Bob Dylan - Together Through Life Review

Posted by Mitch Michaels on 04.30.2009

The most iconic figure in popular music returns with an all new album that proves he still has some surprises up his sleeve after nearly 50 years…

My Story
I’ve been a Bob Dylan fan since high school, I believe after hearing “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35” on the awesome Forest Gump soundtrack. From that point forward, my brother and I amassed a huge Dylan album collection in just a few short years. From standards like Freewheelin’ to unappreciated classics like Oh Mercy to forgettable detours like World Gone Wrong to bootlegs like Dylan’s set from the tepid Woodstock ’94, we just could not get enough Bob Dylan. Each song was both a revelation and a mystery. A triumph and a tragedy. From the silliness of “Quinn The Eskimo” to the piano-driven truth of “Paths Of Victory”, Bob Dylan just has a way of making songs that are BIG, with big ideas, big hooks and big aspirations.

When Dylan released 1997’s haunting classic Time Out Of Mind, I believe our love for the man’s music was at its peak. I still would place that album as one of my Top 25 CDs of all time, with its evocative themes and poignant production. It was a return to form for a man who had been down a million paths and lived to tell stories about them all.

Since then, Dylan’s been a constant elder statesman on the rock scene. In the 2000’s, Dylan has released two albums – the very unremarkable ”Love & Theft” and the #1 album Modern Times. Neither release has captured the vitality of Time Out Of Mind, but both have explored a timeless sound. On this new record, his third of the millennium, many say the man is heading back to his roots. Will it be a big change worth hearing or just another interesting chronicle for your collection?

The Album
On April 28, 2008, Columbia Records released Together Through Life, the 32nd studio album by Bob Dylan and the follow-up to 2006’s #1 hit Modern Times. The album is available on both CD and LP, as well as in a 3-disc package that contains the entire “Friends & Neighbors” episode of Dylan’s “Theme Time Radio Hour” show and a DVD interview with Dylan’s first manager, Roy Silver.


The Band: 8.5
Bob Dylan: guitar, keyboard, vocals, producer (as Jack Frost)

On Together Through Life, Dylan turns out a sound that can only be described as Americana dipped in a southern Bayou somewhere. Dylan brings in his road band to record the album which, by reports, was made pretty quickly. He also brings in friends like Los Lobos’ David Hidalgo to play accordion (the most prominent instrument on the album) and Mike Campbell from Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers on guitar and mandolin. When I read Mike was contributing mandolin, I got excited, but sadly it’s not featured on a lot of the tracks. Luckily, you can hear his unmistakable guitar licks throughout.

There’s no mistaking Dylan’s gruff vocals (at 68, his delivery hasn’t changed much since his 50’s), but there’s a slyness to them that conveys an obvious wink to his biggest fans. Rolling Stone describes the set as “pissed off”, but I haven’t heard Dylan sound this honestly playful in years.

When all is said and done, the sound of Together Through Life is nothing like you’ll hear on the radio these days (obviously). It’s dark, old and worn, but by no means outdated. Turning this record on is the audio equivalent of stepping through the doors of a bar and finding you’ve instead stepped through a portal in time. You’re intrigued, confused and ready for an adventure.

The Songs: 7.5
1. Beyond Here Lies Nothin'
2. Life Is Hard
3. My Wife's Home Town
4. If You Ever Go To Houston
5. Forgetful Heart
6. Jolene
7. This Dream of You
8. Shake Shake Mama
9. I Feel A Change Comin' On
10. It's All Good

Together Through Life’s genesis dates back to the track “Life Is Hard”, which Dylan was asked to write for a movie called My Own Love Song, a Renee Zellweger/Forest Whitaker drama that is currently still in production. According to Dylan, things just snowballed from there.

Indeed, this album was one few saw coming. When the official announcement came out in March, the music media flipped that such a thing as momentous as a new Bob Dylan album could come upon us all so suddenly. It didn’t take long for yet ANOTHER huge revelation though – that Dylan co-wrote nearly the entire album with Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter. Dylan and Hunter had last written together on a couple of songs in the 80’s, but it had been over thirty years since Bob had produced an album that was largely co-written by anybody.

The result is a little breezy and a little gloomy. Death is a heavy theme, but there’s also a sense of loss and disappointment, whether it be in a relationship (“Life Is Hard”) or just life in general (“It’s All Good”). Luckily, unlike on Time Out Of Mind and other releases, there is some light to balance out the dark. “Shake Shake Mama” is as close to a 50’s dance hall throwaway as Dylan’s ever written and “My Wife’s Home Town”, written to the tune of Willie Dixon’s “I Just Wanna Make Love To You”, is the most fun Dylan’s been in decades (“I just wanna say that hell’s my wife’s hometown”). Same goes for “If You Ever Go To Houston”, which feels like a sequel to the classic folk song “Midnight Special”.

If you’re looking for Dylan the protestor, look elsewhere, but there are still plenty of little nods here and there to life in the 2000’s. And that’s the interesting thing about Bob Dylan to this day – that he can make an album rooted completely in its place and time that still sounds completely out of place.

The 411: With the combination of a short production time and a fresh second set of songwriting ears, Together Through Life turns out to be Dylan’s best album of the decade. It’s not as vital as his heyday, but it feels like Dylan’s best shot at getting the sound he’s been pursuing since Time Out Of Mind right. It’s got a great band and atmosphere to spare. The songs are introspective, but also fun and it’s nice to see Dylan is still having fun doing this after fifty years – and still able to surprise even his most avid fans.

Final Score:  8.5   [ Very Good ]