I flew to England on the day of it's release, so I download the deluxe edition from iTunes before I left. I spent the week meeting up with friends I haven't seen since the start of the pandemic, drinking a load of beer and going on long walks along the coast with the album on repeat. Good times.
I couldn’t agree more when you said that the Empire Burlesque tracks are a revelation. It would be interesting to have a “stripped down” version of this album like the Lennon Estate did with “Double Fantasy” a few years ago.
One of the things that puts this at the top or close to the top of the list is I wasn’t expecting it to be so damned good..I did get the deluxe edition and it was worth every penny…I am loving it..❤️❤️👍👍glen
I love the maturity and complexity of Dylan post 1960s, and am constantly amazed at the quality of some of his work that did not even make the albums (though it's often better). Bootleg 3 (in series 1-3) is up there for me as one of the greatest Dylan ''albums'. This new set is also stunning. Great tribute John!
A real helpful breakdown and review of this latest edition from the Bootleg Series. Like ANOTHER SELF PORTRAIT, TROUBLE NO MORE and even TELL TALE SIGNS, #16 sheds light on another misunderstood period in Dylan's discography. He seemed to be trying out a lot of different styles and approaches but unsure which ones should make the grade. As a result, many worthy tracks were left in the can. After listening to your praises, I'll be sure to seek this one out. Thanks, John!
Thanks for this review! Really looking forward to it - there's.certain aspects to all these records that help make the sum total of Bob truly brilliant!
In the booklet did you see Arthur Bakers comment that he didn't want to remix Empire Burlesque. Being a Dylan fan he wanted to un-mix it and keep the mixes raw but the record company hired him to remix it so he had no choice. Of course, Bob was not the only artist whose talent and art was sacrificed for that 80s sound and need for a hit record (Press To Play, most of Bowie's 80s records, for example). But its great to now have the opportunity to hear these tracks as they were recorded.
Hi John, I know that you may not get credit for these reviews because everyone has another list of favourites. This one made me but it but this although I have all the others and would have bought it anyway. This not only turned me on to reappraise Bob´s 80¨s output but other vlogs made me reappraise the ´Christian´period (which IMO, as yours, sunk in quality over the 3 releases) but more so, other vlogs about Bob´s 2000´s output made me dig in again. I am talking about original albums not cover albums but there is an amazing repertoire of slow songs (fast ones just seem to be fillers). So, I have had Bob in the CD compartment of my car since this. Thanks. And of course, I don´t agree with your Bowie list...haha.
I've already own some of these tracks on bootleg form. thru the years. So it's great to own these tracks on a official release. Plus i love the sleeve notes. It might be in my top 3
I love this period too and like you John, Infidels was the first Bob album I bought at the time of release. Moreover, I would really recommend the 5XCD deluxe version, it's an absolute treasure and well worth it.
Similar to you John I've recently been reading Clinton Heylin, and specifically Volume 2 of his song by song analysis 1974 -2008. Whilst a lot of the extra tracks on this release are referenced in the book the omissions still make you wonder what other delights lurk in the vaults, which even bootleggers haven't managed to track down. In particular Too Late is not referenced at all by Heylin, although admittedly it could be seen as an early prototype for Foot of Pride lyrically...
I'm increasingly getting annoyed by Sony only issuing multitrack remixes and ignoring the mixes which were done at the time... one of the biggest crimes along these lines is Sony still not having released the 'test pressing' mix of "Idiot Wind" despite raiding the outtakes from Blood On The Tracks for Biograph, Bootleg Series Vols 1-3, and the 6 CD deluxe version of More Blood, More Tracks! On More Blood, More Tracks they went back to the multitrack tapes and used the correct take for the test pressing mix and selected the wrong organ overdub (the test pressing mix has a magnificient backwards Hammond organ part). Mark Knopfler handed in a mix of Infidels which he thought was ready to be mastered and released and then Dylan recut a lot of the vocals and got engineers to remix the backing tracks. The deluxe version may have been the idea place to let us hear Mark Knopfler's original mix of Infidels but none of his mixes of the original Jokerman, Blind Willie McTell etc have been utilised here. They have totally emasculated New Dansville Girl with the new remix, and to a lesser extent the alternate version of Jokerman compared with how they sounded on the rough cuts bootlegs. Also infuriating is Sony's decision to not include stuff available on lots of bootlegs (Man of Peace, alternate mixes of I&I from Infidels, the excellent Trust Yourself and a few others from Empire Burlesque album and several outtakes has appeared in bootleg form before Arthur Baker was called in to work on the sessions and remix the songs) and using an earlier take of Angel Flying Too Close To Ground than the version issued as a B-side (they did the same thing with Trouble In Mind on the Trouble No More deluxe set as well), Julius & Ethel is also stripped of its overdubs found on bootlegs CDs when there is plenty of room on the 5 CD set for the new mixes they found and used or remixed alongside higher quality studio mixes made at the times these albums were recorded. In a few places they have fixed mistakes left in the rough mixes found on the well-known bootleg releases (Dylan's laugh a few lines into Blind Willie McTell, when he sings the wrong lines in the final chorus of New Dansville Girl), but why can't the use the bootleg mixes as references for the fresh multitrack mixes? On New Dansville Girl they have banged up the volume on mandolin parts and guitar fills which were in the background of the original mix and lowered the main drum, Hammond organ and electric guitar parts which carried the song and gave it its dynamic. It's a shame that after buying a 5 CD version if you want to hear Infidels outtakes you are still better served in terms of the number of outtakes by the 2CD Rough Cuts bootleg (25 outtakes compared to 21 on the 5 CD set) and for Empire Burlesque you are better served by the Naked Empire bootleg (16 tracks compared with 10 on the 5 CD set). And another thing... you buy the 5 CD set and then find out they have released a Blind Willie McTell 7" single with an unreleased band take not found on either Bootleg Series 1-3, or the 5 CD set here!
Shot of Love is a great album that the critics (and most of the fans) hated. It had that live in the studio sound like Street Legal, another album I love but the critics savaged (although it seems to be up for reappraisal now). I don't know why the SOL outtakes were included on this collection, they should have been part of Trouble No More. They really have nothing to do with the Infidels and Empire Burlesque stuff.
My two favourite Bootleg series editions are the Rolling Thunder Revue , and Tell Tale Signs . This sounds like another one that I should explore. Thank you for the review !
The vinyl edition is great package. You get less tracks but good selection of material. I would interested to hear the version of Infidels Mark Knopfler would have issued
I wound up getting not only the 2 LP set, but the Third Man Records 4 LP . They are all different tracks and act as companion pieces. It's such great material I would highly recommend both!!!
Really great review ... enjoyed listening to the 2CD set on Qoboz and will get the deluxe when the price reduces a wee bit ... the Empire album was always full of great songs that just "worked" for me ... the stripped back versions let the songs "breathe" ... would love to get a remixed version of Street Legal era to go with this set and Trouble No More (which is also a keeper) ... oh and would it be too much to ask for a couple of the '78 shows... one with the slowed down, majestic, version of Tangled Up in Blue .... and a belting Love Her With A Feeling ...
I only have access to the "Sampler" on Spotify, and, it's very spotty. Only 2, maybe 3 songs I will listen to again. "Fur Slippers" is great! Totally disagree on that. Very unfortunate choice to put those songs on the Sampler. Makes me doubt the rest of the album.
I got the deluxe edition and was a bit disappointed to be honest. I think the two disc edition is the way to go, as the deluxe tracks are definitely lower in quality. (Sweet Caroline for example)
After listening again, my opinion has changed completely! I don’t like every track, but there are a number of songs on the deluxe edition that are just amazing: Jesus Met the Woman at the Well, We Just Disagree, Abraham Martin and John, I Wish It Would Rain, Let It Be Me, Julius and Ethel, License To Kill (Letterman show)
