Modern Times - Bob Dylan

Guess what I received in the mail today??

A pre-release special order copy of Dylan's latest album.. His 32nd studio release. And after 5 long years.

Man, did I feel special, especially since the CD is not releasing officially till tomorrow!!

I got the special edition one.. the one that comes with the Bonus DVD featuring 4 videos:

1. Blood In My Eyes
Promo video for the '93 album "World Gone Wrong"

2. Love Sick
Live at Radio City Music Hall, NYC, The Grammy Awards'98

3. Things Have Changed
Promo video for the for soundtrack to "Wonder Boys" 2000

4. Cold Irons Bound
Complete version excerpted from "Masked and Anonymous" 2002

I've just started listenin to the CD. And am on the third track right now. I'm going to reserve all judgments and thoughts until I've had the chance to listen to the CD well, and after I'm able to actually interpret what's being sung. Always a big deal for me - am not too good at deciphering mumbles.

But so far so good.. Track 3 - Spirit on the Water is promising.

This album sounds very very familiar to Love and Theft though.. nothing strikingly new or different.. and I'm sure I can be forgiven for expecting something new.. or different.. or a regression to ye olde days.. given the album name.. and the snippets of his interviews I've heard here and there. Isn't Dylan supposed to be rebelling again the establishment again? Against fame? I thought he said he doesn't like modernity..

Anyway, musically nothing new. It is still great. Bluesy, folksy.. and even Jazzy. Lyrically we can expect to be wowed and left scratching our heads too.. Sometimes it's just a big joke... or a small one.

But this isn't THE album. Not one I'd recommend to a non-believer in order to convert him/her.