This double LP was one of the nicest presents I got for this year's Covid-miserable birthday. A beautiful edition with gatefold cover and olive-colored 180 gram vinyl. No lyric booklet though, which I found strange since this is famously Dylan's first collection of new songs since winning the Nobel prize for literature. You'd think the lyrics would be of some interest to record buyers, right? The first couple of singles from the album surfaced during the first and strictest lockdown, ideally for dylanologists to have ample time to dissect every tiny nuance. And there are so many of them, an unstoppable torrent of words about everything from The Rolling Stones to JFK to Shakespeare to... dick sizes. Some reviewers were especially impressed with the latter reference - like schoolchildren when the teacher says a bad word. I myself found the wordplay often inspired, and enjoyed all these historical and cultural references, but at first listen I didn't dwell too much on the lyrics. Songwriting isn't literature, you can't stop and ponder the meaning of a verse while you listen to the song. Musically, a lot of the songs here consist of Dylan effectively rhythmically reading his poems with subtle acoustic accompaniment. Songs in this category include "Black Rider" with its minimal Spanish guitar backing, "Mother of Muses"'s Celtic melody and Gothic fantasy "My Own Version Of You" with its eerie waltz-like motif playing in the background. "I contain Multitudes" is likewise poetry reading with a wistful musical backing, just like the 17-minute long "Murder Most Foul", which is inspired by the John Kennedy assassination. The latter has a richer instrumentation with piano and violin, but the music is nevertheless secondary to the recitation. I was more drawn to the more conventional tunes incorporating well-worn blues and folk melodies and riffs. The quality of his backing band, intelligence of the lyrics and Dylan's assured delivery more than make up for the lack of musical originality. Roots music is, after all, the most suitable vehicle for a veritable institution like Dylan. What did you expect, techno? "Goodbye Jimmy Reed" is, of course, a blues shuffle with harmonica reminiscent of the titular bluesman. "False Prophet" and "Crossing the Rubicon" are two more electric blues tunes, while "Give Myself To You" and accordion-led "Key West" are closer to the classic American Songbook tunes he covered in his last 3 records, as well as reminiscent of some Dire Straits balladry (think "Romeo and Juliet"). Like every album of new Dylan material in the last 25 years, ...Rowdy Ways was hailed as an artistic triumph and topped many of 2020's Best-Of lists. Personally I don't think it adds much to Dylan's impressive body of work, other than re-confirm his status as a master lyricist. Maybe post-Nobel prize there was some pressure to deliver an "important" work - if Dylan ever feels the pressure of people's expectations - which prioritized the lyrics and made the music seem as a bit of an afterthought. Not that the album is ever less than sonically pleasant: there's some understated but classy playing, and Dylan's raspy voice carries more warmth now than the nasal and whiny instrument of his youth. In any case this may not be the masterpiece most critics make it to be, but neither is it one I would advise skipping. A middling Dylan album still has a lot to reveal if you listen carefully and are in the right frame of mind.
**** for False Prophet, My Own Version of You, I've Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You, Goodbye Jimmy Reed, Key West (Philosopher Pirate), Murder Most Foul
*** for I Contain Multitudes, Black Rider, Mother of Muses, Crossing the Rubicon
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