So here we are. The God period. In some ways it was this part of the Dylan catalogue that inspired me to begin this album-by-album blogging venture in the first place as the three albums - Slow Train Coming, Saved and Shot of Love - that make up his no-punches-pulled religious phase rarely get a spin on the player at home. The thing is, I've never been sure how much of my reluctance to dig out one of that trilogy is due to the quality of the albums as a whole and how much is because I'm not so keen on listening to 40 minutes of Bob telling me I'm going to hell.
A little personal background, if I may. There aren't that many things I can say I have in common with his Bobness - not being a Jewish Septuagenarian from Minnesota and all - but one thing we do share is having had a full-on happy-clappy Jesus period. Mine was in my mid-teens and, as a result, I am more than familiar with evangelical meetings complete with terrible musical accompaniment. It is my suspicion that within such memories lies my initial problem with this LP and the subsequent two in the God trilogy. When I hear Dylan singing that he's 'gonna change' his 'way of thinking' I can't help but be transported back to tents in Christian festivals where I'm standing amongst sallow youths holding their hands aloft, eyes closed, head titled skywards with a look of dreamy satisfaction on their faces while neatly bearded men in pressed shirts play Fender Stratocasters and sing about praising the Lord.
And not in a good way.
So, this is my opportunity to try and get past such repressed teenage memories and give these LPs a good album-as-album listen.
But, of course, we can't ignore the lyrical content either, so let's start there. Well, there's a lot of God. In fact, not much else. The only exception is the charmingly child-friendly, Man Gave Names To All The Animals, which only has overtones of the book of Genesis because of the LP on which it appears. The rest of the tracks have a directness towards their subject matter, that can start to feel... well... preachy. I know this is meant to be a preachy LP and I'm also very aware of the irony of describing Dylan as such here when we let something like Blowing In The Wind pass by without similar comment. I know all that but, still, when Dylan starts demanding When You Gonna Wake Up? it is very difficult not to respond with 'Oh do shut up, Bob'.
The evangelising aside, the quality of the poetry here mostly ok, with some good lines here and there. Only once, though, does he hit the lyrical heights that we know he is more than capable of. The closing track, When He Returns, is a lovely piece in every way.
Musically, by Dylan's standards, this is pretty mediocre LP. When He Returns along with, Slow Train, Precious Angel and, possibly, Gotta Serve Somebody are the musically strong tracks here, with the rest to be filed under 'not much to write home about'. Not terrible, not at all, just not particularly good. About a fifty per cent strike rate.
What saves this LP (no pun intended) and, ultimately, makes it much better that the sum of its parts, is the musicianship on show. Dylan has assembled a talented and tight band around him and their quality lifts the weaker tracks and drivers the stronger tracks home. Mark Knopfler's guitar is unmistakably Mark Knopfler's guitar (is it me or does he just recreate his guitar part from Dire Straits' Once Upon A Time In The West on the title track, Slow Train, here?) and serves the whole album very well. The Muscle Shoals Horns are as tight as you would hope and the piano part by Barry Beckett on When He Returns is worth the admission price alone. Jerry Wexler's production also needs to be commended as, while he has the horns and backing singers and the keyboards - just like I moaned about on Street Legal - he treats them with skill and lets the songs breathe.
It is still not a great album but it is much more listenable than I'd previously given it credit for.
Out of five?
Three and a half.
Favourite track?
When He Returns
Next up?
Saved
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