Product Description

This album by the quintessential singer-songwriter comes after a long layoff from recording original material. Dylan's previous two albums were powerful collections of traditionalsongs, and the album that preceded them was full of some rather iffy original tunes, so all eyes were on Dylan to make one of his patented surprise comebacks. As luck would have it, that's exactly what TIME OUT OF MIND turns out to be. Produced by Daniel Lanois, who manned the boards for Dylan's best latter-day album, OH MERCY, this one has the kind of raw,spontaneous vibe that serves Zimmy's music so well.
Lossand world-weariness abound in the lyrics, and Dylan articulates these emotions perfectly, in a manner that seems simultaneously casual and precise. Songs like "Standing In The Doorway" and "Million Miles" are bathed in sorrow and emotionaldesolation, but are so well-crafted that their solipsism isirresistible. An all-star cast including Ry Cooder and DukeRobillard provides the sparse, rough-edged, bluesy accompaniment that casts Dylan's compositions in the perfect musicallight. Bob's back!

Track Listing

1. Love Sick
2. Dirt Road Blues
3. Standing In The Doorway
4. Million Miles
5. Tryin' To Get To Heaven
6. Till I Fell In Love With You
7. Not Dark Yet
8. Cold Irons Bound
9. Make You Feel My Love
10. Can't Wait
11. Highlands

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2862 in Music
• Released on: 2001-12-10
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
At the beginning of Time Out of Mind, Bob Dylan finds himself in the same dead-day world as on 1964's "One Too Many Mornings." By now, though, he can't be bothered to romanticise the street and the distant dogs' barking; he can only moan about how sick he is of love, of himself. Saying it seems to give him the strength to go on, and go on he does, over 11 songs that are among his most plainspoken and musically eloquent. The reconstituted bottle-blues that sparked the early '90s acoustic masterpieces Good As I Been to You and World Gone Wrong carries over to Daniel Lanois's carefully dirty production and a groove that tops anything Dylan's done in a studio since, at least, Blood on the Tracks. No matter how lousy he feels, this is the work of a mighty, mighty man. --Rickey Wright

Customer Reviews

Best since Blood on the Tracks!!
I'm Sorry , call me closed minded , but i simply can not be friends with anyone who thinks this album merely OK. If you still don't like it after 10 listens , subscribe to MTV and buy the whole back catalogue of Now Thats What I Call Music albums . I know it's snobbery , but you really are not a Dylan fan if you don't like this. If you are a football fan , it's a bit like a guy in the pub claiming Maradona was a bit too small to be considered as good as Sir Bobby Charlton. ..Buy it..if you don't like it , go live in Germany. They have made David Hasselhoff No1 there.

Disappointed Dylan fan
I have a shed load of Dylan albums and have been listening to him since the mid-1970s, starting with Desire and Street Legal and then working around to Blood on the Tracks and back as far as the first "Bob Dylan" album. Dylan is no great shakes as a vocalist to start with, but this album really disappointed me. The vocals are croaking and the famed Dylan lyrics don't work on this one. The tunes are mostly nothing to shout about either. There are two good tracks on this album, It's Not Dark Yet & Love Sick. For me, the rest just don't do it. That said, It's Not Dark Yet is a Dylan classic and almost worth the price of the album alone.

Bear in mind that this album can be had on CD for about £2.50. There is a reason for that. Much critical acclaim but not popular with the public. I think that sums it up. Only for the real hardened Dylan fans.

Melancholy masterpiece
Time Out Of Mind is a masterpiece of atmospheric mood music and evocative imagery, expressed in moody blues numbers and melodious ballads. This mix of blues and ballad is reminiscent of the style of many Tom Waits albums. Although I prefer the folky ballads, the album forms a cohesive musical statement with an impact that lingers long after the last notes have died down.

The bluesy tracks include Love Sick, the almost talking blues Million Miles and Can't Wait, and Till I Fell In Love With You which in its undulating rhythms is midway towards being a ballad. The instrumental mix and arrangements on all of these are raw and gripping and will have great appeal to those who love blues music.

Despite its title, the uptempo Dirt Road Blues is a fast lilting ballad with a catchy tune. The tone changes for the next song, the melancholy and soulful Standing In The Doorway with its stirring organ and absorbing imagery. I suspect this one will eventually take its place as one of the most memorable songs in his oeuvre. Likewise, the beautiful Tryin' To Get To Heaven has elements of autobiography and haunting poetic phrases that stick in the mind.

There is something darkly prophetic about the shimmering Not Dark Yet, a song of ominous foreboding and weary resignation with sublime poetic lyrics, whilst Cold Irons Bound with its driving beat is closer to a rock song. Not surprisingly, Make You Feel My Love is a straightforward and tender love song, and the album concludes with Highlands, a mid tempo rumination with understated jangling guitar.

Working with Lanois previously produced the 1989 masterpiece Oh Mercy and this one is another winning combination. The mood is mostly somber and reflective, perfectly captured by the production which lends added gravitas to the sentiments expressed. Time Out Of Mind is definitely amongst Dylan's top ten works, a truly timeless masterpiece.