At the time of this album's release, the critics and Dylan-obsessed viewed it as another disappointment, another stinging reminder that the Bob Dylan of "The Times They Are a-Changin'" and "Like a Rolling Stone" was gone. It generated rounds of mourning. Sure, it was a little better than the awful "Self-Portrait," and less corny than the baffling "Nashville Skyline," an album in which Dylan was so determined to conceal himself, he literally changed his voice. It had a grittier feel, musically, but it another one of those "love and marriage" albums. That was a genre unto itself back then--a genre lots of more politically minded rock fans despised. First Paul McCartney, then Van Morrison, now, omigod, Bob Dylan, singing songs of domestic contentment like "Sign on the Window."

The release of "Blood on the Tracks" should have caused a re-evaluation of "New Morning," along with its successor, "Planet Waves." In fact, Dylan was battling just as furiously during this period, and writing about it just as candidly, but this was a battle where the stakes were personal--trying to keep his family together in the face of the overwhelming, dehumanizing pressures of the outside world. It is a story that resonates more broadly, perhaps, than his earlier work. And it's a tragic story. With "Skyline" and "Self Portrait," Dylan built a wall to protect his family. In "New Morning," the key songs describe the life he was living behind that wall--with his wife and children, in a somewhat idyllic world that gives him time to muse on "what life's all about." But there's a subtle edge of desperation; he can't quite relax. The tension grows in the next album, "Planet Waves," and then explodes as the relationship is demolished in "Blood on the Tracks." The sage continues in "Desire," in which he continues the battle to win her back.

Now that I'm older and have lived several lives, it is these albums by Dylan that make the most sense to me. I still enjoy the classic 60s disks, and like everyone else, can pick out some great songs among his work in the 80s and 90s. But if you are a listener who thinks "Blood on the Tracks" is Dylan's greatest poetic and musical expression, I suggest you try this album and "Planet Waves," playing them in chronological order with "Blood..." and "Desire." This was Dylan's greatest period.

Why just four stars? There are few clunkers, like "One More Weekend," and "The Man in Me." But "If Not for You," "Time Passes Slowly," the odd "If Dogs Run Free," "Three Angels" and the title song each rank with his greatest. They are simpler, more direct, less flashy in a lyrical sense, but they cut to the heart of his subject matter, and confirm his genius.

Perhaps the most underrated Dylan album in his catalogue. It's a shame Bob didn't use the piano as his prominent instrument more often. The songs are wonderfully introspective with a blues and traditional southern gospel flair.

"If Not For You" is an excellent love song that is very laid back and welcoming. It should've been a big pop hit. Songs like "Day Of The Locusts", "Time Passes Slowly", and the title track keep up that laid back, southern porch song type of feel with a stripped down rootsy production. "Winterlude", "Sign On The Window", and "The Man In Me" are just downright beautiful songs, showing an unprecedented vulnerablity that predates Blood On The Tracks.

Overall, I think this is an excellent album and one of the best Bob Dylan albums in my mind. It is a unique, soulful Dylan album. Even better than Blood On The Tracks if you ask me.

When NEW MORNING came out, it was after the wake of the critical and commercial disaster of SELF-PORTRAIT. As I said in my review of SELF-PORTRAIT, there are vestiges of a follow-up (and quite a good one at that) to NASHVILLE SKYLINE. SELF PORTRAIT suffers from an identity crisis, and quite a bad one at that, and some of it seems like a legitimate continuation of the direction Dylan was going and then, because of its excesses, there's a lot that seems like it's Dylan's attempt at throwing his audience and critics a curve ball. One thing should be noted, however. While many have noticed this was released quickly after SELF PORTRAIT, all of this music was cut and in the can before SELF PORTRAIT was ever released, and there is evidence of it being marked for release before the big fiasco of its predecessor.

So what about NEW MORNING? This record just takes Dylan further into the domesticated lifestyle he was living and his music just shows it. Gone are the days of "electricity howls in the bones of her face," and instead we get Elvis send-ups and singing about leaving the kids at home for a weekend and doing jazz send-ups and some poetry set to music ("Three Angels"). While Dylan has always had his poetic flair, he generally fuses his music and his lyrics into a cohesive whole, but here it seems more obvious that it is just a poem.

One thing that truly distinguished NASHVILLE SKYLINE was its very distinctive country feel. JOHN WESLEY HARDING, Dylan's release of 1967, had a very mystical feel to it, and while it had a country flavour, it was not a country album but a different animal altogether which I have never found again. It plays almost like an album about a past which no one in living memory can tell us about and manages to capture it in a mystical setting. NASHVILLE SKYLINE, on the other hand, has all the trade-marks of a country album, but the point is, both have an ascetic cohesion which carries them through into that coveted canon of essential music. All of Dylan's best albums have this cohesion as a trade-mark. NASHVILLE SKYLINE is the only country album that I listen too on a regular basis. It services as Dylan's tribute to that genre of music, and several of the ten cuts have become country standards, while also helping cement the idea of "country rock" being a viable form of art. You can tell Dylan is creating a masterpiece in his chosen genre that he wants to work in, creating one more untouchable album for the 1960s.

Well, the 1970s roll around, and his infamous SELF PORTRAIT release is issued. I think there are traces of a great album hidden in the rubble that is SELF-PORTRAIT, and regardless, it still proves to be a fascinating album (see my review). It's torn between two directions and doesn't know which way to go, because Dylan starts with one agenda and ends with another. Had SELF-PORTRAIT trimmed itself back it would have been a worthy follow-up to NASHVILE SKYLINE.

Now we come back to NEW MORNING. VoodooLord7's review gives you an excellent overview of the album itself, but the most important thing Voodoo points out is the lack of cohesion on NEW MORNING. Actually, I disagree that there is not any cohesion in this album, because there is. The problem is, Dylan is too much involved in his domestic life to put a lot of effort in his art. Voodoolord7 gives the excellent analogy of this being an album that Dylan would record in a cabin in the mountains, having a lazy, laid back feel too it, which it most certainly does.

This is an album from a family man's perspective. In the 1960s, Dylan was a visionary, crafting some of the best music of our times. In the early 1970s, though, Dylan was married, had children, and was doing the family scene. He had settled down, and you can tell from his music. When you listen to NEW MORNING, you get the very distinct feeling that the album was cut by someone who was heavily involved with his family life, and while that is a good thing, the music produced in this period does not rise to the level previously reached by Dylan's music. The lack of cohesion that VoodooLord7 complains about is actually there; but it's not there enough to make this a truly essential Dylan album. The cohesion found on NEW MORNING is a domestic cohesion, with stories and songs that a father would sing to his children. While you can produce truly great music like this, Dylan does not, and his own muse works better working within established genres of music instead of established areas of life outside of the ascetic.

People missed the old Dylan of the 1960s, but like the rest of us, Dylan progresses and evolves. But it must have been something of a shock to hear Dylan singing that children are calling him Pa and that's what life is all about when only five years ago he was belting out the lyrics to "Like a Rolling Stone."

For his art, BLOOD ON THE TRACKS would never had come out had his life not been involved with family in the early 1970s. For my money, I'd rather Dylan (or anyone for that matter), had a good family life because that is more important than art. However, this family relationship began unraveling, and this period of domesticity culminated in BLOOD ON THE TRACKS, his greatest post 1960s album. Dylan had enough experience writing about family to turn out a truly great album, and while NEW MORNING and PLANET WAVES are not great albums, they are both thoroughly enjoyable minor works, NEW MORNING being the better album.

This record came out only four months after what many considered to be the disaster that was "Self Portrait" and those fans who thought Dylan went south with that record were glad to have him back with this one. So much so, that they perhaps over praised the record. It is good, this record is, but it's no "John Wesley Hardin'" or "Highway 61 Revisited." Still it's a five star recording of all original material that chronicles where Bob Dylan was in 1970.

"If Not for You", which was covered beautifully by George Harrison on "All Things Must Pass" and by Olivia Newton John, who had a huge hit with it, is a love song that I've played over and over again. It's just simply beautiful. " "The Day of the Locusts" is a four minute dirge about when Dylan had to put on a cap and gown (he didn't want to) and go to Princeton to accept an honorary diploma. "Time Passes Slowly" is a song about time passing. Duh. "Time passes slowly when you're lost in a dream." "Time Passes slowly when you're searching for love." "Time passes slowly when you're lost in the daylight." "Time Passes slowly, then fades away." Only Dylan could string ideas like that together in a little over two minute song.

"Went to See the Gypsy," is a nice song about Dylan's meeting with Elvis Presley and "The Man in Me," seems to be a song about how a man sees himself through his lover's eyes. But the real gem on this record is "Sign on the Window." "Sign on the porch says three's a crowd." Was Dylan talking about his fans and how they wouldn't leave him alone. Seems that way to me, but what do I know? Maybe it's about what my good friend Sophie says it is, a New Beginning for Bob Dylan. "That must be what it's all about." So says Dylan, So says Sophie. Either way, it's a great song. Actually the whole record is pretty good.

This is a very different Dylan disc that for some, like myself, thought to be one his most innovative and better departures. The incorporation of piano and organ played by sixties sideman-stalwart Al Cooper and good old country boy Charlie Daniels on electric bass, the background gospel singers and cool jazz scat singing of Maeretha Stewart create a sound that was not your typical Dylan expectation than nor now. I recently bought a copy of this disc on sale to replace my LP, it takes you back to the day when it came out originally but more than that it demonstrates the diversity and depth of Dylan's work. There are a few country introspective songs that are so quaint that they almost come across as corny like "Sign on the Window" but the brilliance strips away any superficial outer layers to reveal simplicity that works. On the other hand "Winterlude" is just a little to quaint for my tastes. The song that has the most originality and hence my favorite is first and foremost the quirky "If Dogs Run Free" that begins with some piano runs and bluesy jazz guitar with Dylan's voice lowered an octave or two, not as sinewy but deeper and stronger coupled with the scat of Maeretha Stwart to create a song for the ages. A close second is "Father of Night" that features really cool background voices but unfortunatly is much too short coming in at only 1:29. "Three Angels" is sublime and at a whole different level; this is the type of song that is the essence of Dylan music. Other good songs include "Went To See The Gypsy and " If Not for You" that finds Dylan in more typical voice and accompanyment. This is one of those dics that can be played over and over again and you never seem to get tired of it but rather just continue singing along with Mr.Zimmerman. Add this to your Dylan collection it is pretty darn good.