Customer Reviews

Infidels (Hybr)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
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INFIDELS, Bob Dylan's 22nd studio album, was released in 1983 to largely enthusiastic reviews and critical response. The album was noted both for its strong, secular (!!) songwriting, and for its production which gave the songs a nice, clean sound. Mark Knopfler and Dylan gave INFIDELS a very tasteful, rather modern production, and sounds akin to Dire Straits' music, which isn't surprising. While not a phenomenal seller, INFIDELS did sell fairly well, however, and a lot of his fans were rather glad to see him backing away from the explicit Christianity he had been spouting for the last several years. While he never publicly renounced his Christian faith, it is true that, starting with Infidels, his song writing would never again be so open and so poignant about the Christian faith.

When he converted to Christianity in 1978, the public was both shocked and dismayed. Of all people, Dylan is now a professing Christian? Though much of the music in the early 1960s used the Bible as a reference point and moral compass, still his fan base was not receptive to him becoming a Christian. Then in the early 1980s, he only sang his Christian material and went on long tirades about his faith in concert. But this would only last for a few years. By 1983, Dylan was in was a strange place, both spiritually and professionally. He had just finished recording his Christian trilogy, where he was explicitly espousing the Christian doctrine (gotta serve somebody, after all). He took up with some Hassidic Jews, had his picture taken at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, and while not giving up his Christian faith, was still intent on keeping his Jewish roots alive. When the time came to record a new album, the music he wrote was no longer blatantly Christian, and ever since has distance himself from organized religion. [This however bears closer examination]

INFIDELS marks his return to (apparently) overtly secular music. This is the first secular music he had recorded since 1978's STREET LEGAL (though SHOT OF LOVE from 1981 had some secular songs as well). INFIDELS was greeted rather enthusiastically, largely because he was no longer singing Christian music, at least on the surface. Upon closer examination, however, we just see Dylan was more intent on [camouflaging his faith more.] making his faith a natural, background feature of the music, not the dominant, and sometimes overpowering, focus of his art.

Starting with "Jokerman" and ending with "Don't Fall Apart on Me Tonight," the album is rife with both Christian allusions and also steeped in Judaism as well. "Jokerman" has over thirty Biblical references as well. "Man of Peace" is easily the most identifiable Christian song, discussing the Anti-Christ and the End Times. "Sweetheart Like You" alludes to heaven and the streets of gold. While no longer singing only Christian songs, both Jesus, The Bible, and Jewish culture would continue to inform and be a major part of Dylan's work.


INFIDELS was also his most varied album in terms of subject matter in quite a number of years, ranging from pro-Israel foreign policy ("Neighborhood Bully"), comments on the downfall of unions ("Union Sundown"), intense, richly symbolic allegory ("Jokerman"), and gender relation comments ("I and I" and "Sweetheart like You"). The Israel song was the most explicitly political song he had written in years. Many critics were also rather surprised at the hostility Dylan displays toward space travel, almost to the point of it being an irrational fear. Some found "Neighhood Bully" rather crude and not that eloquent for getting Dylan's point across. "Don't Fall Apart on Me Tonight," a lover's plea, stands as one of Dylan's most heart felt moments on record.

Dylan's faith has always been a matter of interest to much of his audience. From the earliest part of his career in the early 1960s to 2006's MODERN TIMES, there's always been a strong, Jewish-Christian idea of morality running as one of the main undercurrents of his work, and INFIDELS, like JOHN WESLEY HARDING, has very strong ties to both Christainity and Jewish faith.

Naturally, the fact that INFIDELS is his secular return after three Christian albums is rather ironic. Dylan, being the musical genius that he is, rather than making his faith the most dominant thing about his music, instead went back to using it as the foundation and well-spring for his muse. Imagine his art as a forest. Christian and Jewish themes, present from the beginning in his work, come out of the forest and into a clearing, and Dylan put them on prominent display. With INFIDELS, he sends these elements of his work back into the forest of his art, still present, just not the only thing he wishes to portray.

Bob Dylan's faith is always present in his music, just not so explicitly drawn as on the Christian trilogy. Due to events as late as the recent concerts of the Neverending Tour, I personally believe Dylan still believes in Jesus, but just does not want to be pigeon holed and labelled. In 1997 when TIME came out, Dylan said in an interview that when it came to religion and philosophy, he learned his faith not from preachers and books but from the songs, and that's where he feels the most alive spiritual.

This review has dealt mostly with the religious and faith elements of Dylan's music, which is a discussion that can easily be book-length. One more thing should also be said of INFIDELS, that does not form part of that discussion.

The album is rather infamous among fans and critics for what the Dylan cut from the final sequence. The album as it stands has a nice flow and overall is a good album, but for many not a great one. Dylan deleted some of the strongest material from the sessions from the final running order, much to the horror of his fan base.

He recorded several songs that did not make the final cut. These are "Lord Protect My Child" "Tell Me", "Julius and Ethel", "Foot of Pride", "Blind Willie McTell", "Someone's Got A Hold of My Heart", "This Was My Love" (a cover), "Angel Flying to Close To The Ground" (a Willie Nelson song that was issued as a b-side on the Jokerman single), "Clean Cut Kid", "Death Is Not the End," and two instrumentals, "Dark Groove" and "Don't Fly Unless It is Safe".

Dylan would later revisit "Someone", "Clean Cut Kid", and "Death" on later albums. "Blind Wille" has become one of Dylan's most legendary outtakes, and for good reason. It's an amazing song. "Foot of Pride" is another Biblical epic that's a lyrical tour de force. "Julius and Ethel", about the Rosenbergs, is a great outtake would fit in well with INFIDELS as a protest song and has not been released to this day. "Lord Protect My Child" is a prayer, and "Tell Me" sounds like some of the more average songs that did make the album. There is also an electric version of "Blind Willie", much different than the officially issued take, that is rather fun to listen, though the BOOTLEG version is by far the most masterful and best take of that particular song.

Overall, several of these outtakes are as good, and in a few instances much better, than material that made the album. The album should have been made longer to include more of this material (it's only a little over 40 minutes), or even make it a double LP.

As for the cuts that did not make this album, I do concur that this is INFIDELS' single greatest weakness. The still unreleased "Julius and Ethel" is an excellent song, and the songs from THE BOOTLEG SERIES, especially "Foot of Pride" and "Blind Willie McTell," should have been definitely included on this album. All are excellent songs, and "Foot of Pride" especially ties into the Biblical imagery that runs throughout the album. If there is any dominant theme, it is that of infidelity.

Had the songs aforementioned been included, it would definitely join the ranks of the absolutely essential Dylan records, of which there are many. Instead, it stands as a post 1960s near masterpiece.

This is Bob Dylan for late at night. You've just gotten home after a long, pleasent evening and you are tired. You wanna listen to some music. How about Bob Dylan? Nah, don't wanna get to riled up right now...Put on Infidels. It is the 'chillest' Dylan out there (at least that I know of). When you don't want to think (Highway 61 Revisited), don't want to experiment (Another Side of Bob Dylan/Self Potrait) this is great.
Three best songs:
3: I and I. Very chill, reggae-ish. I'm looking forward to the version on "Is It Rolling, Bob?" the Dylan reggae tribute.
2. Jokerman. Ultimate relaxation right here. Jokerman dance...
1. Neighborhood Bully. A true rocker. The one way this album reminds me of that underappreciated (at least in my opinion) Dylan album Shot of Love is that they both have one song that everyone must agree rocks. "Neighborhood Bully" is that song.

This is one of my favorite Dylan releases. I recently purchased it after being a longtime fan of 'Jokerman', one of the most interesting songs Dylan ever wrote.

The instrumentation and sound are pure products of the 80's but the songs are not simplistic in the least. And let's face it. As much as I loved the music of the 80's the lyrics were usually simple and silly.

This is a great cd that remains a pleasure to hear and has all the confusion of rubik's cube when you start to try and figure out what Bob's trying to tell us.

I have very mixed feelings about "Infidels". I definitely think it is much better than the 2 albums that preceeded it, the painfully mediocre "Saved" and "Shot of Love" which came after the beautiful "Slow Train Coming". The lyrics are here are top-notch, and some of Dylan's best of the 70's. Elegiac, mournful, poetic and ironic in the vein of his best stuff. My main problem here is with the music. Too many of the songs are forgettable and lack interesting melodies and choruses. You listen to it a couple of time and nothing really sticks (except for the masterpiece "Jokerman"). Definitely will not dissapoint hardcore fans, but I'd recommend "Real Live" from 1984 which has Dylan doing a live show with the same band from "Infidels" except much better.

Dylan and Mark Knopfler Co-Produced this album along with another "Slow Train Coming" i believe.
But, this album just mops the floor with STC....
More guitar better licks and small solos through on this CD by Mark, but Mick Taylor also has his moments on this venture too.
Bob shines at his brightest when he has the right mood about him, so obviously he must've been in the right mood when producing/writing this masterpeice of 20th century sound.

It's immpossible for me to describe the elation i get listening to this album.

A must buy for Dylan fans.
Also a must buy for anyone who really listens to music and has any taste whatsoever.

Infidels took me a few listens to fully appreciate, but now I really love it and listen to it often. Of course, it doesn't compare to the heights of Blood on the Tracks or Desire, nor is it as stunning as the subsequent Oh Mercy, but it is a fine album that makes a very enjoyable listen. Right from the opening song, the excellent Jokerman, you realize that this is going to be a bit different from Dylan's usual sound. However, Dylan has reinvented his sound so many times that he really can't be said to have a distinctive sound. With its Caribbean rhythm, Jokerman is a distinctive song in Dylan's oeuvre. I particularly like that little bass thing right before the chorus kicks in. Another thing I like about this album is the "rambling" songwriting style. On songs such as Jokerman, Dylan just seems to ramble on and on about these completely unrelated scenarios and you often have no clue what he's talking about. That's not a criticism though, I find it very interesting. You never know what he's going to talk about next. There is a bit of political content here, yes, but I really don't think of Infidels as a political album. I think it's more cynical than political. I think Dylan is basically saying that the world sucks, and he wishes to wash his hands of it. Whether or not this is from a religious perspective is debatable. There are certainly religious references here, but they're not blatant like on Slow Train Coming and Saved. To be honest, I'm not quite sure what most of these songs are about. A couple are pretty obvious, such as Union Sundown and License to Kill, but I don't have a clue as to what Jokerman or I and I are about. It's okay though, Dylan doesn't often spell out the meaning of his songs. The music is great with Dylan getting support from Dire Strait's Mark Knopfler and former Rolling Stone Mick Taylor. Just like on the earlier Slow Train Coming, Knopfler's guitar is a musical highlight of the album. The rhythm section consisting of Robbie Shakespeare and Sly Dunbar is very tight as well. Excellent bass and drum work.

To get the complete picture, be sure to pick up The Bootleg Series Volume 1-3 which features several songs that were cut from the album. Those songs are just as good as the ones on the album, if not better. Particularly Blind Willie McTell, which any Dylan fan should hear as it is one of his finest songs. Foot of Pride and Lord Protect My Child are also great songs that were recorded for Infidels but left off. Of course, people will always say that Infidels would have been a much better album with these tracks included, but it's really pointless. Just appreciate the album for what it is, not for what it could have been. The missing tracks are all available now anyway so with the proper technology you could reconstruct the "better" version of the album if you so desire.

Infidels is one of Dylan's best albums of the 1980s. The songs are memorable and the music is great, even though the drums sometimes have that annoying 80s echo that I dislike. The lyrics are potent, the band is great and Bob's singing is quite good, though his lovely '70s voice was gone by this point. I wouldn't recommend it to a beginner, but if you're looking to explore Dylan's later years, Infidels is a great album to check out.

I really like the way "Infidels" rocks out. I also like the imagery in the songs, especially in "Jokerman." The just keep coming after you, burning themselves into you eyes, etching themselves into your hear, impinging themselves on your mind. Once heard "Jokerman" is never forgotten. Dylan has had several bands throughout his long and prolific career, but I think the group he has on "Infidels" is the best ever. You really feel that they click as a unit and the music is all the better for it. Some other songs I really like on "Infidels" are "Man of Peace," "Sweetheart Like You" and the album's closer, "Don't fall apart on me Tonight." "Infidels" is Bob Dylan at his very best.

Dylan's 1983 "Infidels" traded the outright in your face religious themes for a far more subtle approach. First of all, the word "Jesus" does not appear anywhere on this album (in sharp contrast to his previous three albums "Slow Train Coming", "Saved", and "Shot of Love"). Nor does "God". With some very salient exceptions, the album as a whole comes off as purely secular. And many listeners interpreted it as such following its release. They exhaled deeply and gave thanks that Bob had finally "stopped preaching". Not only that, Mark Knopfler's presence probably helped. By 1983 Dire Straits had a solid and burgeoning reputation as a distinctive rock/pop band (at least in the UK, and very soon in the US). A much less well known Knopfler had also worked on Dylan's 1979 "Slow Train Coming". So, following Dylan's maligned "Christian" albums, Knopfler's new found success probably lent some credibility to this album.

Appreciating "Infidels" as a non-religious work doesn't pose any great problems. It does include some brilliant songs, most notably the infectious "Jokerman" (often hailed as one of Dylan's best "late" songs) and the hauntingly ethereal "I and I". But other listeners dug through the lyrical strata and found boatloads of Biblical references. For example, "Jokerman" arguably contains thirty or more direct Biblical references (a quick search on the internet will reveal these). And theories about the identity of Dylan's "Sweetheart" in "Sweetheart Like You" abound. Suggestions range from Jesus to the Statue of Liberty. But a change in reference took place here. The lyrics on Infidels seem to point more to Judaism than Christianity. And of course at the time fiery rumors spread that Dylan had "re-converted" back to his heritage. To add to the speculation, the photo inside of "Infidels" shows Dylan kneeling at the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. So religion was very much still on the menu.

Not only religion, but unabashed politics also returned. Some claim that the raucous "Neighborhood Bully" supported Israel's invasion of Iraq and Lebanon. The lyrics leave some room for speculation, but they almost definitely refer to Israel. "License To Kill" bemoans humanity's killer instincts. It also contains the somewhat eyebrow furrowing line "Oh, Man has invented his doom, first step was touching the moon." "Man of Peace" rehashes the rather familiar message of a wolf in sheep's clothing while providing the album's most outright religious line: "Sometimes Satan comes as a man of peace." And the not at all bashful "Union Sundown" criticized the greedy side of globalization before the term "globalization" became a buzzword. It also professes that "Democracy don't rule the world, you'd better get that through your head. This world is ruled by violence, but I guess that's better left unsaid."

Inevitably, many hailed "Infidels" as Dylan's "comeback" even though nearly every Dylan album has received that title at one point or another. Overall, it remains a fairly solid album, especially in comparison to his 1980s output. Though it doesn't sit comfortably amongst his best work. Also, a growing number of fans mourn what Dylan ultimately left off this album. The offical bootleg series finally released these tracks in the nineties. But whether or not the album would have improved greatly or not by including these tracks remains speculatory and arguable. Different songs would have likely led to different production techniques, a different sound, etc. So it remains difficult to say. In the end, Dylan decided not to include these songs and the album is what it is. And it remains a good but not great Dylan album made more than worthwhile by at least two late classics. The eighties signaled tough times for Dylan. A string of uneven and unfelt releases followed until "Oh Mercy" finally broke through the gathering clouds. Dylan talks about this period in "Chronicles, Volume 1". But at the time "Infidels" signaled no storm or decline. It showed that Dylan somehow managed to survive the most maligned phase of his career. And he just kept going.

My problem with most of Dylans output of the 1980's (beggining with 1978's Street Legal) is the fact that it doesn't sound like Dylan. For numerous reasons, I guess. Dylan himself most of the time is hidden behind a huge band, or too many backup singers, or awful eighties style production.
If 1983's INFIDELS has one problem, it would only be the eighties production. And really, this is quality work for Bob Dylan, who manages to showcase himself, even though the music industry was obviously trying to destroy him. (They did this to just about every rock and roller who was cool in the sixties and seventies- electric drums? Synth?)
DYLAN is one of history's all time Jokermen, and he busts a nut all over the place on this bit. Opening with JOKERMAN, we see that Dylan has taken an almost R&B vibe this time around, it may take some getting used to, but this tune is chock full of classic Dylan lines. SWEETHEART LIKE YOU is another R&B type song, but good. The last track DONT FALL APART ON ME TONIGHT is very R&B, and these days may be compared to a Dylan style Boy Band song..."Come over here from over there, girl..." but with a lot more Dylan depth, so be aware.. I really like that tune actually.
Dylan rocks on this peice too though. MAN OF PEACE, is an excellent song, with it's Satan metaphor in the chorus. I like. UNION SUNDOWN was one I didn't care for at first but really rocks if you just let the album play. The band he had with him in '83 was pretty ace kickin' anyway, and had they made this album before the eighties drum echo craze, it probably could have been a top shelf Dylan. Check out LIVE 1984 to see how this three peice band really tore it up. I AND I has more great lyrics about his dealings with the ladies and (I saved the best for last) LICENSE TO KILL, a very mellow, but awesome Dylan track.
Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits is very evident on this disc also. Funny that early Dire Straits stuff sounds so Dylan influenced, this Bob Dylan actually sounds Dire Staits influenced... but I've never seen that as a bad thing. Still gets five stars in my book. Any Dylan fan should be able to appreciate this album.

One of my pet favorite Dylan albums and a return to form when it was released. The sound is excellent on the SACD release, much warmer than earlier CD releases. This release is in SACD stereo only, not in SACD surround like Blood on the Tracks. Still, an essential for the true Dylan fan.