Wednesday, February 03, 2021

Bob Dylan - Street-Legal


 This one I knew nothing about - I don't remember this coming out and don't even remember the cover, but it was being sold at a discounted price so, what the heck?

This is a weird one - Dylan was definitely in a transitionary stage and was certainly having issues with his writing. The songs here are all quite lightweight, especially lyrically, although not bad, with a 70's pop-rock, almost yacht-rock backing with a touch of soul flavoring, with a surprising emphasis on melody, highlighted by the female backing vocalists he was using (and marrying/having affairs with) at the time. It all combines for an effort that isn't terrible, and in fact is reasonably good considering, but certainly not something that you would expect from Dylan. I do have to say that the Kenny G-ish saxophone is not a great addition, though!

As I say, this is odd, but not bad, really. Dylan has been chameleon-esque throughout his career so each record could be completely different from the last, and thankfully, this period did not last, but interesting, nonetheless.