Customer Reviews

Love & Theft (Hybr)

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Like caviar and oysters perhaps this recording is an acquired taste...and it needs several hearings to fully appreciate, after which it becomes addictive; it has a down-home Mississippi muddy feel that makes it Dylan's grittiest album, and one of my favorites. His voice sounds like freshly poured gravel, adding to its charm and old time blues quality.
The musicianship is extraordinary: Larry Campbell is fabulous on guitar, violin, banjo and mandolin, as is Charlie Sexton on guitar, Tony Garnier on bass, Augie Meyers on organ and accordion, and David Kemper will knock your socks off on drums.

The songs are melodic and words poetic and powerful. The CD insert is a single sheet fold-out, so does not include the lyrics, but they are worth searching out to read and relish the brilliance, see the light and darkness, hope and affliction, and the balance of humor. "Po' Boy" even has a knock knock joke:
Knockin' on the door,
I say "who is it and where are you from ?"
Man says "Freddy !"
I say "Freddy who ?"
He says, "Freddy or not, here I come".
There is greatness in this CD, even though it might not seem so with casual listening. Plumb the depths and it will reward you. Total playing time is 57'30.

It's hard to believe the powers that be saw fit to remaster this album and not Time Out Of Mind, considering that this was only two years old when it got the super audio treatment. Nevertheless, the album does see improvement on the SACD layer. Listen to the old and new versions of "Sugar Baby" and you'll know that you're now in the presence of a superior recording, one that captures more fully the grit in Bob's voice and the tone of instruments that, in places, can't even be heard on the original pressing. The producers make another interesting choice here: rather than pulling the vocals out of the mix and running them through the center channel, as some of the other 5.1 mixes in the remastered series do, they remain on the front speakers, buried in the band as befits this, the most band-reliant Dylan album in a while.

As for the actual music, it didn't get all that critical acclaim for nothing. The passage of time may have dulled the "This could be his best ever" rhetoric, but Love and Theft is still a high point in the Dylan catalog, among his most consistent and listenable records. Despite being released on, of all days, 9/11, this isn't a socially-important record like his earliest work, but it's easier to put in the player and enjoy without so frequently pondering injustice; it isn't a stunning heartbreak record like Blood on the Tracks, but you can tap your feet and sing along to "Summer Days" and "Honest With Me." There's room for all of those sides of Bob Dylan in his catalog, and hearing him explore this side, and mine the history of American music for sonic gold, is well worth the price of admission.

I must admit that I was not a huge Bob Dylan fan,mainly because I'd never had the time in my hectic past to fit him in to my already crammed music repertoire.I own a lot of music and it was only after upgrading to SACD that I decided to investigate the great mans catalogue by way of the career defining 16 disc SACD box set(a great way to pick up a large slab of his recorded output,you get ALL of the 2003 remastered Hybrid SACD's with original artwork in Digipak format!).Bob Dylan - Limited Edition Catalog Box Set

I've finally reached the end of the box set and found this gem of an album.Phew that's a lot of music to get through.From "The Free Wheelin'..." to "Love And Theft" is quite a listen and as so many reviewers before me have already written,Bob is not what you would call a predictable listen.This album however is definitely a standout for a couple of reasons.

Firstly,like five other titles in the box set,this album is in 5.1 surround sound as well as high def 2.1 stereo SACD and standard CD stereo.The engineers involved in the original recording did the surround mix and have made great use of the technology giving you a sense of being in the middle of the band while the sessions were put down.This recording is a must for anyone who owns an SACD player.Awesome!

Secondly,for someone like myself that does not own every sound the great one has made,it is a good way to bookend the man after hearing him start out with not much more than his voice and an acoustic guitar,then plugging in,going electric,Traveling down "Highway 61" to find "Blood On The Tracks" left by the "Infidels"{for someone who does not really like country music,"Nashville Skyline" was a real challenge}..and ending at the pinnacle of his recent output,"Love And Theft".What a way to finish off such an epic journey!

Finally,about this album,I think it finds Bob,now inducted into the Hall Of Fame,more comfortable with his position in the galaxy of great musicians/songwriters of our time,if not all time.He playfully jumps from style to style right through the album.I never thought I'd hear Bob do lounge music or swing for that matter,but he deftly handles all genres with incredible ease that leaves the listener wondering if there is any style out of range from this great songwriter.I doubt that and honestly believe that he could give any of todays maufactured Idol's a quick left hook and drop them to the musical canvas.To top it all off,the band backing him on this album,which I believe is his current touring outfit,are all great artisans in their own right.Nothing short of total professionalism all the way!

As of this moment I consider myself a Dylan convert.I immediately bought the fantastic Martin Scorsese film's "No Direction Home" and "The Last Waltz".Awesome movies!And Bob's current release "Modern Times".

I believe this album was originaly released on 9/11 2001.I find it quite amazing that,by pure coincidence,I first listened to it on that same day,six years later which compelled me to write this appraisal.

He was always there somewhere in my collection.Bryan Ferry's version of "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" is one of my faves.And being a huge Beatles/George Harrison fan,I've always owned the Wilbury albums(who could ever forget "Tweeter And The Monkey Man"}and the "Concert For Bangladesh".My other music hero,Sir Elton John,believes Bob to be the best song writer EVER.High praise indeed from rock royalty.The only draw back of the aforementioned box set is it's left out a few albums that I'm now going to have to track down.Looks like Columbia Records will be getting some of my dollars over the next year or two.

Dylan Rules!

This is my favorite Bob Dylan albulm period. Thank you Bob Dylan. Only you could capture the value beauty of human experience the way you did on this albulm and deliver it in such a sweet and gritty way.

Bob Dylan never fails to deliver. In this brilliant collection, you're reminded of his versatility and vigor. In the year of 2001, if you had only three CDs to buy, let this be one of them.

This is another one of those albums that half of the "reviewers" aren't really going to review, they're just going to tell you how moronic the other reviewers' opinions are.
A lot of people are going to insist upon loving this album to death, calling it Dylan's greatest achievement ever, and a lot of others are going to give it two stars and talk about how overrated and overly hyped it is. And none of them are going to write very much the album itself.
Seriously, guys...just review the damn CD, okay?

"Love And Theft" is a good album. It's not a masterpiece along the lines of "Blood On The Tracks" or "Bringing It All Back Home", and it doesn't have quite as many truly original or memorable songs as "Time Out Of Mind" either.
But it is a solid collection of songs...Dylan is backed by a very good band, his way with words is still unmatched, and his cracked whisper of a voice possesses a lot of character. He may not have much of a voice, but he is actually a really fine singer.

There are a few pedestrian songs here; the kind you can't quite recall once they're finished playing. But the good ones certainly outnumber the mediocrities, like the excellent "Mississippi", a vintage Dylan song which must be destined for classic status, the utterly charming "Bye And Bye", the 30s-styled acoustic pop of "Moonlight", the swinging "Po' Boy", and the banjo-pickin' (!) "High Water Everywhere (For Charley Patton)".

This is quite a gritty collection of songs, sparsely produced, mostly acoustic, and without the studio gloss that ruined some of Dylan's late-70s and early 80s albums. Drawing from blues, folk, and a little bit of jazz, country and prewar music hall, Bob Dylan has made a fine little record here, one that will grow on you if you give it some time.

This is easily Dylan's best release since 1974's BLOOD ON THE TRACKS. I've waiting a long time to hear this great musician back in top form, and here it is. True genius, it seems, neither dies nor does it fade away. An american poet of unequalled talent. All the wonderfully abstract, cryptic lyrics that have been missing for so long are back. Vocals dragged down a gravel road and soaked in the Mississippi mud. A masterpeice! If you enjoy this man's early works, but have kept your distance for the last few decades, it is time to move in for a fresh listen. I don't think you will be disappointed. Like the man says, "As great as you are man, you'll never be greater than yourself"
Thanks, and enjoy,
Tom

Bob Dylan was all but written-off as a vital, viable musician in the 1980s. But the last 15 years have witnessed a gradual and stunning rebirth of this timeless artist. 1989's "Oh Mercy" was a good album that hinted of greater things to come. Dylan's 1992 and 1993 acoustic covers gave him a chance to delve back into the roots of his (and all) music. His last two albums, 1997's "Time Out of Mind" and 2001's "Love and Theft," stand as evidence of a legendary singer/songwriter coming gloriously back into his own.

I like "Time Out of Mind" an awful lot. Song for song, maybe it's better than "Love and Theft." But I prefer "Love and Theft" overall. Whereas "TOOM" is dark and brooding, "L&T" is a breath of fresh air. Bob's band is dead-on perfect here, leaping nimbly from blues to jazz to folk to rockabilly; and Bob's gravelly twang meets the music and the mood just as perfectly. I cannot describe how great it is to hear 60-year old Dylan (so famously prone to moroseness) sounding like a man and a spirit reborn. He gives his best vocal performance here in decades, finding rhythm in complex lyrics, where only he could.

I've always loved Bob's blues songs, and "Lonesome Day Blues" is one of his very best. "Cry A While" is musically fascinating with its stop-start tempo and inspiring lyrics. "Po' Boy" and "Floater" are quiet riots, stunning displays of Bob's vocal timing. (He's still got it, folks!) "Mississippi" is about as catchy as Bob gets these days. And the balance of the songs are wonderful, as well, though some work better live than they do on "L&T".

Anyhow, a great success for a great musician/artist. "Time Out of Mind" may have been Dylan's official comeback, but "Love and Theft" proves that "TOOM"'s success was no fluke.

I own every album Dylan has released except for a few of his less highly-regarded live ones such as "Dylan and The Dead." This is easily in his top ten if not top five, though the die-hard fossilized hippie types may dismiss it (as they tend to do with anything else he did after 1969 except Blood On the Tracks.)

His voice is rough but expressive, and all of the songs strike me as either highly entertaining or downright great. The lyrics lack the surrealism of the earlier "greats" such as Blonde on Blonde or Highway 61, but have a more incisive realism, full of pithy observations, humorous asides, and highly evocative, incisive phraseology.

The whole feel of the album is very "southern," seeming to speak in voices of old plantation hands, washed-up riverboat gamblers, retired sharecroppers, former Confederate soldiers, small-town romantics, gator-swamp rats, and the like. None too overtly, though - it's a more subtle kind of "feel" to the atmosphere than anything identifiably obvious. Even the instruments strike me as "southern sounding," though I can't describe why. It all tends to sound like an old folk-philosopher sitting on his front porch at sunset, dispensing rough gems of worldly wisdom and telling the occasional corny joke. Only the first song really avoids this feel, being a quick-paced and more surreal commentary on some ambiguous pair of losers referred to as Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee.

Also, the album is overall quite upbeat, unlike "Time Out of Mind." I feel that it is the best of his last five albums, though Time Out of Mind is close and Modern Times isn't bad either.

I bought "Love and Theft" back when it first came out, listened to it a few times, but never really got into it. I think that may be because I had mostly listened to Dylan's earlier material such as Blonde on Blonde and Highway 61 Revisited and wasn't quite used to his "older voice". It's a voice that you may have to warm up to. On his recent records, Dylan certainly doesn't have the vocal range that he used to. But his singing style certainly accommodates it.

Recently, I've been on a Dylan binge so I pulled out Love and Theft again along with Time out of Mind. Hearing it for the first time in a few years was almost as if I'd never heard it before. Now, I can't get enough of this album! It's a warm, funny, delightful and rocking album like none other Dylan has ever recorded. Dylan assembled what is probably his best backing band ever (no slight to The Band intended) and produced an album with really memorable tunes. Whether playing blues, jazz or rock the band is always excellent. The songs are some of the best that Dylan has written in the past twenty years. Mississippi may be one of Dylan's finest songs ever.

"Got nothing for you, I had nothing before
Don't even have anything for myself anymore
Sky full of fire, pain pouring down
Nothing you can sell me, I'll see you around"

It's one of the few downbeat songs on the album, which makes sense since it was actually written for Time out of Mind, a rather gloomy downbeat record. Summer Days is probably the closest thing to jazz that Dylan has ever done. Bye and Bye is (mostly) a sweet, simple love song. ("I'm singin' love's praises with sugar-coated rhyme.") Floater (Too Much To Ask) is one of my favorite songs on the album. It's kind of jazzy, but features an interesting violin "riff" too. High Water (For Charlie Patton) is also a highlight. My two favorite songs on the album are probably Honest With Me and Po' Boy. I think Po' Boy is one of the best songs Dylan has ever written. It's one of his brightest, most joyous, humorous songs ever. Cry A While is a great blues song, with great guitar playing from (I think) Charlie Sexton.

In all, Love and Theft is an excellent album. Musically, it may be Dylan's best. His band is excellent, and the songs are some of the most melodic that he's ever recorded. The lyrics are excellent as always, and there are many memorable lines that will stick in your mind. The only thing that might be an obstacle is Dylan's gravelly voice. However, you pretty much have to appreciate his voice to be a Dylan fan in the first place, so that shouldn't be an issue. I would highly recommend Love and Theft to anyone who wants the best of Dylan's recent recording work.