 Album=4 Stars, Edition=3 Stars |
| Review Date: July 28, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Bill R. Moore, Oklahoma, USA |
The "Deluxe" Together Through Life has the standard album plus a sticker, poster, and two bonus CDs. The sticker and poster are worthless; the former merely shows the album title, and the latter the lame cover photo. One CD is the "Friends and Neighbors" episode of Dylan's popular XM radio show. A typically enjoyable example of the program, it has an astonishing variety of music mixed with Dylan's lively, informative, and often amusing commentary and quotes. It is a good introduction to the show for anyone unfamiliar with it but of little value to those who are. The other CD is also virtually worthless -- an outtake from landmark film No Direction Home lasting only a few minutes. It has an interview with Dylan's little-known first manager, Roy Silver, and a slightly different audio take of "Blowin' in the Wind." The segment has no revelations, and it is easy to see why it was excluded, but hard-cores may find it somewhat interesting. All must decide if this makes the "Deluxe" edition worth purchasing over the standard; in most cases, it certainly does not.
As for the album itself, though not on par with his three prior later career masterpieces, Together Through Life is another worthy Bob Dylan album. Fans should certainly get his major albums first, but anyone interested in him should eventually check it out, while significant differences from his other albums mean it may possibly appeal to those not usually keen on him.
It is immediately clear that Together is far more modest than other recent Dylan albums; it lacks their epic feel and is indeed only about two thirds of their length. One might almost see it as Dylan kicking against his Grand Old Man of Meaningful Songs title. Songs are short and to the point; there is no attempt at epic or panoramic music. More notably, there are few words by Dylan's standard, and what we get is unusually simple and straightforward, stripped of imagery and grand themes. They generally focus on love and lust in familiar terms and are doubtless highly influenced by co-writer and Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter. Those who value Dylan's profundity may be disappointed and perhaps even curse Hunter; it is surely no surprise that the only song written by Dylan alone ("This Dream of You") is easily the best.
All this suggests that Together has little merit, but this is not so, though it is undeniably minor. The concision and punchiness of the words are quite intriguing, if limited, and Dylan's vocals retain their latter-day strength. One would have to look very hard indeed for another singer of his age with such emotional vitality and diversity. "Life Is Hard" has a surprisingly nimble falsetto, but his gifts, as ever, have nothing to do with hitting and holding notes or having range. Instead, his phrasing remains impeccable, and he puts the songs forth with verve and vigor few can even approach; this is particularly important, given the lyrics' unusual nature.
Music is probably the biggest point of contention. Aside from "Life Is Hard," an acoustic take on Dylan's recent Rat Pack balladry fixation, it is essentially split between accordion-dominated Tex Mex and Chicago blues. The former is a great surprise; Dylan has hardly ever used accordion, and never for an extended time, and had dabbled in Tex-Mex only on 1976's Desire. Accordion - courtesy of Los Lobos' David Hidalgo, who also plays guitar - is practically the lead instrument on several cuts. This takes some getting used to, as does the musical genre generally, but grew on me significantly, as it likely will on most. The blues entries are far easier for fans of latter-day Dylan to appreciate. If less than revolutionary, they feature some fiery playing from Heartbreaker Mike Campbell and three members of Dylan's crack touring band. A few cuts mix the two styles to interesting, if somewhat jarring, effect.
"Beyond Here Lies Nothin'" is a good example. Essentially a take on the classic Otis Rush blues "All Your Love" with accordion instead of harmonica, it is a high energy opener with several notable short guitar solos, blazing trumpet, blaring organ, and powerful drums. It is also a good introduction to the lyrical style, beginning as simply as possible with "Oh well, I love you pretty baby."
"Life Is Hard" will not convince those turned off by Dylan's recent ballads but is excellent for those who like them. With beautiful music and a supremely touching vocal, it is highly affecting despite words that are occasionally too clichéd.
"My Wife's Home Town" is another harmonica-cum-accordion blues update, this time of the classic "I Just Want to Make Love to You," and even credits Willie Dixon. Well-done if hardly world-shattering, it epitomizes Together's lyrical modesty but at least has some amusing lines. The fiery vocal improves it substantially.
"If You Ever Go to Houston" may be the most accordion-dominated track - probably too much so for many, especially as the riff is very simplistic. A Wild West ballad and Texas ode, it is one of the slightest cuts but still enjoyable.
Further proof that no one does torch songs like Dylan, "Forgetful Heart" mixes things up somewhat with dramatic, Neil Young-esque electric guitar and other musical nuances.
"Jolene" is the most uptempo song, with a killer riff and some short, incendiary guitar solos. It is nice to hear Dylan and company rip it up, though the asinine words will disappoint many.
"This Dream of You" is Together's closest thing to a masterpiece - and it is tantalizingly close. Flat out mariachi, it shows that Dylan can quickly master nearly every genre; whatever one thinks of the accordion elsewhere, here it approaches sublime, while the bittersweet lyrics and mournful croon match it. This is a piece of emotional vitality only Dylan could create and has the album's best lyrics by a considerable margin.
"Shake Shake Mama" may be the most minor cut but is an enjoyable, rollicking blues.
"I Feel a Change Coming On" is probably the second best entry. A weeper with fine lyrics and excellent, highly creative drums, it may be Together's best vocal and is a worthy canon addition.
"It's All Good" is another accordion-laced classic blues send-up, reminiscent of Slim Harpo's "Shake Your Hips" among others. The words are very good, some of Dylan's best satire in years, and possibly contain veiled political references. It is a zany, freewheelin', and effective close to an unusual album.
All told, anyone expecting another masterpiece will be disappointed, and Dylan easily has at least a dozen albums that are much better, but this is very respectable, especially considering Dylan's age and how much great music he has already made.
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Always Loved Bobbie D
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| Review Date: June 22, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Patricia Mccarty, Modesto,CA USA |
| I have loved Dylan for over 40 years and this set was really fun. I loved his recordings and his radio show CD was great. What a treat to listen to all those performers on one show. Great addition to my Dylan collection. |
Turn up your radio
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| Review Date: March 14, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Noddy, New York |
I've always loved listening to records and sometimes the radio late at night in the car parked in our driveway. Literally hours of my life have been spent this way and I'd ask any skeptics out there not to knock this nocturnal leisure-time pursuit until they've tried it--chilling out like this can be and is a sure-fire little vacation from what ails ya. I sit in the passenger seat mostly where I can enjoy all the advantages of electric cigarette lighter, leg room, beverage holder and so forth without the hassle of having to deal with the steering wheel. Plus I've never actually driven a car over here, preferring two wheels over four whenever I have to get my lazy carcass in gear, so riding shotgun kind of comes naturally to me. In any case a change of scenery now and again works wonders undreamed of I've always found, especially on a hot summer's night when you can recline comfortably in the front seat with the windows down just digging dang good tunes without recourse to hat, scarf, housecoat, slippers und so weiter, as the hard-working employees over there in German sausage factories are always saying--the plumpen arbiters in the Titanic Teutonic Weiner Works being particularly good exemplars of this usage. These happy banger burghers are constantly chanting und so weiter but of course what they really mean is "and so on . . . to the next sausage"--such is their dedication to their profession. In English I think we just mean blah blah blah when we say and so on. Germany, eh? I worked three separate long stretches in a mental hospital in Hamburg during the 80's--folding sheets in the laughing-academy laundry now mind you, not as a patient or anything like that or at least I don't think so--but had to leave eventually because of a general and frankly onerous want of strong helpless laughter. Good folks to work for and with I guess but socially they're frog-marchingly unfunny and their cakes and pastries are full of that horrible ginger flavour. Plus their spoken English is far too excellent for a simple foreigner like me to understand. Great draught beer though and Berlin was fun for about ten seconds but other than that nothing seemed able to finally stave off that dismal feeling you get when you're surrounded daily by a particularly gruesome set of national characteristics. Luck was on my side though coz I escaped in 1990 to the smoking pot--Oops! of course I mean--melting pot and urban death-maze that is New York City where the belly laughs roll a lot freer, the metropolitan vibe is only mighty and the high-calibre English spoken by these unsleepy natives includes such comic gems as "gimme your money" and "what are you looking at?" Really, I seriously do dig this batty burg, just the perfect place of exile, both in its frantic urban jitterbug and in that mellower slo-mo suburban jive I'm beginnng now to deeply attend to and appreciate. Here's another reason I like New York: Four distinct seasons and hot water on tap. Is that a positively propitious quincunxial conjunction or what? One more: Drop in some time and say Ahoy-hoy to God in the unexpectedly lovely Saint Francis of Assisi Church there in the middle of West 31st Street, between 6th and 7th Avenues. They even have this serenely spacious and underlit shrine to Saint Anthony of Padua right underneath the church where you can sit quietly and pray for the recovery of your lost pencil and so forth. Even activated an electric candle too--just by pressing a little red button. The candle came on. I think I would have rathered a real candle and the smell of burning wicks and wax but you can't always get what you want, even in New York. But in short and resorting to cliche for a minute, The Big Apple and certain outlying suburban environs are still at this late date in history a poor immigrant's paradise--a real American oasis to say the truth. I've worked and smoked and in my spare time taken a measure of ease on various park benches in New York for about twenty years now and dang if I ain't planning to settle my lazy old bones here. Bob Dylan himself crashed for a spell in this fabled and fabulous metropolis and his section in Chronicles reliving his time here is just a lovely thing to read. Meanwhile back inside my love muffin's German auto: this VW has a right beefy quadraphonic audio rig too so sounds of a certain righteous crankitude invariably surround the entire inside of the interior. One time though this same VW got pranged into by the dude across the street recklessly backing out of his own gaff in broad daylight--the Passat was parked out in front of our hut, the missus wasn't even in it at the time as we were both watching tennis on the telly if I remember correctly, Wimbledon I believe--and anyway here comes this fat jasper in his vintage little fart dart and puts a big hurt on both doors of my special lady's beloved motor. This neighbour is not such a bad egg I guess but on the negative side he's a crap driver, has a very short fuse and sports a grotesquely swollen and pitted schnozzle which is hardly ever not glowing a vivid purple in some type of vexation. Still, thanks to some fancy footwork on the part of his insurance company we, the injured party, had the use for about a week or two of a nifty new rental car with of all things a satellite radio! Of course I'd heard of this sublime innovation in space-age broadcasting but had never had the pleasure of actual access to one and believe me I spent whole weekends and most weeknights living in the passenger seat of that brand-new Buick fiddling with the buttons and volume control and whatnot and honestly grooving to any number of great radio stations, all commercial free. Bliss that was. The terrestrial radio in my old lady's VW has no such satellitic capabilities alas so nowadays when I'm in a mood to kick back in the car I usually end up switching to records eventually which I also bung in the radio console area which is somehow a record player too thanks to more modern technology I suppose. Just this past Saturday night in fact--a fantastically stormy night--round about two maybe three in the AM, I struck camp in my La-Z-Boy, climbed into the German auto and fired up a bunch of hot crunchy fahrvergnügen. First up was Weld, live Neil Young and his trusty bughouse bandoleros cranking out huge rolling waves of soundtrack--the highlight here being the 14-minute version if Like a Hurricane on Disc 2 on account of there was an actual hurricane blowing up outside, mad yowling wind and torrential rain slanting down like bleeding stair rods. The conditions blew something fierce all night but inside the stationary vehicle all was plangently and pungently aromatic rock and roll nirvana. The next record I bunged in was Dylan's electric and friendly jug-band jamboree here, in the Deluxe Edition no less. The album itself is all good, as Zimmy might say, full of a lively and weirdly off-kilter vibe that instantly appealed to me but funnily enough the best thing about the Deluxe Edition of Together Through Life turns out not to be the record at all but the episode on one of the bonus disks of Dylan's radio gig, Theme Time Radio Hour. This is the one about Friends & Neighbors and it's as crafty a bit of ancient magic as you're likely to run into in a car parked in your very own driveway. Yup, this old coyote's still a total trip when he wants to be. The best thing too on the radio show, which features some really entertaining headshakers--one, by Howlin' Wolf, is introduced by Bob in the following words: "This next song is entirely without flaw and meets all the supreme standards of excellence" and when the song, My Friends, was over I surely did think I thought so too--but really the best thing here is Dylan's responses to the two dudes who e-mail him in their dopey observations and inane questions. It's been one of the real pleasures of my life to have reclined there in that car and heard Dylan effortlessly batting away the categorical anxieties of earnest and grimly obsessed fanatics. A beautiful moment really, old Bob playfully flashing his fangs, just for old time's sake. This true cowboy poet here at this point in time is assuredly still the same maverick mahubba bubba from the time way back when he knew just exactly what he wanted to be when he grew up. Dylan's a miracle of farking nature and that's a fact. The album itself is happily yet another side of the feller but oboy I did love to hear here on that radio broadcast the dude actually speak his words in that cracked and funny deejay patter of his. A bleeding gem I say again but don't even think of watching the DVD--that particular item of bonus material, an interview with some downtown clown named Roy Silver, is remarkably odd and I think the best way to watch it would be either with an extremely full meerschaum or, failing that, extremely closed eyes plus the volume all the way down at zero.
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Another Dylan Joke.....
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| Review Date: November 11, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Big Red, Temecula,California |
The cover looks like two guys entertaining each other in the back of a junk car.
The singing makes me wonder if this guy gargles with gravel every morning. But hey,its the master
so we have to rate it 5 stars,don't we? Not Me,avoid at all costs.Spend your money wisely in these tough times,go buy a remastered Beatle cd instead! |
Like a fine wine
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| Review Date: August 25, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Anne M. Whitehurst, Los Banos, CA United States |
Mr. Dylan makes no effort to hide his most eclectic side in this new body of work. Each piece is contrasted by the next so that they all zing. In these originals, The Artist lets us know that he doesn't much care if we think he's cool or not, but he is cool. Massively cool. Are you a decades-long Dylan fan who has been less-than-delighted with some of his albums? Well, this makes up for it.
The extra CD in this Deluxe Edition is spectacular. Dylan zeroes in on extremely obscure but somehow extremely influential jewels of Americana -- grout that binds all sorts of odd pieces of music together and makes you want to learn more about each facet. I found myself driving 35 miles an hour so I could hear the whole thing in one gulp. Buy this. It's as good as anything he's ever done. |
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