oh mercy

i've always had a line in the sand with bob dylan. i've had it for a long time. i wasn't going to invest in any of his work post the 1976 album 'desire'. i'd heard a few things and didn't feel like it was for me. i've read plenty of articles that confirm the output was not up to par and this includes all the material from the latter half of the 1970's and the entire 1980's and much of the 1990's.

the album 'oh mercy' first came to my attention in the book 'bob dylan: chronicles'. the book is his first hand account of several important points in his life. the recording of oh mercy is one of those stories. it's hard to imagine bob dylan with nothing to say. but this is where he was at in 1989 when the opportunity to get back into the studio was broached to him. you listen to his output from the 1960's and it's unlike anything you've ever heard. the stream of conscious lyrics somehow plant themselves right in your brain and you understand what he's saying even if you can't totally explain it or understand it. the dropoff actually begins earlier than the late 1970s. it starts with the albums 'new morning' and 'planet waves'. these were the first bob dylan albums i listened to that i thought, what is going on here? nothing is really being said. they just exist. but for what?

he turned up the effort for 'blood on the tracks' and 'desire'. but it was gone after that. songs here and there turned up. but the misguided production efforts turned much of this material into the obvious work of a confused artist. oh mercy however comes to life. he worked with daniel lanois, famous for working with u2. the songs have strength. they breathe. these are bob dylan songs.

i'm going to keep exploring this material. i've already heard some of it that i know i'll probably never listen to again. but maybe 'infidel's', 'street legal' or 'slow train coming' have something i'm missing. it's bob dylan. it's worth the effort.