Bob Dylan - Slow Train Coming

When I first started really listening to Dylan records, I told myself I would avoid his trio of evangelical Christian releases; not because I disliked the messge, but simply because everything I'd read or heard seemed to imply that they just weren't very good albums. I'd heard about everything from lackluster tunes to bland lyrics, bored vocals, and repetative themes. I vowed I wouldn't get so caught up in Dylan as to actually think, "well, every other Dylan album I've heard had at least a few good songs on it, so these must as well. There can't be any harm in getting them, right?"

Well, I succumbed to temptation. I picked up Slow Train Coming, mostly because I'd run out of essential Dylan albums (and even the less-than-essential: I mean, did I really need Planet Waves or New Morning? Empire Burlesque? Street Legal?) to collect, and I broke down. The flesh and the will were both weak.

Turns out the record isn't the horrible train wreck (sorry, couldn't help myself) that I'd been told it was. Slow Train Coming has its problems, but it's far from one of the worst records he's ever cut (that dubious honor probably goes to Self Portrait, another record I've been tempted many times to pick up).

Let's start with the strengths. Musically, this record is a continuation of the sound of its predecessor, Street Legal. This isn't an entirely bad thing; Street Legal had a good sound to it, it's just that the batch of songs Dylan came up with weren't his strongest (though "Changing of the Guard," "Journey Through Dark Heat (Where are you tonight?)," and "Senor (Tales of Yankee Power)" are among the best of middle period Dylan), but the record was fun. Slow Train Coming has the added advantage of having a young Mark "Dire Straits" Knoplfer on guitar, and Knopfler's guitar fills do wonders to keep the songs (which tend to run on the long side: there's nary a song that comes in under the four-minute mark) interesting. The rest of the backing band is strong and versatile, cranking out slightly Gospel- and raggae-tinged tunes to back Dylan. The music feels appropriate for the subject matter, really.

In terms of the actual lyrics, they aren't the best that Dylan's ever penned. Granted, even a mediocre Dylan song would be the crown jewel of many recording artists' catalogues, but here, it just comes across as faintly disappointing at times. Some of the songs are pretty good, though. "Gotta Serve Somebody" is one of Dylan's slyest and wittiest songs in ages. "Precious Angel" occasionally dips its toes too deeply into dogma and even sexism (as Dylan songs sometimes do), but is fairly strong throughout and shows a sort of internal consistency. "I Believe in You" is a strong statement of faith, though Dylan actually manages to keep the object of his faith ambiguous until almost the end (is he singing to Jesus? To a woman? You don't know until he ruins the spell at the end by coming right out and telling you). The lyrics, on the whole, are fairly strong--if not exactly outstanding--and stand up pretty well compared to what they could have been. Dylan does occasionally stray too deep into reciting dogmatic phrases and lines, but he can be forgiven for that sin when you keep in mind that all of us have our off days.

The place where the album really falls flat is in the vocal delivery. Dylan totally phoned in his vocals for this record. For an album that's all about newfound faith, zeal, and fervor, his voice is flat, bland, and almost bored-sounding. There's no energy or emotion, and the times when he does attempt to inject a little spirit into the proceedings actually come across as strained and forced rather than emotional or powerful. At least on Street Legal he seemed to have some conviction in his voice; here, he's almost lifeless, and it nearly ruins some of the better songs.

The sole exception to this problem is "Gotta Serve Somebody," which is sung with power and conviction and true feeling. Dylan lays it all out on the line, opens up the album with an exceptionally strong track that leaves you hoping the rest of the album will follow suit. It sets you up for an entire album of that sort, and makes you think that if he can craft tunes of this power and authenticity, then he can convert to whatever faith he wants to. Sadly, the rest of the album does not make good on the promise of that opening track. There are small highlights, and the album isn't necessarily bad, per se, it's just that you start thinking of what a lyrical mastermind like Dylan really could have done with this subject matter if he'd been at the top of his game. Ultimately, it's hard not to see this album in terms of what it might have been instead of what it is, which is a fairly decent if not entirely remarkable middle-period Dylan record.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Bob Dylan, "Slow Train"