Bob Dylan - Together Through Life
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Music CD Cover
Artist: Bob DylanEdition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Published: 2009-04-24
CD Release Date: 2009-04-28
Music Label: Columbia
Product features:
- Bob Dylan - Together Through Life
- Beyond Here Lies Nothin'
- Life Is Hard
- My Wife's Home Town
- If You Ever Go To Houston
- Forgetful Heart
- Jolene
- This Dream Of You
- Shake Shake Mama
- I Feel A Change Comin' On
- It's All Good
Free Music Notes for Together Through Life
Free Music Review: Bob's On A Roll
Hit: 5 Stars
He's pushing 70 and has artistically and financially earned a peaceful retirement several times over, but Bob Dylan has found it in his heart to generously present us with another album of new material. What's more, in my opinion it's even stronger than 2006's Modern Times.
Whereas Modern Times found Dylan mining similar subjects and moods to those explored in Love and Theft and Time Out of Mind, Together Through Life distinguishes itself by consisting pretty much entirely of love songs. It's still Dylan, though, so these aren't sappy or hackneyed--the words are full of wry frustration, sensuality, compelling nostalgia, and some of the purest heartfelt devotion the man has ever committed to tape. The album's opener and de facto 'single,' "Beyond Here Lies Nothing," kicks things off in a relatively heavy fashion, as pounding toms and dirty guitar licks frame Dylan's shadowy descriptions of consuming love. It's immediately evident that Dylan the producer isn't sticking with the same old formula--he's increased his acoustic instrumentation, including mandolins, violins, banjos, and especially an accordion, and to great and organic effect. The accordion's cheerful, liquid, flitting timbres really complement the laid-back nature of this set of songs, and it strongly recalls Dylan's days with The Band (which never hurts, so far as I'm concerned).
Anyone who's still contending that Dylan's voice is shot needs only to listen to the down-tempo, mandolin-drenched "Life Is Hard," one of Dylan's most successful torch songs, to hear how much heartbreaking emotion he's still capable of wringing out of his own words, even cooing wordlessly toward the song's end. Likewise, "I Feel a Change Comin' On" serves up Dylan's most heartfelt expressions of tenderness since Time Out of Mind's "Make You Feel My Love." Worry not, though--Dylan's nostalgia is leavened by his characteristic wit and inimitable strangeness. "My Wife's Home Town," with its "I just wanna say that hell's my wife's home town" refrain, contains plenty of tongue-in-cheek mock self-pity and Dylan's chuckling at the end of the track is worth the album's price alone. The album's closer, "It' All Good" takes some extremely effective ironic liberties with the titular saying, and the bluesy "Jolene" follows suit, surprisingly containing one of the best guitar hooks in his recent history. Dylan's fascinatingly surreal blending of American culture, mood and geography also pops up numerous times, especially on the downtrodden "If You Ever Go To Houston," and we get to see more than a few mysterious characters as the album unwinds. Finally, "Shake Shake Mama" has one of Dylan's most addictive vocal melodies backed with some gnarly guitar bends--I can imagine that this song will be a total crusher live.
Throughout, Dylan's production remains top-notch. The sound is warm and organic; on Modern Times I felt that the sound lacked a certain grit or oomph to back the harder-edged tunes with the energy they deserved, but here Jack Frost (aka Bob) has hit a sweet spot that better matches the mood of the material, letting the accordion swirl and the electric guitars growl dirtily. It sounds even better if you crank it up a few notches--a hallmark of good mastering. While a couple of songs tread sonically very close to earlier territory ("This Dream of You" almost sounds like an outtake from Desire, and "Forgetful Heart" would fit inconspicuously on Time Out of Mind), the strength of the songwriting here and the love song concept makes Together Through Life an eminently satisfying listening experience that sounds fresh even alongside his most recent work. Overall, while Modern Times had a couple tracks that didn't really click for me, I can't spy a weak song in this set.
Compared with the "deluxe" version, I'm tempted to say that this single disc version is the one to go with. The deluxe edition includes a disc of Bob Dylan Theme Time Radio Hour, and an interview outtake from No Direction Home, neither of which have any real direct relation to the new album. Unless you're a huge fan or collector, you're probably better off saving your $7. As far as I'm concerned, Dylan has produced so much great material in his career that he really doesn't owe us anything new. But if he wants to keep putting out albums this great, who am I to say no? Here's hoping the next one is just as good.
Together Through Life Poster
Standard: 1CD of 10 new tracks in a jewel box with a four-panel insert.Together Though Life, produced by Jack Frost, was prompted by the composition of a new song, "Life Is Hard," which was written for a forthcoming film by French director Oliver Dahan (La Vie En Rose). Bob Dylan's latest studio album was recorded late last year and features 10 new songs including "Beyond Here Lies Nothin'" and "It's All Good." This will be the 46th release from Dylan, following his Platinum album Modern Times which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 chart in 2006.
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