Hard Rain - Bob Dylan

This a live album from the Rolling Thunder Revue Tour of 1975, where Dylan went on the road accompanied by various folk musicians - violinist Scarlett Riviera, folksinger Bob Neuwirth, amongst others. The result, while solid, is a long way short of his best work. The 2002 Bootleg Series release of Rolling Thunder era performances, is in my opinion, a far superior document of this era. Not to say there is nothing here of worth, my main complaint would be that many of the songs closely associated with the Rolling Thunder Revue, 'Just Like a Woman', 'Sara', are absent here. The heavy reworking of 'Shelter From the Storm' is probably the best thing ...  Read the complete review

Hard Rain is a live album of the second leg of the rolling thunder revue from 1976, which details some of the songs Dylan played during the concert, although it came under criticism for its depiction of the tour when the group was beginning to lose steam. But I have always found this a good listen for the strength and emotion that Dylan put into his performances on the two nights that this was recorded over. The two nights I am referring to are May 16th and 23rd 1976, when they were performing in Colorado at Hughes Stadium. This was also released as a one hour special on television, but was again not whole heartedly received by critics and viewers. Now that ...  Read the complete review