0636. Bob Dylan
Time Out Of Mind

"And for my thirtieth studio album, I'd like to..."
To be able to start a sentence like that and then deliver something as good as Time Out Of Mind is beyond the talents of most people.
On this double LP, his first with new material for six years, Bob's partly reminiscing and partly meandering, taking his time with the songs (only two out of the eleven are under five minutes).

In the final track, the near seventeen minutes long Highlands, he's dropping references to earlier works and goes on and on and on in his story, but it never gets dull. The decision to place Love Sick as the first track was a good one. The dark mood invites me in and before long I'm stuck. It's got the feel of a lyricist feeling death approaching and would have been a nice epitaph, but luckily Dylan's still alive.

Unfortunately, the copy I borrowed (understandably) was very well-listened to and had a deep scratch in the first tracks (also smaller scratches throughout). But that almost feels as if it adds to the experience - giving it a more back to the basics vibe like you'd found the album in a forgotten corner of grampa's attic.