Bob Dylan
Love And Theft
Columbia
How did Bob Dylan become a better singer? He lost his voice.
Seriously, his voice is gone, and after listening to this, his 43rd album, I wonder why he hasn’t sung like this before. Love And Theft is unlike almost any other album that Dylan has done, if only because of the sheer number of musical styles that he incorporates through the 12 songs on here. It’s as if one day Dylan decided to go for a stroll through the history of the blues and take a shot at everything.
“Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum” is an excellent song to the start the album off. It prepares you for this ride with very strong rhythm and good guitar work. The best song on the album is “Mississippi,” the second track. Basically, it’s just about the truest Dylan sound of any song here. “Po’ Boy,” however, has the best lyrics. I mean, a “Knock, Knock” joke? From Dylan? Priceless.
After listening through this album a couple of times, the music only gets stronger after you get used to the voice. Dylan sings in “Mississippi”: “You can always come back, but you can’t come back all the way.” I don’t think he needs to worry about this current comeback of his career; at 60 years and 43 albums, he’s still showing us how it’s done.
