|
|
AA |
Bob Dylan - Keyboards, Vocal, Guitar, Harmonica.
Mick Taylor,
Tad Perlman,
Sly Dunbar,
Robbie Shakespeare,
Richard Scher,
Carol Dennis, Queen Esther Marrow, Peggi Blu,
Mike Campbell,
Benmont Tench,
Don Heffington,
Bob Glaub,
Bashiri Johnson,
Chops,
David Watson,
Madelyn Quebec,
Howie Epstein,
Jim Keltner,
Ron Wood,
John Paris,
Anton Fig,
Syd McGuinness,
Alan Clark, Debra Byrd,
Al Kooper,
Stuart Johnson,
Ira Ingber,
Vince Melamed.
|
|
One album
removed from his so-called "Christian" period,
EMPIRE BURLESQUE foreshadowed Bob Dylan's studio modus
operandi for the rest of the 1980s. It forsakes cohesive
lyrical and sonic visions for the chance to be all things
to all Dylan fans, many of whom proclaimed it as his
greatest work since BLOOD ON THE TRACKS; thus, grumpy
apocalyptic proclamations, statements of absolute faith
(physical or spiritual?) and credos of self-awareness all
get equal space. Yet, even as hip-hop producer Arthur
Baker's heavily glazed mix makes all these songs digitally
shine, the overall feel is of a songwriter committing
every thought hastily to tape, lest the thought change
shape.
And as these thoughts come pouring out of Dylan's head,
the choir-like background vocals (some combination of
female singers appears on over half the album's tracks)
add a dimension of otherworldly testimony to his words. It
seemed that, having found the righteousness of The Word,
the bard of modern songwriting was now investing all his
recordings with such zero-sum fervor.
|
