Being the Mom of a Deaf kid, when I heard "Ring Them Bells" from Bob Dylan, I could not believe that there was anyone of his stature in music who cared...about the rejected in society (including many of "the normals") who don't even know that they are being used and rejected as well. But there was so much more to inspire this woman: "Political World" and "Everything Is Broken" could have been written and released right now. It is so incredibly timely: Is that not what we all appreciate today about Dylan's deserved resurgence in music and film? I have often asked over the past few years (especially): WHERE ARE THEY? The artists, musicians, poets, writers who were willing to risk it all (their money or their life) to tell the truth. This is one of Bob Dylan's most eloquent, poignant, passionate and profound releases ever. And if one doesn't get it - try this: Go to a school for the blind or the deaf; or watch poor elderly people stand on line in a pharmacy and try to decide whether they can pay for food or medicine. I hope and pray that more musicians will stand up and do more than glamorous benefit concerts and release music (without the back-up of others) about what is an enormous catastrophe of our American "culture" which has forgotten entirley - the difference betweeen...right and wrong. In the meantime, I'll just keep ringing those bells.

Somehow I had always overlooked this cd until I read Dylan's Chronicles book. In it he describes the sessions in New Orleans that resulted in this recording and I was intrigued since I could tell that Dylan was clearly pleased with this work. Well, the cd does not disappoint. Dylan's songs are solid with a couple of real standouts including Man in the Long Black Coat , Most Of The Time and What Good Am I. The sound mix is really something with the really moody echo/phaser effect on the guitars and when Dylan blows his harmonica,though sparingly, it cuts like a knife. This may not be on the same plane as some of his masterpieces lyrically but man the sound just knocks me out.

Every Dylan fan has his own best-of list "tatooed to the back of his head" :) My all time favorites are the great 'Desire', & the monumental trilogy 'Infidels','Empire Burlesque' and 'Oh Mercy' (Well -'Knocked Out Loaded' had a few good tunes - but it's miles away...).
Two tracks stand above the rest - 'Political World' & 'Everything Is Broken', that are fast & furious Rocki'sh Masterpieces, that would fit better in Infidels' sound...
And than again, they give great contrast to the rest of the album, which is mellow and enchanting: you can actually feel the Dark, gloomy, swampy quality emenating from your speakers
as you listen to 'She's Gone With A man in a Long Black Coat'...
This Is One CD I can listen to over & over agin for hours.
Yes - It's that Good !

The production is imaculate, the singing - in it's best, everything clicks !
The great guitar sound is so distinctive - you couldn't confuse it with anything else !
So - If you're a Dylan fan - And ever plan to spend some time on a Dsert Island - (& only allowed to bring a few cd's along ...) - Go for this one first !

As they proved to the world in 1997 with the Grammy Award Winning smash, "Time Out of Mind," when Bob Dylan and Daniel Lanois step into the studio together, the result is a satiating taste of genius. The album explodes from the first note with two thumping classics, "Political World" and 'Everything is Broken," which recall the hyper blues of 1965's legendary "Bringin' it all back home." Ghostly flickers of brilliance follow, on songs such as 'Man In The Long Black Coat," "What Was It You Wanted," "Ring Them Bells" and "Most of the Time." The songs calmly build out of the lonely wail of an acoustic guitar or the shrill of Dylan's harmonica, into fully realized, deeply layered soundscapes, creating an atmosphere that is now expected of the brilliant Daniel Lanois (Producer of U2's The Joshua Tree and Dylan's Time Out of Mind among others). Lanois' meticulous production allows the listener to hear each nuance of sound just at the right moments. Despite this album's excellence, it proved only to be the anecdote for the superior Time out of Mind. let's hope these two return to make it a trilogy!

I avoided this Dylan album for a long time--but eventually, when you own more than 30 Dylan albums, you end up with Oh Mercy. What a fool I was to wait! Buried in the long downswing of his catalog we find one of Dylan's tightest and most enjoyable albums. (Apparently I'm not the only one rediscovering the album; songs from it were featured in Wonder Boys and High Fidelity.)

The SACD version, though, is a revelation: with Dylan's voice lifted ever-so-slightly in the mix, we can hear how well he enunciates the clever lyrics of this album and how Daniel Lanois builds a beautiful bed for those lyrics with his crisp and classy production work. Even the regular CD layer of this hybrid offers a phenomenal improvement in clarity. If you loved the album before this, your experience will be like discovering that you've been listening to the songs through a door; now that door has been opened and you're right there with Bob and the band in all their glory. Highlights include :Most of the Time," "Shooting Star," and "Ring Them Bells," but this is one of the most consistent and listenable Dylan albums in his catalog.