Saved (1980)

If anyone hoped Slow Train Coming to be a one-off declaration of Dylan's new faith, they were to be very disappointed. Very. Saved has just as much God and, this time, it's Gospel.

It's also more personal. While Slow Train was a mixture of personal reflection and evangelising, Saved is almost entirely directed inwards with Bob expounding on his own salvation and how happy he is with it all. In Satisfied Mind:

"But one thing for certain
When it comes my time
I'll leave this old world with a satisfied mind." 

In the title track:

"I’ve been saved
By the blood of the lamb
Saved
And I’m so glad"

In Saving Grace:

"By this time I’d-a thought I would be sleeping
In a pine box for all eternity
My faith keeps me alive, but I still be weeping
For the saving grace that’s over me" 

and so on. 

Ultimately, how much you're going to like this offering is largely going to depend on how much you like gospel. At first, the combination of the gospel sound and another full LP of God-bothering filled me with ennui. It was with a weary sigh that I placed the CD into the car stereo on that first morning but, you know what, the more I've listened to this, the more I've liked it. And a few weeks on, I think this is a really enjoyable album. Not an all-time great Dylan release but a thoroughly enjoyable one nonetheless.

Kicking off with Satisfied Man, Dylan goes straight for the gospel jugular. It is a slightly odd track in that it sounds much like the intro to a song that doesn't actually happen, but I find that if you ignore the gap between track one and track two - Saved - the two halves fit nicely as one song. And what a song; Saved is a rip-roaring, all-singing, gospel choir clapping and dancing on a church stage, celebration of a track. Imaging the scene where John Belusi sees the light in The Blues Brothers and you've got the feel of Saved. Dammit, it's fun.

The LP takes a step down in both tempo and quality for the next two tracks. Covenant Woman is a decent song, musically reminiscent of Baby Stop Crying from Street Legal, but no great shakes and it's followed by What Can I Do For You?, which is OK, a little laboured, and certainly the musical low point on the LP.

But just when you're losing faith in the album, Bob gets you back on your feet with Solid Rock, another rock-gospel, swinging blast of song. The much slower Pressing On follows and it is a beautiful piece, deftly produced, beginning with shades of When He Returns from Slow Train Coming but soon settling into a smooth tempo not too far removed from some of the songs from his Woodstock period (I'm sure there are hints of The Band's The Weight here) before rising into a glorious gospel crescendo.

In The Garden starts off sounding as if it wouldn't be too out of place on the Jesus Christ Superstar soundtrack (that's not a criticism  -  I love that film) but, much like the previous track, builds and builds till you can't help but being swept up in it the bluesy-gospely loveliness of it all. The very personal Saving Grace comes next and, probably because of the nature of the lyrical content, produces a great vocal from Dylan that lifts what might have otherwise been a so-so filler track.

Ending with Are You Ready? is a strange one. You can see, philosophically (theologically?) why he chose to  - after telling you how great being saved has been for him, Bob lays down the gauntlet for you to join him - but after the celebratory nature of the album's high points its a rather relentless, pounding track. It wins me over (musically, rather than religiously) but is still wouldn't be my ideal finish to this particular LP.

That aside, I've become somewhat of a convert to Saved. This is a fine, fun album, a mile away from the po-faced impression you'd get from the cover or the title. One that will definitely get more of a run out in the future.

Out of five?
Four

Favourite track?
Saved

Up next?
Shot of Love