Desire
Bob Dylan
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If Blood on the Tracks was an unapologetically intimate affair, Desire is unwieldy and messy, the deliberate work of a collective. And while Bob Dylan directly addresses his crumbling relationship with his wife, Sara, on the final track, Desire is hardly as personal as its predecessor, finding Dylan returning to topical songwriting and folk tales for the core of the record. It's all over the map, as far as songwriting goes, and so is it musically, capturing Dylan at the beginning of the Rolling Thunder Revue era, which was more notable for its chaos than its music. And, so it's only fitting that Desire fits that description as well, as it careens between surging folk-rock, Mideastern dirges, skipping pop, and epic narratives. It's little surprise that Desire doesn't quite gel, yet it retains its own character -- really, there's no other place where Dylan tried as many different styles, as many weird detours, as he does here. And, there's something to be said for its rambling, sprawling character, which has a charm of its own. Even so, the record would have been assisted by a more consistent set of songs; there are some masterpieces here, though: "Hurricane" is the best-known, but the effervescent "Mozambique" is Dylan at his breeziest, "Sara" at his most nakedly emotional, and "Isis" is one of his very best songs of the '70s, a hypnotic, contemporized spin on a classic fable. This may not add up to a masterpiece, but it does result in one of his most fascinating records of the '70s and '80s -- more intriguing, lyrically and musically, than most of his latter-day affairs.
© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo
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Bob Dylan, Composer - Bob Dylan, Harmonica - Bob Dylan, Lyricist - Bob Dylan, Performer - D. DEVITO, Producer - Dom Cortese, Acordeon - Don Meehan, Engineer - Emmylou Harris, Background Vocal - Howard Wyeth, Drums - Jacques Levy, Composer - Jacques Levy, Lyricist - Lou Waxman, Recording Engineer - Luther, Congas - Rob Stoner, Background Vocal - Rob Stoner, Bass - Ronee Blakley, Background Vocal - Scarlet Rivera, Violin - Stan Kalina, Mastering Engineer - Steve Soles, Background Vocal
(P) 1976 Columbia Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment
Bob Dylan, Composer - Bob Dylan, Harmonica - Bob Dylan, Lyricist - Bob Dylan, Performer - Bob Dylan, Piano - D. DEVITO, Producer - Dom Cortese, Acordeon - Don Meehan, Engineer - Emmylou Harris, Background Vocal - Howard Wyeth, Drums - Jacques Levy, Composer - Jacques Levy, Lyricist - Lou Waxman, Recording Engineer - Rob Stoner, Background Vocal - Rob Stoner, Bass - Scarlet Rivera, Violin - Stan Kalina, Mastering Engineer
(P) 1976 Columbia Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment
Bob Dylan, Composer - Bob Dylan, Harmonica - Bob Dylan, Lyricist - Bob Dylan, Performer - D. DEVITO, Producer - Dom Cortese, Acordeon - Don Meehan, Engineer - Emmylou Harris, Background Vocal - Howard Wyeth, Drums - Jacques Levy, Composer - Jacques Levy, Lyricist - Lou Waxman, Recording Engineer - Rob Stoner, Background Vocal - Rob Stoner, Bass - Scarlet Rivera, Violin - Stan Kalina, Mastering Engineer
(P) 1976 Columbia Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment
Bob Dylan, Composer - Bob Dylan, Harmonica - Bob Dylan, Lyricist - Bob Dylan, Performer - D. DEVITO, Producer - Dom Cortese, Acordeon - Don Meehan, Engineer - Emmylou Harris, Background Vocal - Howard Wyeth, Drums - Lou Waxman, Recording Engineer - Rob Stoner, Background Vocal - Rob Stoner, Bass - Scarlet Rivera, Violin - Stan Kalina, Mastering Engineer
(P) 1976 Columbia Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment
Bob Dylan, Composer - Bob Dylan, Harmonica - Bob Dylan, Lyricist - Bob Dylan, Performer - D. DEVITO, Producer - Dom Cortese, Acordeon - Don Meehan, Engineer - Emmylou Harris, Background Vocal - Howard Wyeth, Drums - Jacques Levy, Composer - Jacques Levy, Lyricist - Lou Waxman, Recording Engineer - Rob Stoner, Background Vocal - Rob Stoner, Bass - Scarlet Rivera, Violin - Stan Kalina, Mastering Engineer
(P) 1976 Columbia Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment
Bob Dylan, Composer - Bob Dylan, Harmonica - Bob Dylan, Lyricist - Bob Dylan, Performer - D. DEVITO, Producer - Dom Cortese, Acordeon - Don Meehan, Engineer - Emmylou Harris, Background Vocal - Howard Wyeth, Drums - Jacques Levy, Composer - Jacques Levy, Lyricist - Lou Waxman, Recording Engineer - Rob Stoner, Background Vocal - Rob Stoner, Bass - Scarlet Rivera, Violin - Stan Kalina, Mastering Engineer
(P) 1976 Columbia Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment
Bob Dylan, Composer - Bob Dylan, Harmonica - Bob Dylan, Lyricist - Bob Dylan, Performer - D. DEVITO, Producer - Dom Cortese, Acordeon - Don Meehan, Engineer - Emmylou Harris, Background Vocal - Howard Wyeth, Drums - Jacques Levy, Composer - Jacques Levy, Lyricist - Lou Waxman, Recording Engineer - Rob Stoner, Background Vocal - Rob Stoner, Bass - Scarlet Rivera, Violin - Stan Kalina, Mastering Engineer
(P) 1976 Columbia Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment
Bob Dylan, Composer - Bob Dylan, Harmonica - Bob Dylan, Lyricist - Bob Dylan, Performer - D. DEVITO, Producer - Dom Cortese, Acordeon - Don Meehan, Engineer - Emmylou Harris, Background Vocal - Howard Wyeth, Drums - Jacques Levy, Composer - Jacques Levy, Lyricist - Lou Waxman, Recording Engineer - Rob Stoner, Background Vocal - Rob Stoner, Bass - Scarlet Rivera, Violin - Stan Kalina, Mastering Engineer
(P) 1976 Columbia Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment
Bob Dylan, Composer - Bob Dylan, Harmonica - Bob Dylan, Lyricist - Bob Dylan, Performer - D. DEVITO, Producer - Dom Cortese, Acordeon - Don Meehan, Engineer - Emmylou Harris, Background Vocal - Howard Wyeth, Drums - Lou Waxman, Recording Engineer - Rob Stoner, Background Vocal - Rob Stoner, Bass - Scarlet Rivera, Violin - Stan Kalina, Mastering Engineer
(P) 1976 Columbia Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment
Album Description
If Blood on the Tracks was an unapologetically intimate affair, Desire is unwieldy and messy, the deliberate work of a collective. And while Bob Dylan directly addresses his crumbling relationship with his wife, Sara, on the final track, Desire is hardly as personal as its predecessor, finding Dylan returning to topical songwriting and folk tales for the core of the record. It's all over the map, as far as songwriting goes, and so is it musically, capturing Dylan at the beginning of the Rolling Thunder Revue era, which was more notable for its chaos than its music. And, so it's only fitting that Desire fits that description as well, as it careens between surging folk-rock, Mideastern dirges, skipping pop, and epic narratives. It's little surprise that Desire doesn't quite gel, yet it retains its own character -- really, there's no other place where Dylan tried as many different styles, as many weird detours, as he does here. And, there's something to be said for its rambling, sprawling character, which has a charm of its own. Even so, the record would have been assisted by a more consistent set of songs; there are some masterpieces here, though: "Hurricane" is the best-known, but the effervescent "Mozambique" is Dylan at his breeziest, "Sara" at his most nakedly emotional, and "Isis" is one of his very best songs of the '70s, a hypnotic, contemporized spin on a classic fable. This may not add up to a masterpiece, but it does result in one of his most fascinating records of the '70s and '80s -- more intriguing, lyrically and musically, than most of his latter-day affairs.
© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 9 track(s)
- Total length: 00:56:10
- Main artists: Bob Dylan
- Composer: Bob Dylan
- Label: Columbia
- Genre: Pop/Rock
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24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo
(P) 1976 Columbia Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment
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