he speaks of taking his conscience to the pawn shop. In «Standing at the Doorway», a simply beautiful, sultry romantic tune, Bob claims that the “mercy of God must be near.” None of these remarks are intended to be statements of faith nor proclamations of his renewed confidence in Jesus Christ. Clearly Bob likes to keep the converts guessing, and for what it’s worth, my vote is that this artist is still profoundly refreshed by the Fountain of Living Water. He sings about a world where there is no superficial division of sacred and secular. All of life is spiritual – the domain of a just yet loving God – and Bob lives in this real world confronted with real issues and searching solemnly for real solutions which often result in very real suffering.
It can’t be easy to be the “World’s Greatest Living Poet,” a closet Christian (speculation on my part here), a world-class artist with few peers, and sliding down the other side of over-the-hill besides. It’s no wonder he shares no fondness for the press or even critics like, well, me. Nor does he have to. This is what the blues are about, and these songs are by definition not particularly happy. Yet despite the proverbial melancholy, Bob Dylan seems to be enjoying himself. He may sound awfully lonely, but there is a hint that his tongue is planted firmly in his cheek. As Thomas Dolby once chortled, “This isn’t my love song – it’s more like my love gone wrong song.” Nearly all of Bob’s songs here are love gone wrong songs. But we all know that sharing the disappointment of a love gone astray can lift your spirits. That the power of love itself overcomes the momentary disappointments. He does this clearly on «Make You Feel My Love», which is merely one example where his faith in love shines like a beacon amidst desolation. Bob Dylan may be weary of the diurnal battles, but he hasn’t left the brawl.
We, too, can all be glad that he was spared death after his heart surgery for a viral infection. Time Out of Mind if nothing else is irrefutable proof that he hasn’t given up the ghost yet. He could have given us a little more, though. The overall strength of the album is not in the lyrics or even the phenomenally well-played music, but rather in the overall mood that the album invokes. A mood that is stark and stifling at times, but still brimming with hope and transcendence. Lyrically, however, we’re talking about Bob Dylan here, and some of these songs seem overly simple in both execution and sentiment. You expect more from the world’s leading songwriter. Notable exceptions include «Not Dark Yet» (where he uses a generous dose of moody poetry), and «Highlands» (which ambles for 11 minutes and includes a bizarre encounter with a Boston waitress). The latter is also a rare moment of levity in an otherwise sober album.
Don’t get me wrong, his title via Van Morrison is still intact, and we can all be grateful for Dylan’s return to both original material and the requisite moments of expected greatness. But, Bob Dylan is Bob Dylan and, therefore, expectations of his creative output are rightfully exaggerated. He could make an even more brilliant album, and win twice as many Grammys sans Soy Bomb boy. In the meantime, Time Out of Mind will serve. And you’ve still got to serve somebody, whether you are the World’s Greatest Poet or just a mere album reviewer. [Steven Stuart Baldwin , The Phantom Tollbooth, 1998]
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.