Bob Dylan - Oh Mercy

 

This CD was gifted to me by my old pal Kenzo - thanks buddy! - and is a 1989 release that was hailed as (another) Dylan resurgence after a few failed albums. Recorded in New Orleans and produced by Daniel Lanois, it was called a return to form (again, that has happened often enough in Dylan's career to question what form anyone is referring to) and even gave him a strong chart showing.

Although he hadn't been considered a protest singer from decades, he does delve into it a bit for the upbeat, bouncey "Political World" - pretty damn catchy and a hip, insistent groove and some fine playing all around - good opener! He slows down for a country-ish ballad "Where Teardrops Fall", followed by one of my faves, the bluesy "Everything Is Broken" that Neil Young covered successfully and noisily but here has nicely tremelo'd guitars, acoustic harmonica and another cool groove. "Ring Them Bells" is a gospel-tinged piano ballad, "Man in the Long Black Coat" is a nice ballad, but not overly memorable as is the end-of-a-relationship song, "Most of the Time", and continues with the sparse and self-deprecating "What Good Am I?". "Disease of Conceit" continues with the sparseness, they pick up the pace slightly for "What Was It You Wanted", although it also has ethereal, tremelo'd guitars and light, breathy harmonica and ending with the country/folky "Shooting Star" that harkens a bit more to his earlier days.

It's a good, atmospheric record, even though the songs aren't quite as enduring as some of his previous work.