Album: Tempest
Recorded: January-March 2012
Released: September 2012
To my mind, Long and Wasted Years is the the first Dylan classic on the record, and sounds like an outtake from the Blood On The Tracks era. It's musically more interesting too, though the bleakness of the lyrics is undeniable. Dylan gets criticised for his singing voice, but I still rate him highly as a vocalist, especially his impeccable sense of timing and dramatic flair. This is especially evident on Pay In Blood, with Dylan adopting the persona of a mafia boss and conveying a strong sense of menace ("I got something in my pocket make your eyeballs swim, I got dogs could tear you limb from limb"). This is followed by arguably my favourite song on the album, Scarlet Town, which draws on both the folk song Barbara Allen and the words of 19th century Quaker poet John Greenleaf Whittier to create a 21st century tale of a "junky whore" and various other characters, including Uncle Tom, in a God-forsaken town full of "whisky, morphine and gin", where history just repeats itself.
Early Roman Kings continues the theme of violence, though it's not clear if Dylan is referring to the Roman Empire or a Bronx gang called Roman Kings; either way, it's an enjoyable blues song. Death also haunts Tin Angel, as it does the whole album, and here the spirit of the song draws on the old murder ballads of Britain and Ireland, while the ending is reminiscent of Shakespearean tragedy ("'You died for me, now I'll die for you', she put the blade to her heart and she ran it through, all three lovers together in a heap, thrown into the grave, forever to sleep").
The 14-minute title track ends in even more deaths, and is based on an old folk song which The Carter Family reinterpreted and released in the 50s – it's undoubtedly very evocative both musically and lyrically, but not as creative and engaging as some other Dylan epics. The album closes with Roll on John, a heartfelt tribute to John Lennon, though there's also a sense in Dylan's words of "there but for the grace of God go I". Tempest was rightly praised as an album, though a little excessively in my opinion – it's overly long and plodding in places, and not quite up to the standard of some of his other later work, but it's far beyond what most of us mere mortals could produce in our 70s.
Album rating: B
Recorded: January-March 2012
Released: September 2012
Songs / length: 10 / 68:31
Having entered his eighth decade of life just before this album's release, Dylan was no doubt aware he was close to shuffling off his mortal coil. Dylan, like Shakespeare, has had a long and productive artistic life – estimates vary, but it's widely believed Shakespeare wrote 35-40 plays, while Tempest is Dylan's 35th studio LP and (quite possibly) his last album of original material. Similarly, The Tempest was the last play Shakespeare wrote alone and in it, Prospero's farewell is widely considered to be Shakespeare's own farewell to his audience:
Having entered his eighth decade of life just before this album's release, Dylan was no doubt aware he was close to shuffling off his mortal coil. Dylan, like Shakespeare, has had a long and productive artistic life – estimates vary, but it's widely believed Shakespeare wrote 35-40 plays, while Tempest is Dylan's 35th studio LP and (quite possibly) his last album of original material. Similarly, The Tempest was the last play Shakespeare wrote alone and in it, Prospero's farewell is widely considered to be Shakespeare's own farewell to his audience:
Release me from my bands, with the help of your good hands.
Gentle breath of yours my sails must fill, or else my project fails,
Which was to please.
Dylan, the song & dance man, couldn't have said it better. Whatever Dylan may say to the contrary, the parallels are clear – both works (see title track Tempest which focuses on the story of the Titanic) not only feature a shipwreck, but are also full of dreams, fantasy and death ("He dreamed the Titanic was sinking, into the underworld"). To my mind, the album's first three songs are a bit plodding, but then things get going. Starting a fraction slow, opening track Duquesne Whistle is based musically on a late 20s song by Jelly Roll Morton & His Red Hot Peppers called “Each Day”, and lyrically the whistle refers to a tempestuous wind about to cause destruction, leading Dylan to reflect with nostalgia on his past ("That old oak tree, the one we used to climb"). Soon After Midnight is full of simple rhymes and is a little uninspiring for my taste, while I find Narrow Way a bit too repetitive and obscure ("If I can't work up to you, you'll surely have to work done to me some day").To my mind, Long and Wasted Years is the the first Dylan classic on the record, and sounds like an outtake from the Blood On The Tracks era. It's musically more interesting too, though the bleakness of the lyrics is undeniable. Dylan gets criticised for his singing voice, but I still rate him highly as a vocalist, especially his impeccable sense of timing and dramatic flair. This is especially evident on Pay In Blood, with Dylan adopting the persona of a mafia boss and conveying a strong sense of menace ("I got something in my pocket make your eyeballs swim, I got dogs could tear you limb from limb"). This is followed by arguably my favourite song on the album, Scarlet Town, which draws on both the folk song Barbara Allen and the words of 19th century Quaker poet John Greenleaf Whittier to create a 21st century tale of a "junky whore" and various other characters, including Uncle Tom, in a God-forsaken town full of "whisky, morphine and gin", where history just repeats itself.
Early Roman Kings continues the theme of violence, though it's not clear if Dylan is referring to the Roman Empire or a Bronx gang called Roman Kings; either way, it's an enjoyable blues song. Death also haunts Tin Angel, as it does the whole album, and here the spirit of the song draws on the old murder ballads of Britain and Ireland, while the ending is reminiscent of Shakespearean tragedy ("'You died for me, now I'll die for you', she put the blade to her heart and she ran it through, all three lovers together in a heap, thrown into the grave, forever to sleep").
The 14-minute title track ends in even more deaths, and is based on an old folk song which The Carter Family reinterpreted and released in the 50s – it's undoubtedly very evocative both musically and lyrically, but not as creative and engaging as some other Dylan epics. The album closes with Roll on John, a heartfelt tribute to John Lennon, though there's also a sense in Dylan's words of "there but for the grace of God go I". Tempest was rightly praised as an album, though a little excessively in my opinion – it's overly long and plodding in places, and not quite up to the standard of some of his other later work, but it's far beyond what most of us mere mortals could produce in our 70s.
Album rating: B
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