This series seems to be in a bit of a trend: slightly disappointing followups to albums that were really important to me. 2001's "Love and Theft" is easily the best 21st century Dylan album & will probably be his last great record. Modern Times was the 3rd in his career renaissance trilogy, before the critical acclaim started to dry up with 2009's Together Through Life. I remember the excitement of buying Modern Times (I got the deluxe edition that came as a bound book with an extra DVD of music videos) more than I remember the actual music, which is never a good sign.
Modern Times isn't a bad album, but it has 2 problems: it's a bit too reminiscent of "Love and Theft", & the lyrical topics feel more questionable to me than they did back in 2006. Just like Gwen Stefani with The Sweet Escape, Dylan saw how big a hit his last album was & set about trying to recreate it. So opener "Thunder on the Mountain" sounds like "Summer Days," "Spirit on the Water" sounds like "Bye and Bye," "Beyond the Horizon" sounds like "Floater," etc. Granted, Dylan has never been much for innovating melodies, but back-to-back albums haven't sounded so samey since the '70s Self-Portrait days. I think he knows it, since on "Someday Baby" he reflects, "I keep recycling the same old thoughts," over a repetitive blues arrangement: no chorus chord changes, no bridge, just a few wispy solos that come & go like the wind.
On lyrics: essentially, the album breaks down like this: half apocalyptic, half sexist. I will not comment here on the lawsuit against Dylan for having allegedly groomed & assaulted a minor back in the '60s, because there isn't enough information, but I will say that I am willing to believe the accuser & it is not inconsistent with Dylan's overall record. For every epic, beautiful love song he's written, he's written another song that is really unkind to women. Here on Modern Times, he hits us with an early-album 1-2 punch of songs on the same raggedy old topic: I-can't-help-loving-her-even-though-she-treats-me-like-shit. "Spirit on the Water" has a deceptively gentle instrumental that almost distracts you from the sneering lyrics. "Rollin' and Tumblin'" is more direct in its misogyny, opening with the line "some young lazy slut has charmed away my brains," and later declaring "this woman's so crazy, I swear I ain't gonna touch another one for years."
When the topic turns to eschatology later on in the album, the results are better. My favorites on this listen were "Nettie Moore," a soothing minimalist arrangement with regretful lyrics tinged with armageddon, the gospel-hued "When the Deal Goes Down," & the closer "Ain't Talkin'," an eerie Nick Cave-style apocalypse ballad that reminds me of Masked and Anonymous, that weird movie Dylan starred in back in 2003. On "Nettie Moore," Dylan sounds ready for doomsday, even though he wishes it didn't turn out that way. On "Ain't Talkin'," though, he practically welcomes it, recognizes that this is the only way our story could end, & speculating that whatever god we once had has turned its back on us: "there's no one here, the gardener is gone." Between these 2 songs, it feels like Dylan predicted the general malaise of 2020-22--or maybe it's just a reminder how little anything really changes.
1 comment:
I am very excited and pleased to see this one pop up. I haven't revisited it in awhile either, and I never listened to it quite as much as Love and Theft or Time Out of Mind. It may feel somewhat fresh and new to me.
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