If you chart time by Bob Dylan albums, it looks something like this -- a deep, smoldering hole from 1978 to 1988 (okay, we’ll give you Infidels, but that’s it), followed by a slow-but-steady ascent that began with ’89’s Daniel Lanois-produced Oh Mercy, ran through two trad-folk/blues releases, caught fire with Time Out of Mind and peaked with 2001’s Love and Theft. Unfortunately, it seems like things have been heading on a gradual slope back down since then. Modern Times felt like a Time Out of Mind sequel without the spark, and now Together Through Life takes that process one step further.
The good news is that Bob Dylan, working under his “Jack Frost” alias, remains the best producer he’s ever had. Working with his longtime road band, bolstered by Tom Petty’s axeman Mike Campbell and Los Lobos’ David Hidalgo, Dylan works up greasy, grinding grooves that tip their hat to the ‘50s Chess discography. At one point, Dylan even offers an odd homage to Willie Dixon’s “I Just Want to Make Love To You,” rewriting it as “My Wife’s Home Town” (and giving Dixon composer credit). The trouble is, however good a blues record Together may be, it’s also a Dylan album, and people rightly expect more from him in the lyrical department than they do from, say, Keb’ Mo’. When Dylan fails to improve on Dixon’s lyrics, it’s indicative of a problem that runs throughout the album. Even in a historic pairing with Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, who shares writing credit with Dylan on nine out of 10 tunes here, there are very few remarkable (or even interesting) lyrical moments. In the end, this is a Dylan album you listen to mostly for the music, so if that’s your idea of time well spent, dig in. Otherwise, pray that Bob lives long enough for that aforementioned slope to reverse itself yet again.
