Bob Dylan

"You think I'm over the hill
You think I'm past my prime
Let me see what you got
We can have a whoppin' good time"

      - Bob Dylan, "Spirit On The Water"

Some might say that Bob Dylan is way past his prime and that all of his best work is well behind him, but anyone who would say such a thing clearly doesn't know much about good music. Either that or they've just been awoken from a 20-year-long coma.

"What I'm doing now, its a whole other thing. We're not playing rock music. It's not a hard sound. I don't know what it is." That's a quote from Dylan during the Highway 61 Revisited sessions back in 1965, but it just as easily could apply to the brilliant work of his Second Coming. That is, his resilient resurgence of the past 20 years, starting with the release of Oh Mercy in 1989 and continuing right on up until this fall and the release of Tell Tale Signs,

"So don't fear if you hear
A foreign sound to your ear"

       - Bob Dylan, "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)"

"Voices echo this is what salvation must be like after a while"

       - Bob Dylan, "Visions Of Johanna"

Bob Dylan as one of the greatest singers ever? I know from many a heated discussion that this confuses, confounds and perplexes a lot of people. And even enrages a few others. But, as I've argued for years now, particularly in my earlier piece The BOB ON BOB Rave ("This Old Man"), there's just no denying the greatness of Dylan as a singer. That's right, contrary to popular perception, Bob is indeed one of the greatest singers of all time. And now I've got a major music magazine backing me up on this.

"It ain't no use to sit and wonder why, babe
If you don't know by now"

     - Bob Dylan, "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right"

I've never before written two reviews of the same album, but this time, it seems, Bob's simply left me no other choice. And, yes, I know all the Dylan haters out there must be shaking their heads in bewilderment, but, as Bob himself once sang, "don't criticize what you can't understand".

The fact of the matter is, the more I listen to Bob's new album, Tell Tale Signs, the more I feel I have something extra I need to say. Something more substantial. Something more decisive. Something, perhaps, a bit more radical.

In my earlier piece, Bob's Back: Tell Tale Signs of Joy... and A Complete Lack of Judgement, I raved about this ninth installment of The Bootleg Series being a stunning classic, but, after a full month of listening bliss, I can now see that it's much more than just that. Which is why I'm now willing to go out on a limb and say that I think this 2-disc collection of 27 songs taken from the past two decades is - and this may strike some people as a tell tale sign of my own mental demise - possibly the best Dylan album of the last 20 years.

This is truly a special week for all fans of great music. I mean, how often do you get treated to new albums from the likes of Bob Dylan, Todd Snider and Lucinda Williams all within a few short days? For me, personally, we're talking about new albums from three of my all-time favorite artists - all within an 8-day span. It doesn't get much better than that.

"Stick with me baby, stick with me anyhow
Things should start to get interesting right about now"

      Bob Dylan, "Mississippi"


Tell Tale Signs, the eighth installment of Bob Dylan's Bootleg Series, came out earlier this week and after three solid days of listening pleasure, I'm ready to report that it's yet another classic.

Here they are, finally, My Picks For The Best 15 Albums and 40 Songs of 2007. I'm not necessarily claiming these are "The Best" albums and songs of the past year since there were thousands of albums and tens of thousands of songs released over the year and I simply haven't heard them all. What I am claiming, however, is that the selections you'll find below are my favorite tunes and discs from the past 12 months - damn good music, all of it. Enjoy! And let me know anything I've missed.

The past couple of years have been an absolute Bobsend for all of us Dylan fans. Not only did we get The Bob's great autobiography, "Chronicles Vol 1", but there was also "Bob Dylan: The Essential Interviews", an excellent collection of sometimes-hilarious and often-bizarre Q&A sessions spanning a 40 year period. Then there was the fantastic Martin Scorsese-directed documentary "No Direction Home" with its terrific double-CD soundtrack. Then last year, in late August, Bob gave us "Modern Times", the third album in his modern trilogy of revitalized greatness. And, finally, for the past year and a half now there's been his fascinating weekly radio show, "The Theme Time Radio Hour". We're talking about a whole bloody Bob Renaissance here people. The guy's as productive, creative and full of talent now as he's been at any other time in his career, save the early to mid-60s.

"I'm listening to Neil Young, I gotta turn up the sound"

        - Bob Dylan, "Highlands"

Bob Dylan on Neil Young:

"Neil is very sincere, if nothing else. He's sincere, and he's got a God-given talent, with that voice of his, and the melodic strain that runs through absolutely everything he does. He could be at his most thrashy, but it's still going to be elevated by some melody. Neil's the only one who does that. There's nobody in his category."

Tell it like it is Bob!

Saskatchewan-Manitoba-Minnesota

You've heard of the Bermuda Triangle, right? But have you ever heard of the Prairie Triangle of Inspiration? It's not a place where people get lost forever, like in that infamous triangle around Bermuda. No, it's a place that people get the hell out of as soon as possible... though not before becoming incredibly inspired and creative.