LOVE IT ON TUESDAY: BOB DYLAN

 

Bob Dylan is old. I don’t know his exact age, but, since his first album, he’s lived more than twice what I’ve lived since I’m born. His career was so long that it would nearly be impossible review it honestly. Let’s just say that he was a genius in the 60s and for the most part of the 70s, that he turned pretty bad in the 80s and the 90s and that, with Love and Theft in 2001 and Modern Times in 2006, critics made things appear like Bob Dylan was a genius again. He sure did better than during the two last decades, but he’s still far from being the musician he once was.

The truth is that Bob Dylan has some of the most talented musicians in the world around him, and this is enough to fool the average music critic. But it’s far from enough to fool the amateur who listens to music with his heart. I’m even tempted to say that Bob Dylan’s new album Together Through Life sucks, arguing that it’s full of well-executed songs with no soul. That’s what I would say if it was the work of a young new band. I would be wrong to say that though, cause we’re talking about Bob Dylan here: like Jesus, we gotta respect him, even if he’s just a has-been.

Of course I’m writing too fast, cause some songs on Together, like the broken-hearted Life Is Hard, the cool I Feel A Change Comin’ On and my own favorite, the bluesy It’s All Good, are actually honest pieces of music made by a real old man. But overall, I mean… The genius of Bob Dylan was to always challenge our expectations, in order to never become a cliché. With Together, not only is he not surprising us anymore, but he’s become the caricature of the old man he is. Come on Bob, take back your acoustic guitar and your harmonica, I know you can do it.

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