Love
and Theft review
Perhaps
no other musical artist has reinvented himself more often, and with
such wild oscillations, than Bob Dylan. From his shocking the staid
folkie world at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival with an electric set
to his evangelical rock of the 80s, no one could accuse Dylan of
being stale…or predictable. So, it should have surprised no one
that Dylan, some sixty-odd years old, should release some of his
most vital and interesting music to date; first with 1997’s
Grammy-winning Time Out of Mind and then 2001’s superior
follow-up Love and Theft.
With Love and Theft, Dylan harkens back to tried and true
forms of music to serve as vehicles for his strongest lyrics since
his 60s and early 70s heyday. These are words with bite and swagger,
candid tenderness, playful humor, clear description, and direct
insight into the human condition. Of course, what would a Dylan
album be without colorful characters steeped in American folklore?
There is plenty on this record, much to the delight of the listener.
“Floater (Too Much to Ask)” sees Romeo and Juliet shuffling
through the American South and a narrator who “left all his dreams
and hopes buried underneath tobacco leaves,” and album-opener
“Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum” finds these two shady characters
in and out of all sorts of mischief and bizarre happenings.
Autobiographical references are peppered throughout the record, but
nowhere more effectively than in the wonderful “Mississippi,”
where Dylan is reflecting on past relationships, accomplishments,
and failures.
Musically, Love and Theft is astounding, largely due to
Dylan’s best-ever backing band, but also to Dylan himself, who
produced the record under the pseudonym Jack Frost. This is music
with a lively pulse rooted in America’s past; blues, shuffles,
swing, folk-rock, rock-a-billy, and even touches of 20s and 30s
tin-pan alley. Dylan managed to capture a sparkling and wonderful
live feel on every track, thereby avoiding the often heavy-handed
production of Daniel Lanois in Time Out of Mind. On “High
Water (for Charley Patton),” Dylan and the band sound like a
nomadic acoustic jug band observing the end of the world, while on
“Summer Days” they challenge even the most stubborn wallflower
not to dance with glee. Even Dylan’s vocals, which traditionally
have proven to be an obstacle for the listener, cackle with a raspy
and wise intensity. His phrasing and dynamics are truly inspired and
seem to pay homage to the late-great Louis Armstrong.
Like all great music, the listener can find something new upon every
listen to Love and Theft. Certainly, this record can be
placed confidently alongside Dylan’s other great works: Blonde
On Blonde, Highway 61
Revisited, Blood on the Tracks,
The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, and Bringin’ It All Back
Home. Whereas most artists from his generation have fizzled out
into irrelevant dinosaur-rock acts, Dylan has successfully
reinvented himself for a new century while keeping the past close at
hand; and as he sings in “Summer Days,” he “knows a place
where there’s still something going on.” We can all count
ourselves lucky to sit back and patiently see what he will do
next.
Grade A
By Kevin Hartman
There is a limited
edition version of Love and Theft with a second disc that
includes:
1. The Times They Are A - Changin' (Alternate version from 1963)
2. I Was Young When I Left Home (Previously unreleased from 1961)
