Dylan's back—again
1987; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 11; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/03007768708591280
ISSN1740-1712
Autores Tópico(s)Caribbean history, culture, and politics
ResumoWith the release of his twenty-ninth album, Empire Burlesque, Bob Dylan will most likely have to confront a real problem: the critics and die-hard Dylan fans will love it, but it won't sell that well. Today's rock fans are clearly too enamoured with Madonna and Tears for Fears to bother with' a middle-age rock star whose beginnings they have no knowledge of. Too bad; their loss is everyone else's gain. With this album, Dylan has firmly ensconced himself as songwriter and singer extraordinaire once again, twenty years after such classics as Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited, and Blonde On Blonde. That Dylan means business here is self-evident. For the first time in an American released album, the lyrics are printed on the album sleeve. No more having to strain under headphones to discover the lyrics; no more having to wait for the publication of a songbook. Dylan sounds fully confident in these songs. He should be, since he has assembled a wealth of musicians, including the Jamaican rhythm duo of drummer Sly Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare, guitarists Ron Wood of the Rolling Stones and Mick Taylor, formerly of the Stones, and keyboardist Benmont Tench and guitarist Mike Campbell of Tom Petty's Heartbreakers. Top that off with the 12-inch dance king remix efforts of Arthur Baker and you have an album that not only speaks, but rocks like few Dylan albums ever have. Maybe the journey of this album has been signaled from previous albums, particularly 1983's brooding Infidels, but certainly not this particular path. Alternating between love songs and political themes, Empire Burlesque is riddled with allusions and private symbolism giving the songs an eerie tone that is both playful, yet less ominous sounding than albums released during Dylan's born again Christian faze. Rather than beat his audience over the head with his views, Dylan is more subtle, using the rapier to draw blood. He even answers his critics, particularly on the album's final track, the haunting Dark Eyes, accompanying himself on guitar and harmonica: They tell me to be discreet for all intended purposes/They tell me revenge is sweet and from where they stand, I'm sure it is/But I feel nothing for their game where beauty goes unrecognized/All I feel is heat and flame and ajl
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