Customer Reviews

Together Through Life

5 star:		(52)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(22)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Journalists are fond of calling the last 3 Dylan albums a "trilogy". At the very least, Together Through Life should lay such notions to rest. By now, Dylan fans should have come to understand their avatar's impulsive & elusive nature. Something as premeditated & pretentious as a "trilogy" is not in the cards. So let's leave that at the door.

No, this isn't another "masterpiece". It casts any such expectations aside like a snake shedding its skin. Dylan mythologists will salivate & proclaim it genius & discerning critics might dismiss it in light of the acclaim Modern Times recieved. But without a doubt, Together is just as inspired as anything he's cut since 1997's Time Out of Mind.

A few things set Together apart. David Hidalgo's accordion lends a definite Tex Mex quality to the proceedings. Where Dylan's previous offerings seemed steeped in the mythology of the Old South, Together gives you the impression of being set in an endless string of Texas boarder towns.

Overall, the production is grittier & more intimate to the point of being nearly claustrophobic. Listen to it through ear phones & you're likely to come away with a different experience than on the stereo.

Another thing that characterizes Together is its obsessive focus on a single theme. These are all love songs. From the romantic abandon of Beyond Here Lies Nothing to the sarcastic resignation of It's All Good, herein lies a long, winding road from infatuation to betrayal, to bitterness to restless farewell.

Highlights include Beyond Here & It's All Good which bookend the album. Both are rollicking & upbeat while still holding on to a brooding intensity. Other standouts are the wistful Dream Of You and My Wife's Home Town which somehow manages to switch hats between humor & anguish. Listen closely & you can hear Dylan chuckle mid song.

Most notable is Life Is Hard. The fragility in Dylan's delivery is for lack of a better word, moving. When he rises from his signature rusty growl to wary heights of his upper register it's enough to put a lump in your throat. As for the likes of Shake Shake Mama, it might come off as filler, till the line, "I get the blues for you baby when I look up at the sun".

Together Through This Life may not be as sprawling & epic compared to what came before. Nor will it have the same milestone impact of Time Out Of Mind. But for this fan, "it's all good" even if it's not proclaimed a masterpiece. At the very least its a solid effort, proving he's still in the saddle & not quite ready to let go of the reigns. I do have the sense however, that on down the line, Together might just prove to be a unique gem in Dylan's formidable 46 album catalogue.

Sixty-eight years and 33 albums in and Bob Dylan seems bigger than ever.
Dylan's 33rd studio album comes packaged with a CD of tracks from his delightful radio show, "Theme Time Radio Hour" -- an appropriate union given that his latest has a similar old-time feel and would fit in perfectly the next time he turns DJ.
The CD has reignited interest in Dylan as a relevant artist of our times, as opposed to a legendary antiquity.
"Together Through Life" is characterised by a loose swing and prominent accordion. He has assemble here his warmest, most unforced, set of songs in recent memory.
The album is a beautifully played collection of antique, urban blues pop.The ghosts of the great Chicago bluesmen haunt these song structures.
The results have been compared to the vintage Chicago blues sound of Chess Records.
A warm, wheezy accordion (played by David Hidalgo of Los Lobos) lends a borderline Tex Mex flavour.
At least half of the songs are wry, even slightly comic tales of ordinary American lives of desire, heartbreak and remorse.
For sure,the lyrics, co-written with poet Robert Hunter, a "non-performing" member of The Grateful Dead, won't intrigue the academics but the head-nodding grooves of "It's All Good" and "If You Ever Go to Houston" will appeal to more basic instincts.
The single song, "Life is Hard", written and recorded for Olivier Dahan's forthcoming film, "My Own Love Song" (it's about a road trip to Memphis undertaken by a wheelchair-bound singer and her best buddy) "proves an incongruent trigger for such a bluesy album, its lap steel and mandolin carrying one of Dylan's most uncomfortably pitched croons". -Independent
"There is nothing as epic or as playful as "Highlands" or as plaintive as "Nettie Moore", nothing with the weight or depth of those late Dylan songs that possess the resonance of the great blues and folk ballads he loves. By the end, you may feel that you are listening more to that strange whispery croak of a voice than to the words themselves". - Sean O'Hagan
Dylan sounds gruffer and less nasal than on his last one, Modern Times, approaching Tom Waits territory on "My Wife's Home Town".
Yet the album shocases Bob Dylan in fairly relaxed, spontaneous mood, content to grab such grooves and sentiments as flit momentarily across his radar. So while it may not contain too many landmark tracks, it's one of the most naturally enjoyable albums we may hear all year.
Album's highlights: "Beyond Here Lies Nothin'", "It's All Good", "I Feel a Change Comin' On", "Forgetful Heart", "My Wife's Home Town"

I've only had a couple of listen throughs, but so far its all good. If you're a real fan of Dylan than you'll like this one. My feeling is that this album is a bit of a sleeper album. It seems like the more you catch his lyrics and how things are phrased the better the songs seem to become. I'll only highlight one song and thats "Shake Shake Mama", just a good song that captures some of what Dylan channels into his music. Other than that I'll let you decide and add that we all may not have the same shout out songs, but there guaranteed to be one that catches your ear. Enjoy.

I wanted to be patient in reviewing this album so my review doesn't seem like an immediate praise of an album possibly undeserving simply because of my deep appreciation of the artist and all of his work from the past.So yes I am a huge Dylan fan anyway,but gave "Together through Life" a few months to grow on me before jumping to any drastic conclusions.And I must say I believe it to be a classic every bit as deserving as "Modern Times" or any other album for that matter.I do know that this album is quite a left turn from the last, and the last one was without a doubt a late career masterpiece by Bob.I also believe that because of this a lot of people are saying that it is a solid effort,but not quite as good as the last one.Though they are entitled to their opinion too I disagree strongly and think they might be having a little "Stage Fright itis".(the third album by "The Band" notoriously underrated)Maybe this is not a better album,but it is certainly as good as the last one.And having given it a few months to grow on me it sounds to me like Dylan is on a musical roll.His vocals have a punch to them that I have not heard for a while and other people have noted that his delivery of the lyrics is an art in itself.You know it's funny people never give Dylan credit for being a good singer yet the man does things with rhythm and emotion that a thousand "good singers" could not dream of."Beyond here lies Nothin" is as good of a start as "Thunder on the Mountain" was for "Modern Times".The instrumentation rocks,but is subtle at the same time and the way he sings "Nothin but the moon and Stars" is worth a million bucks.Another thing about this album that I have noticed is that the song's are shorter in length."Beyond here" is about 3 and a half minutes and many others are around that length too."Life is Hard" is a gorgeous ballad with a very emotional voacal that can easily get stuck in your head."My wife's home town" is a cool bluesy song with neat guitar and accordian.The accordian is featured throughout the album yet never overwhelms the song and nothing can grab my attention more than when Dylan sings "She's got stuff more potent than a gypsies curse!"I don't want to go into detail over every song on the album,but I will say their all classic's."Jolene","Shake Mama Shake","I Feel a Change Comin On",every song will grow on you if you let them.I always listen to music before I go to work and I am very picky over what I hear while sipping coffee before a day at work.I've listened to this album almost every day before work and always seem to have them stuck in my head while i'm there.I am not praising this album simply because the man is a legend,it is full of poetry and musicianship of the highest order and above all sincerity.Bob Dylan's heart goes into his work and I do believe he is on a roll right now.If you doubt it you should check out some of the live footage of him from the Rothbury festival."Together through Life" is an inspired album by an inspired artist.Their are now rumours of a Bob Dylan Christmas album.Don't know if their true,but I do know BOB DYLAN IS ON A ROLL,WATCH OUT!

I saw him perform this album, this fall, at Berkeley.
I saw him perform in the autumn of his career.
And I have mumbled to myself since.
Two things get better with time: wine and Bob Dylan.

Sepehre Naficy

Loves it. Seems to be more of a piece than his previous three albums. Small but perfectly formed. Something for everyone. His deep,dark humour is more personal, more intimate (who am I kidding? As if! He's just sucked me in, again, hasn't he?) In fact it's less dark. How can such a tough mind be so very tender, delicate, sweet? Apparently he's reading James Joyce. Maybe it's affected his language. The songs are as playful and iridescent as 17th century metaphysical poets. Stand back if he gets into Proust. Maybe he already has?

Hell is My Wife's Home Town makes me grin like an idiot every time I hear it. On first playing, the hearing-impaired good old boy on my sofa didn't quite catch the lyrics, so wasn't laughing, leaving me wondering whether I, being so overjoyed at receiving the disc, had fallen into a trippy uncontrollable laughter spasm, but I was relieved to hear Bob's own silly giggle at the end. I'm still smiling. The sophisticated, silky arrangements (including some plain weird sounds, mama, oh yeah!) are as tight, supple and silky smooth as Beyonce's jeans and almost as lyrical. The entire thing is beautiful. I'm giving it the complete thrashing and cannot listen to anything else.

But he's got to give up the fags. After all, like Paris Hilton (Heaven help them both), he is a ROLE MODEL for me. Yeah. ROLE MODEL. Seriously, somebody get him to stop smoking.

I was born in the early fifties, and grew up with much of Bob Dylan's music. His reputation as a poet, musician, and American musical icon, are well-deserved. Still, it's been a while since he put out an entire album's worth of music I can enjoy listening to, start to finish.

With Together Through Life, Bob Dylan continues to expand his sound, and he has written some terrific, evocative lyrics, which his burlap-wrapped voice complements very well.

So--why only Three Stars? Maybe I've outgrown his music. More likely, though, his music has outgrown me. I miss him in pure singer-songwriter mode, where musical accompaniment--guitar, harmonica, silence, pauses--embellishes his lyrics, punctuating the poetry and prose. For my tastes, all the extra instrumentation here detracts from the music and the messages. And if I close my eyes, I can even sometimes hear Tom Waits, rather than Bob Dylan. Tom's a good guy, but not my cup of tea--thus another star takeaway. That's why I rate this album with only Three Stars.

Long-time Bob Dylan fans continue to enjoy the expanding horizons of his music. Not me. Like his contemporary, Neil Young, I most enjoy the Bob Dylan who plays to the strengths which initially drew me to his music: A beautiful ragged voice and visionary prose, paired with guitar, and spare harmonica. I'd love to hear him return to his roots.

I must admit I was slightly let down listening to this new Dylan CD. Perhaps my expectations were too high after three brilliant and diverse albums in a row (Time Out of Mind, Love and Theft, and Modern Times). This album has some good songs, and some that are rather forgetable. The overall vibe is loose, playful, and laid back, much like 1974's "Planet Waves." Standout tracks include the opening "Behind Here Lies Nothin'," the bittersweet "Forgetful Heart" and the bitingly funny "It's All Good." All but one song here was co-written with Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, and I must say sometimes the lyrics seem not quite fleshed out, or just unfocused. While I like the Tex-Mex feel on many of these tracks, I have to wonder if we needed acordion on EVERY song. It gets a little monotonous, especially on a track like "If You Ever Go to Houston," which sounds a bit repetitive. It's nice to hear Dylan relaxed and having fun, but some of these sound more like ideas for songs than finished product. Recommended for any fan of Dylan's, though it's not the place to start for newer listeners.

There was one review, and I can't remember for the life of me where it was (Rolling Stone?), that characterized this album by saying "while it won't make a dent in Dylan's massive canon, you're unlikely to hear a more enjoyable album this whole year" and that is 100% true.

This record is not unlike Springsteen's album Working on a Dream in that they were both made rather quickly, with the artist fascinated with specific genres (Springsteen with lush pop sounds, Dylan with Americana) and the effect of both is pure fun. You can really hear on this album how much Dylan enjoyed himself ("My Wife's Hometown," "It's All Good," "Shake Shake Mama," among others).

It's worth it especially if you're a casual fan. There's nothing overbearingly "Dylan" about this album and you could really have a good time with some of the songs. The die-hards will enjoy it too, though they must keep in mind that he wasn't aiming for this be another Blood on the Tracks.

Nothing that will change the face of music, just pure joy and fun.

This is a great 33rd studio album, titled "Together Through Life" by the legendary prolific folk rock singer-songwriter Bob Dylan : a collection of ravaged love songs in the unmistakeable craggy voice of Bob Dylan in the blues fashion reminiscent of the hey days of the American Blues. Notable songs include "Beyond Here Lies Nothin'", "If You Ever Go To Houston", "I Feel A Change Comin'", "Shake Shake Mama" & my most favourite track of the lot "This Dream Of You"(just under 6 minutes of musical beauty & pleasure of a song), hence the title of my review. If you like Bob Dylan's music you like this release as the legend does it the American Blues way as he only can!