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TIME
OUT OF MIND won the 1998 Grammy Awards for Album Of The
Year and for Best Contemporary Folk Album. "Cold
Irons Bound" won the 1998 Grammy for Best Male Rock
Vocal Performance.
This album by the quintessential singer-songwriter comes
after a long layoff from recording original material.
Dylan's previous two albums were powerful collections of
traditional songs, and the album that preceded them was
full of some rather iffy original tunes, so all eyes were
on Dylan to make one of his patented surprise comebacks.
As luck would have it, that's exactly what TIME OUT OF
MIND turns out to be. Produced by Daniel Lanois, who
manned the boards for Dylan's best latter-day album, OH
MERCY, this one has the kind of raw, spontaneous vibe that
serves Zimmy's music so well.
Loss and world-weariness abound in the lyrics, and Dylan
articulates these emotions perfectly, in a manner that
seems simultaneously casual and precise. Songs like
"Standing In The Doorway" and "Million
Miles" are bathed in sorrow and emotional desolation,
but are so well-crafted that their solipsism is
irresistible. An all-star cast including Ry Cooder and
Duke Robillard provides the sparse, rough-edged, bluesy
accompaniment that casts Dylan's compositions in the
perfect musical light. Bob's back!
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