Rolling Thunder (Desire - Bob Dylan)

Member Name: simoncardwell

Product:	Desire - Bob Dylan
Date:	14/06/09 (8 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: 'Hurricane'

Disadvantages: never quite gels

'Desire' is Dylan's odyssey into collaboration, a joint effort with a large band of travelling musicians, coined as the Rolling Thunder Revue. The group included violinist Scarlet Rivera, vocalist Emmylou Harris & folky Bob Neuwirth, the album came on the back of a huge tour around the music halls of America & Canada,

Dylan works with the musicians assembled here as much as he has with anyone barring The Band, the result is a very, very good album, which just falls short of being considered amongst his very best work.

'The Hurricane' is Dylan's flawless, near nine minute tribute to wrongly imprisoned boxing contender Rubin Carter, & is the best track here, although others including 'Isis' & 'Joey' also rank high.

Dylan finally directly addresses the failure of his marriage in closer 'Sara', in typically Dylanesque fashion, & while the album never fully gels, it maintains more than enough life of it's own to make it worthwhile as another path in Dylan's sprawling career.

Summary: Very good, but not great