Bob Dylan - Modern Times

It's hard to say any more about Bob Dylan than has already been said many times over. This late career renaissance of his -- if that's even what this is -- has been an unexpected joy to lifelong worshippers like me. Although tagged by critics as the completion of a trilogy of brilliant albums that began with Time Out Of Mind in 1997, I personally don't view this record as such (although it does have much in common with 2001's Love and Theft), or see any indication that Dylan can't continue to turn out material as strong, engaging and even fascinating as this for as long as he keeps breathing. For now, we have Modern Times, the title of which is intended either to evoke the era of Charlie Chaplin or serve as an oxymoron, because the music on this record, while vital and timely, is firmly rooted in a distant American past. "Thunder On The Mountain" rollicks along, as Dylan recounts his thoughts and dreams in typically cryptic, stream-of consciousness fashion. "Rollin' and Tumblin'" is a gnarly blues (and so firmly rooted in the tradition that it blatantly steals its title and riff from a song by another artist, as many great blues numbers do). Meanwhile, "When The Deal Goes Down" is one of the sweetest, most romantic songs in the Dylan catalog, and "Beyond The Horizon" sounds like something that you might have heard at a vaudeville show 80 years ago. Throughout, Dylan is backed by his crack, longtime touring band, who by now seem to live and breath his songs as innately as he does, and believe it or not, he even does some of his best singing in years. It's just a wonderful, immensely enjoyable record, a twilight gem by one of the seminal musical and cultural figures of the last 100 years. I hope we don't have to wait another 5 years for his next one.

LISTEN / DOWNLOAD: Thunder On The Mountain, because Bob's been thinking about love, sex, music, greed, human suffering, God and the apocalypse -- but still has time to lust after Alicia Keys.