Track Listing

1. Shot Of Love
2. Heart Of Mine
3. Property Of Jesus
4. Lenny Bruce
5. Watered Down Love
6. Dead Man Dead Man
7. In The Summertime
8. Trouble
9. Every Grain Of Sand

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8720 in Music
• Released on: 1997-02-03
• Number of discs: 1

CD Description
Though many critics consider SHOT OF LOVE the best of Dylan's late-'70s, early-'80s "Christian albums", others find it guilty simply by association with that period. As such, it'sone of his most underrated albums. It includes "Every GrainOf Sand"--one of his finest post-'60s ballads--along with such notable album tracks as the rocking title cut and "LennyBruce", a paean to the comedian that easily could be read as a veiled paean to Dylan himself. The CD version of SHOT OFLOVE adds the B-side "The Groom's Still Waiting At The Altar", a rollicking blues-rocker that earned a lot of airplay when it first came out by reminding fans of BLONDE ON BLONDE.

Customer Reviews

A little known gem
In 1981 Bob Dylan released 'Shot of Love' which provides some rare insights to the state of Bob's thinking at the time, coupled with some excellent, raw sounding rock style tracks. The album has a ragged edge to it, with Bob sounding exasperated sometimes and defiant as well. There are some stand out tracks, such as the reggae tinged 'Deadman' which has some classic lyrics. Then there are stormin' numbers like 'Groom waiting at the altar' and 'Property of Jesus' which are as good as anything Dylan has produced in the latter half of his career. The final track, 'Every grain of sand' is one of Dylan's most beautiful songs-a calm end to a stormy album.The gospel feel to this song is matched by lyrics of beauty and poignancy. This is not a polished, refined album, but it has guts and power which reflect a genius who once again provides music and equally lyrics of a spell binding quality.

Moving & Melodic
A test of a good album is whether you come back to it in later years and rejoice...or grimace. Here I can say that, on relistening to this 1981 album recently, that rejoicing outweighed grimacing by about 8 to 2 if not 9 to 1. Even the lesser tracks seemed appealing after 24 years. Dead Man for example I always rather disliked but here I can hear things I never heard before....like Jim Keltner's thumping drumming and pretty interesting keyboards from Someone Or Other....but mostly it is Dylan's conviction in the lyrics he is singing which carries the most appeal. There were moments afterwards for sure, but here on this album we have Dylan mixing heartfelt religious lyrics, as on this song with moments of humour and self deprecation as on the piano-based Lenny Bruce and Ringo-flavoured Heart Of Mine respectively for example.

Even the title track kicks ass. Because it is Dylan saying we don't need drugs to get through Life. How often have you heard him say that on record? It is an abundant truth but we are all weak of course and so we don't like hearing it. But it's true. Love Is the answer as Lennon said in 1973 on Mind Games, but here in a different context, it rings true equally. We all need a Shot Of Love if we're honest. Property of Jesus is a little defensive, but again the sentiment is sound. Why regail at others who have found happiness, in whatever form, when it might be better to examine oneself? Maybe 'you've got a heart of stone' sounds harsh, this is precisely what the Anti-Christian Dylan brigade must have appeared to him as at the time. Faith or religion is an intensely personal thing which should be respected as such. Period.

And then we have the Hightlights here....which cross all boundaries but those of the most bigoted atheist. Every Grain Of Sand is a masterpiece of personal vulnerability if there ever was one. In The Summertime is gorgeous. Trouble is less digestable but moving all the same. Watered Down Love is sincere and pretty groovy if you ask me.

I just like the whole style of this album. It is heartfelt...without being condescending. As parts of Slow Train Coming (1979) might have been (not true for most of Saved (1980) mind you). OK so the cover was pretty awful. But no worse than Self Portrait (1970). Which also contains several hidden gems if you care to listen!

So take a leap of faith of a Non Religious kind (well, not necessarily anyway) and give this album a chance. The inclusion of the B Side Groom Still Waiting At The Altar is a welcome addition and should tip the balance for any waverers out there. Here we hear Dylan still producing the goods and caring about what he is singing about. Not too much mystery here, just heartfelt and pretty moving lyrics, with several good tunes to boot, about the only thing missing from the Saved album in my opinion. And one Bona Fide classic in anyone's book, in Every Grain Of Sand. Worth the admission price for this track alone. Even Satan must have thought Oh S*** when he heard this one.

Contains at least two masterpieces
I know this album came in for a lot of criticism upon release but in retrospect it’s not bad at all. Heart Of Mine has a great rolling rhythm and nice tempo changes, whilst Lenny Bruce is a minor masterpiece, a very moving tribute with lovely piano and organ. Every Grain Of Sand is a magnificent song when considered from a general spiritual angle, stripped of dogma. It sounds very mournful but has that transcended, hopeful quality found in most kinds of gospel and other spiritual music. I also love Emmylou Harris’ beautiful interpretation on her Wrecking Ball album, although she tweaked the lyrics a bit. In The Summertime with its nice harmonica touches reminds me a bit of some of Van Morrison’s pastoral pieces. So all in all not a bad album judged on a purely musical level, containing at least two gems and another great song in Heart Of Mine. I like it!