Bob Dylan - Tempest

The first strains of the 35th Bob Dylan studio album excitedly feels like something was caught in a field recording in the 1930s. But seconds later, the song kicks in and it's suddenly clear that it's 2012 again. But don't get the wrong idea, as "Duquesne Whistle" kicks the album off, you can tell that while this Dylan is the aged Dylan; the production and the musicians accompanying are top notch.

An old-timey country western feel and a room that must be a group of guys playing together. "Soon After Midnight" furthers this feel, this time in a slow romantic waltz. And it doesn't matter that Dylan's lyrics this time lean to the simple- the desire is the point. This is also true of the favorite "Long And Wasted Years", which is a quick and dirty tale of a man catching up with a lost love. You soon, though, begin to wish that Bob had kept this simplicity concept in lieu of the direction he went.

The album has a live feel of a band that are bringing classic tales from the turn of the century up to the present. It's not always my cup of tea, though. "Narrow Way" kicks off the sufferage from what is a common Dylan complaint; too many verses. Verses that are all separated by a common chorus and the result is insanely repetitive.

And that is not the only epic here. The western short stories "Tin Angel" and "Scarlet Town" average eight minutes. And the 14:00 title track is about the sinking of the Titanic... the movie version. It even says, "Leo took his sketchbook..." As good as you think a folk shanty might be executed, it still has nothing that the listener could relate to. A misstep to be sure. Another seemingly untimely tribute is "Roll On John"- which is indeed about the 25-year-passed death of John Lennon. An odd subject choice.

Dylan's latest is nowhere near the 5-star classic that Rolling Stone magazine dubbed it. And with all of that excellence that I was praising earlier about the band and production- the album fails to make itself dynamic as he has done with his previous few albums of this millennium. Once you realize this, it gets a little stagnant. It's rare to say this, but Dylan could have used an editor. (2.5 of 5 stars)