Audio CD review:
Bob Dylan - Street Legal

Bob Dylan - Street Legal

Band: Bob Dylan Title: Street Legal Rating: Release Date: 01 June, 2004 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Changing of the Guards 2: New Pony 3: No Time to Think 4: Baby Stop Crying 5: Is Your Love in Vain? 6: Seņor (Tales of Yankee Power) 7: True Love Tends to Forget 8: We Better Talk This Over 9: Where Are You Tonight? (Journey Through Dark Heat)

Customer Reviews STREET LEGAL IS A BOB DYLAN TREASURE ! (interesting and colorful R&B/gospel songs with a Spanish flavor) No, they don't sound anything alike, as one is country-folk and the other is gospel/R&B rock with a Spanish flavor. Bob Dylan's Street Legal (1978) has a lot in common with his Blood On The Tracks album. What connects the two albums is Dylan's commitment to the music as a singer, and that both albums feature the best musicians he has ever worked with. On both albums, Dylan is on his best behavior, rising to the occasion, and delivering the best vocal performances of his career. Street Legal is a metaphor-filled, emotional, enigmatic, and mystical journey of urgent and profound requests for information. My favorite song on the album, and one of my favorite Bob Dylan songs, is Senor (Tales Of Yankee Power). Starting out like an atmospheric sequel to Knockin' On Heaven's Door, it's a southwestern tale of intrigue, and a one-sided conversation with Senor. As the song progresses, it becomes apparent that Senor is God. Let's overturn these tables, disconnect these cables This place don't make sense to me no more Can you tell me what we're waiting for, Senor? God is also mentioned in the rockin' blues New Pony, with a sharp Dylanism. That God you been praying to is gonna give you back What you been wishing on someone else. No Time To Think is a Spanish horn-filled warning of political/personal calamity. Lovers obey you, but they cannot sway you They're not even sure you exist The songs weave in and out of colorful historical yarns and current personal issues that don't always seem connected. Street Legal is not always easy to piece together, but it's always a pleasure to listen to. There is plenty of excellant electric guitar, Hammond B-3 organ, and saxophone on the album, and nearly every song includes prominent soul-singing female background singers which creates an R&B/gospel atmosphere. Personally, I place Street Legal in my own "Bob Dylan Top Three Albums". It's that good, especially if you adjust to the unique and interesting song arrangements. Street Legal is Bob Dylan as you've never heard him before, and it's also Bob Dylan at his very best. End Of A Cycle Dylan's preoccupation with pagan and mythological imagery soon gave way to Christian themes, but SL finds him still conjuring dragons and gypsies, witches and voodoo doctors. Street Legal ends the cycle begun with Planet Waves, which produced two of rock's greatest albums, Desire & Blood On The Tracks. The lyrics are extraordinarily dense on most of the songs, with a few simple love songs relieving the weight of the balance. The LP sounded as if the recording was made in a public bathroom and pressed onto damp cardboard - the Remaster sounds tight, live and clear. Well worth rebuying if you have the older CD! Highlights: Changing of the Guard, New Pony, Senor, Where Are You Tonight?. Street Legal/Bob Dylan I consider it among some of the best of his masterpieces. This is a very good album. . You can see a complete list of all Bob Dylan discography, or go back to the Bob Dylan tabs