When I purchased this, the newestDylan album, I only wanted to find his old sound, that of "the freewheelin'Bob Dylan," where it was just him, his harmonica and guitar. When I listenedto the album I was upset to find blues, jazz and bluegrass-driven noises with ahappy and upbeat sound. I did not like the album at all.
After I read thelyrics, though, I decided to give the album a second chance. It was likelistening to a totally different album. I liked the new sound and the songs'themes, even though it was a change and not what I was looking for. Now, I lovethis album.
In much of Dylan's work, he plays acoustic, and alone. Here,there is a lot of electric and he is accompanied. Besides Dylan playing piano,guitar and singing, there are musicians playing guitar, bass, banjo, violin,mandolin, organ, accordion and drums.
Unlike most of Dylan's albums, thisone has only happy songs. He says this album tells a story and that most of thesongs are a look at his past. In "Summer Nights" he sings, "'Youcan't live in the past,' she said. 'Oh yeah, what am I doing now,' repliedI." Reliving his past is exactly what Dylan did in writing thisalbum.
A definite change of pace for Dylan, this album offers a lot ofhope and inspiration.
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