Sign in or 
| Version | User | Scope of changes |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 26 2008, 2:40 PM EDT (current) | wytchcroft | 180 words added, 1 photo added, 1 photo deleted |
| Sep 6 2006, 9:15 AM EDT | Anonymous | 1 word added, 5 words deleted, 1 photo added, 1 photo deleted |
Changes
Key: Additions Deletions
Slow Train Coming (1979)
Notes and Reviews
The musicians:
References:
Trivia:
Reviews:
From The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia by Michael Gray:
"Anyone else, riding as high as Dylan was in 1978, would have stuck with the same band and produced another Street Legal-type album. Dylan did no such thing. Converted to Born Again Christianity, he gathered different musicians around him and produced an album destined to be profoundly unpopular amongst almost everyone who’d ever valued him as a writer. It is not, however, an album that can be ignored, and in some ways now seems a logical direction for Dylan to have taken. Noone should have been surprised at Dylan choosing to add gospel to the many different modes of American popular music he has covered (and so well) on his artistic travels over the decades. Musically it’s strong, and strikingly well produced in Alabama’s Muscle Shoals Sound Studio under the supervision of veteran Atlantic Records producer JERRY WEXLER. Stand-out tracks are ‘Gotta Serve Somebody’, ‘Precious Angel’, ‘Slow Train’ and ‘When He Returns’."
Best Song:
"Slow Train"
According to Alias
I'm partial to "Gotta Serve Somebody". I think this is due to working for so long for large organizations where I always had to answer to someone.
Folkrockman
Favorite Lyric:
"Surrender your crown on this blood-stained ground, take off your mask"
According to Alias
- Gotta Serve Somebody
- Precious Angel
- I Believe in You
- Slow Train
- Gonna Change My Way of Thinking
- Do Right to Me Baby (Do Unto Others)
- When You Gonna Wake Up
- Man Gave Names to All the Animals
- When He Returns
Notes and Reviews
The musicians:
References:
Trivia:
Reviews:
From The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia by Michael Gray:
"Anyone else, riding as high as Dylan was in 1978, would have stuck with the same band and produced another Street Legal-type album. Dylan did no such thing. Converted to Born Again Christianity, he gathered different musicians around him and produced an album destined to be profoundly unpopular amongst almost everyone who’d ever valued him as a writer. It is not, however, an album that can be ignored, and in some ways now seems a logical direction for Dylan to have taken. Noone should have been surprised at Dylan choosing to add gospel to the many different modes of American popular music he has covered (and so well) on his artistic travels over the decades. Musically it’s strong, and strikingly well produced in Alabama’s Muscle Shoals Sound Studio under the supervision of veteran Atlantic Records producer JERRY WEXLER. Stand-out tracks are ‘Gotta Serve Somebody’, ‘Precious Angel’, ‘Slow Train’ and ‘When He Returns’."
Best Song:
"Slow Train"
According to Alias
I'm partial to "Gotta Serve Somebody". I think this is due to working for so long for large organizations where I always had to answer to someone.
Folkrockman
Favorite Lyric:
"Surrender your crown on this blood-stained ground, take off your mask"
According to Alias
Note:
Most people have come to terms with Dylan's born again phase and are aware that much of the work is extremely powerful - but religion aside - what will hit the unwary is the rage and the (political/social) nature of much of it. Lines like "Sheiks walking around with kings, wearing fancy jewels and nose rings" etc - this side of the Bob is glossed over now and is an obstacle for many listeners. Of which i am one.
Some reviews elsewhere point out that Dylan's position on the 'born again' albums is actually pretty conceited, and dylan himself seems to agree nowadays. Although it would be woefully naive to pretend the whole period has vanished like a 404 page from Bob's head. Everything he sang about (more or less) is still to be found lurking in the music he makes today.
In general however, for the casual listener, despite some great songs (which make good listening on live boots etc) the ragged edges of Dylan's work have been surrendered to a studio smog that has dated very badly.
