Together Through Life

This is an extraordinary record. The sound that Dylan is making both vocally and instrumentally is unique. It sounds like nothing else around: who would have thought that the accordion (forever, to British ears at least, associated with cheesy French songsters like Charles Aznavour and Maurice Chevalier) could ever swing like it does on 'Together through Life'? Even Dylan's ruined voice sounds amazing: his phrasing has never been better and there are some pretty good tunes, as well as lyrics that make you laugh out loud - 'Down by the river, Judge Simpson walking around/ Down by the river, Judge Simpson walking around/Nothing shocks me more than that old clown' Hard to beat.

Of the last four Dylan records, "Together Through Life" resembles "Modern Times" the most, and the hard-edged "Time Out Of Mind" the least. Mid-tempo blues shuffles, organic, rootsy arrangements. Not as varied (or indeed as strong) as albums like "Blood on the Tracks" or "Blonde on Blonde", but you can't really expect lightning to strike THAT many times in the same spot.

And "Together Through Life" is a worthy addition to Bob Dylan's catalogue, no doubt about that. "Together Through Life" mines the same ore of pre-rock n' roll Americana that characterized "Modern Times" and "Love And Theft" especially. Dylan has written his own set of mordantly funny lyrics for Willie Dixon's classic blues "I Just Want To Make Love To You". He gives a rather impressive vocal performance, all things considered, on the acoustic ballad "Life Is Hard", and comes up with a swaggering rhythm and blues-groove for "Shake Shake Mama". And the stylish, syncopated rocker "Beyond Here Lies Nothing" is a terrific opener, one I'd love to hear played live.

The CD, a conservative ten tracks and 45 minutes, is well and realistically produced by the famous composer Jack Frost, also known as Robert Allen Zimmerman.
The music is dominated by traditional instruments, if you will...guitars, drums, bass, the occasional accordion, a banjo here and there, a mandolin, a steel guitar. The band is tight, completely in synch, sounding like they already played these songs for years on end. And I'm stubbornly sticking to my claim that Bob Dylan can sing. He doesn't have much of a singing voice, especially not now at almost 68, but he can still sing, and he does. Those who have heard him perform his songs as tuneless, mumbling noises or shouts devoid of all melodic appeal need not worry, he sings with his usual flawless sense of melody and timing, delivering ballads and blues with equal confidence.

"Together Through Life" is not a political record. It's occasionally romantic, occasionally wry, occasionally darkly humorous, and quite often acerbic. Titles like "I Feel A Change Comin' On" and "It's All Right" may sound like political statements, but they're not. Quite the opposite. in fact:
"-Well now what's the use in dreaming, you got better things to do. Dreams never did work for me anyway, even when they did come true" croaks the last true giant of the dying music business. The acidic zydeco-rock of "It's All Good" even includes the ironic lines "Big politicians telling lies, restaurant kitchen all full of flies. Don't make a bit of difference, don't see why it should...it's all good!"
Take that, starry-eyed hopefuls. Have you noticed how the Dylan of latter-day promotional photographs is starting to look more and more like the Devil...?

Dylan manages to be both sentimental and cynical here, moving between utter romanticism ("as long as you stay here with me the whole world is my throne") and bleak despair ("all night long I lay awake and listen to the sound of pain. The door has closed forevermore if indeed there ever was a door...").
But the music is consistently warm and swinging. There are strands of Tex-Mex, folk, pre-war pop, and country here to go with the blues and the rock n' roll and the sarcasm, and if "Together Through Life" isn't the strongest, most remarkable batch of songs Dylan has ever delivered, it is a well-arranged, atmospheric, melodic, and consistently satisfying one nonetheless, one which will look at home on any Dylan-fan's shelf (or wherever you keep your CDs).
4½ stars. Go get one, why don't you?

It's interesting, the wide ranging opinions on this and the last few Bob albums.... Whichever reviewer said 'stop at Time Out Of Mind' as the rest is drivel' must have cotton wool in their ears - as did Daniel Lanois when he produced Time Out Of Mind... That album had 4 great songs on it, 1 very good one and the rest is pretty dull and sounds like it was recorded through a wall.
Love and Theft was far better and for my money, Modern Times was better still. I can't see what is 'dull' about it and still listen to it regularly.
This one however, is a bit dull.... It's alright, it's got a couple of very good songs, it sounds like they had a good time making it, it all sounds fine because the band are good, but there is a distinct lack of depth to 'Together Through Life', which ensures that, while I'm pleased to have heard it, I know I won't still be playing it regularly in 2012.
There are two reasons for this. Firstly, the mining of old blues tunes has started to sound tired and secondly, the decision to write with Robert Hunter has ensured that the lyrical quality is not sufficient to take your eye off the afore-mentioned, tired-sounding musical framework.
Hunter is no Dylan, but seems to try to be, so we get faux Dylanisms which Bob would never have written. Songs such as 'My Wife's Home Town' and 'It's All Good' sound kind of dumb, rather like 'Silvio' and 'The Ugliest Girl In THe World' from 'Down In The Groove', co-written with...erm... Robert Hunter.
The dilution of Dylan by Hunter diminishes the intelligence, artfulness and emotional impact of the words, and the 'adapted / adopted' melodies aren't strong enough to compensate for this. I've enjoyed my few listens, but if I were dumped on the proverbial desert island with one of the last 4 Dylan albums, I would be considerably happier in the company of 'Working Man's Blues No 2' and 'Nettie Moore'

As a foot note, I noticed there were several reviews on here before the album came out, saying things like 'This should be good' or 'this won't be good as it's too soon after the last one. I don't know why someone would think it was helpful to adorn the REview section with their guesswork regarding the possible quality of something they haven't heard yet.