Infidels (1983)

After a great deal of consideration, this is what I've settled on:

'Infidels is a solid if unmemorable LP'.

There, that's it. If that seems like I'm damning with faint praise, then I got it right because that's exactly what I was trying to do. My issue with this album is this: there's not a duff track; every single song on the record is fine, nice, good, even lovely in places. Then why is it, when the needle has reached then end of side two and lifted itself back into its place of rest, that I feel ever so slightly underwhelmed?

I think it might be the production. Mark Knopfler has done a good clean job. Perhaps too clean. A lot of the time - especially on I and I - this sounds like one of Dire Straits' first two LPs. That's not a problem in itself - I own and like both of those albums - but add that feel to the tightness of the musicianship Sly Dunbar, Robbie Shakespeare, Alan Clark, Mick Taylor and Knopfler himself (again, all fine musicians who I really like) bring and it gets a bit antiseptic. There are no edges. That's it! There are no edges here. Dylan, good or bad, is never tame and here, for once, he is.

Nevertheless, we get a strong start to the LP with Jokerman. I'm not entirely sure who or what Jokerman is about. It appears to be some sort of general rail against demagogues but, as far as I can see, doesn't get any more specific than that. I've seen religious interpretations of this and other tracks on Infidels and, given the last three LPs, it's easy to see why, but this is clearly more of a political rather than religious record. There are religious themes here and there - surely to be expected given Dylan's recent experience - but when they come, they do so with a fairly negative air. Here, in Jokerman, he appears to lump the religious establishment in with all other leaders subject to his wrath:

Well, the rifleman's stalking the sick and the lame,

Preacherman seeks the same, who'll get there first is uncertain

It seems Bob has fallen out of love with the church. Unless I have totally misread the lyrics to this song, then, who knows.

But Jokerman is a enjoyable tune. In fact you can say that about all of the songs here. They are all enjoyable tunes and, in the case of License to Kill, I'd even say that it was lovely in parts. There are no knock-your-socks-off Dylan classics but it is solid songwriting. The most interesting thing about this LP is the lyrical content; a game of trying to work out what he is actually on about and whether the religious themes are only undertones or something more substantial, if cryptic.

[Afterthought: It was remiss of me not to mention that fact that Blind Willie McTell was recorded for this album but omitted - according to Dylan - because it was never properly finished. This is such a shame. That track is one of Dylan's greatest and the version available on the Bootleg Series sounds finished to me. Having Blind Willie McTell on the LP would have improved it immeasurably.]

Some are easy enough - Union Sundown is a straightforward complaint about the demise of industry in the USA, License To Kill is a more general condemnation of the belligerent nature of mankind and Don't Fall Apart On Me Tonight is a simple enough love song to end the LP.

We also have Neighborhood Bully which has been subject to varying interpretations but seems to me to be obviously a defence of Israel. An odd choice and really unfortunate timing - the LP gets released only six weeks after Israeli forces were complicit in facilitating the massacre of 800 civilians by Philangist militia in the Lebanese Sabra and Shatila refugee camps. Ironically, the next track on the LP is Licensed To Kill.

Anyhoo, more cryptically, Dylan gives us Man Of Peace with the refrain "sometimes Satan comes as a...". Is this something from the Slow Train-Saved-Shot of Love cannon? Is this an attack on a particular individual? Or is it just a tirade against generic men of peace who turn out, on closer inspection, to be the dark lord? I have no idea.

The 'is it a religious analogy is it not' game carries on with Sweetheart Like You and I and I. Apparently there is a theory doing the rounds that Sweetheart Like You is a dig at the established church and its abuse of the message of Christ. I can sort of see it - at a stretch - and I certainly hope there's a hidden message in there or else it's a fairly odd song based round a tired pick-up line. In I and I Dylan seems to... well, to be honest, I haven't a clue what I and I is about but there are religious overtones, suggestions of personal introspection on Dylan's part, hints of an affair, and it's all pretty intriguing, so no complaints.

Ultimately, Infidels is an easy listen, with pleasing melodies and interesting themes. It's fine. Not a bad LP at all. Just not very exciting.

Wow, this has all been a bit serious and downbeat. Let's move along quickly so I can poke fun at Dylan's jacket on the next album sleeve.

Out of five?

Three and a half.

Favourite track?

Jokerman.

Up next?

Empire Burlesque.