The endless tours, albums every few year, it seems impossible to imagine a time when there is no Dylan and after a barren spell throughout the eighties and early nineties Dylan continues his run of great albums that started fifteen years ago with Time Out Of Mind.
TEMPEST is Dylan's thirty-fifth and it is yet another goody. As Dylan records go its thematically quite morbid. There's a lot of death here whether a fictional bloodbath ('Tin Angel'), his emotional retelling of the Titanic tragedy ('Tempest') or ruminating on the loss of his friend John Lennon ('Roll on John').
Musically its a well executed mixture of country, swing and blues rock n roll, its not especially unique in itself, but the star of the show is Bob's grizzled delivery and some master songwriting. 'Duquesne Whistle' is a breezy start and one which I must admit I've become completely addicted to. It's one of very best songs that Dylan's released in his long career. It reminds me of Changing Of The Guard in that its a Dylan song you can whistle the along too in cheery fashion. Love it. The video is brilliant too. What's starts as a cheeky romance takes a nasty and vicious turn. Meanwhile Bob who's looking increasingly like the spiv from Dad's Army, cruises about town with his gang of hoods in tow.
'Soon After Midnight' is a sweet romantic love song which opens with an effortlessly perfect rhyming couplet: "I'm searching for phrases, to sing your praises". Its the way Dylan tosses lines away like that makes songwriting look so easy. 'Narrow Way' is a jaunty bar room blues
From here on in things take a darker turn with the bitter 'Long and Wasted Years', a snarling 'Paid in Blood' and decadent tales from a wild west Gomorrah, 'Scarlet Town'. Then things get really black with the murder ballad 'Tin Angel' a violent tale of murder and suicide similar to The Raconteurs' 'Carolina Drama' and ends in similar blood splattered fashion with three interwoven lovers dead in a heap.
The song 'Tempest' is the centrepiece of the album. A 45 verse gaelic inflected retelling of the Titanic sinking. It manages to be infinitely more touching in 14 minutes than the 194 minute James Cameron movie and still manages to sneak in a reference to Leo and his sketchbook. Just like Dylan's brilliant 'Hurricane' it's a masterful exercise in historic storytelling, powerful and evocative.
The album ends with 'Roll on John', his tribute to Lennon. Sure the lyrics are at times are a little clunky. Dylan manhandles the Beatle's lyric into his own, re-contextualising his friends famous words with the story of his life and death for dramatic effect. Mostly it works, ("I heard the news today, oh boy"), other times less so ("come together right now over me"). It's Bob in reflective mood and genuinely very touching. It is as if he's contemplating his own mortality whilst mourning that if his friend. In many way Lennon being his closest peer, not necessarily as a musician, but as the articulate icon and spokesperson for that generation. There's a sense that perhaps Dylan feels, it could have been him.
TEMPEST is a remarkable record and to think it's now fifty years since Dylan released his first in 1962. When many musicians run out of steam after even two or three records Bob is still rolling out records that are genuine Album of the Year contenders. Incredible.
DUQUESNE WHISTLE
EARLY ROMAN KINGS
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