The best album since “Blood on the Tracks?” Our critics weigh in.
Bob Dylan
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Culture Dylan painted his masterpiece — the next year he painted another one
It’s as predictable as death and taxes. Bob Dylan releases a new album and critics hyperventilate that it is his best since his masterful 1975 album, “Blood on the Tracks.” The latter was an acoustic song cycle largely about the dissolution of a marriage (his marriage?), and it does indeed stand the test of time…
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Culture The best Dylan comeback album featured no Dylan songs at all
Bob Dylan always liked stories about people who get up and go somewhere, and then come back. They are constructs about change; in the end, the subject comes back — and is a different person. For a young man thirsting to grow, you can see the appeal. Indeed, “A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall,” one of…
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Culture ‘Will men keep explaining Dylan to me into eternity?’
To be a Bob Dylan fan has too often meant occupying 'a world of men.'
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Culture Dylan’s latest album comes at a time when we need it most
The Forward, a Jewish publication, asks me a question: “Is ‘Rough and Rowdy Ways’ Bob Dylan’s best album since “Blood on the Tracks?” As a Jew, I can imagine only one possible answer: “yes and no.” Musically, it’s not even close. “Desire” has more beautiful melodies, tighter lyrics and far better hooks. I also think,…
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Culture Life, death, heartbreak, disillusionment — Dylan’s first album as an old man
Bob Dylan’s Grammy-award-winning comeback album, 1997’s “Time Out of Mind,” is a glorious record of death and rebirth. Death insofar as the album’s songs frequently have themes of mortality and aging (“I been all around the world, boys / Now I’m trying to get to heaven before they close the door”)(“It’s not dark yet, but…
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Culture Why In The World Is Mike Pompeo Referencing Bob Dylan?
While speaking to the Heritage Foundation’s President’s Club today , Secretary of State Mike Pompeo let the world know he is a Bob Dylan fan — although maybe not the kind who listens for the lyrics. “It’s great to be here,” Pompeo said, expressing relief to be among the members of a conservative think tank…
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Culture Our Forgotten Guitar Hero, Michael Bloomfield
Editor’s Note: Michael Bloomfield would have turned 76 today. Here’s a look back at the life of the Jewish guitar legend. Back in 1977, Michael Bloomfield, the seminal white blues guitarist from Chicago who studied at the feet of Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf, took to the stage for a performance at the intimate McCabe’s…
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Culture Bob Dylan’s 10 Most Jewish Songs
Bob Dylan turns 78 today. In honor of that auspicious occasion, we revisit his 10 most Jewish songs.” While Bob Dylan has, throughout his life and career, engaged in all sorts of mythologizing and playful biographical falsification, it has never been in the service of denying his heritage. This son of a middle-class appliance salesman…
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