Bob Dylan: Shot Of Love - 1981
"The purpose of music is to elevate and inspire the spirit" - Bob Dylan
After two devoutly Christian-themed albums, Dylan slightly tempered down the devotional message with this third in the supposed trilogy.
It is accepted by many to be the best of the three.
It is certainly superior to Saved, but personally I prefer Slow Train Coming. A problem I have always had with the album is in regard to the sound. It has supposedly been remastered, but it certainly doesn't sound like it to me, certainly not in comparison with Slow Train Coming. There is a harshness to the sound that I have always found off-putting. I can never truly "get into" the album because of this. The next album, Infidels, sounded so much better. There are some fine songs on here, however, and I feel that if it had a better sound it would have been competing far more seriously with his crown jewels. As it is, it remains somewhat overlooked.
Let's check out every grain of sand....
Shot Of Love opens the album on a devotional note, but not a browbeating one, featuring some excellent gospelly backing and Dylan's convincing, passionate vocal delivered over an insistent, pounding mid-paced beat. It is solid stuff.
Heart Of Mine is a secular ballad, for the first time since 1978, and a good one it is too - tuneful and tender. I love the guitar and piano backing on it too. Some cynics have said that these non-religious songs were included on here to bring sales back up. I'm not sure about that, personally I just feel Dylan's religious zeal was slightly waning. Subsequent albums would seem to back this up.
Property Of Jesus was clearly a return to the Christian theme, though. It is sonically muffled and the beat is grinding and uninspired, sounding very much like a track from Saved, to be honest. It has some more excellent guitar at the end, though.
The stark, slightly hissy, piano-led Lenny Bruce is a mournful paean from Dylan to the "alternative" New York comedian. It was hailed by many as a "return to form". It has to be said it is a very moving, atmospheric song. Dylan gets all nostalgic for those old Greenwich Village days, and, for the first time, his voice shows real sings of the ageing croaky tone that would be with him for the rest of his recording career. It is a much "older" voice now, certainly even from that on Slow Train Coming. Funnily enough, Dylan's relating of the tale of Bruce was remarkably similar to that which he had been telling about Jesus Christ for the last few years
Watered-Down Love featured some funky-style guitar and a lively tune and vocal from Dylan. It was another "regular-secular" song, and another good one. It once again suffers badly from poor production, but it certainly was a bit of a relief to hear Dylan singing this sort of stuff again. He sounded lively and as if he were enjoying himself. He had started interjecting more and more non-religious material into his live shows too. Check out the Trouble No More "bootleg series" collection.
Another good thing was to hear him delivering a storming, searing slice of blues rock again, and he did this with the vibrant, rocking The Groom's Still Waiting At The Altar, which features some great bluesy slide guitar. The lines "She could be respectably married, or running a whorehouse in Buenos Aires..." was a thankful return to those great classic Dylan couplets of the past.
Dead Man, Dead Man was a religious, gospelly number with definite reggae tinges, parping saxophones, swirling organ breaks and an infectious, catchy beat. Yes, it is a devotional song, but, like the title track, was a damn good one. Again, Dylan sounds as if he is enjoying himself as opposed to finger pointing and didactically preaching. I really like this one.
In The Summertime is just gorgeous. A harmonica gives us our Dylan back as his voice comes in - mournful, sad, yearning, meaningful. Listening to this, it is as if the last three or fours year had never happened. I don't like the "return to form" cliche, but this really was one. "You were closer to me than my next of kin" - Dylan's voice just sounds so good at that point. One then knows why one sticks with him, through thick and thin.
Trouble is a warning of damnation, but again it is an appealing one - big, powerful, bluesy and potent. It has an exhilarating, thumping beat and more convincing backing vocals. It has a power to the sound and the delivery which is good to hear. Like Van Morrison, there is always a moment on each Dylan album when you think "wow". On this one it is with the beautiful Every Grain Of Sand.
Yes, it is devotional and hymnal, but is dignified, stately, soulful and deeply moving. Dylan's voice is resonant and the backing melodic and uplifting. As his harmonica comes in half way through, your soul rises. Dylan still has the power to do that.
Dating from this album's sessions are the gospel of Rise Again, the robust rock of Yonder Comes Sin and the very Slow Train Coming-style piety of You Changed My Life. None of these were chosen for the album, rightly or wrongly. There are also several excellent outtakes of songs that did appear on the album on the Trouble No More box set. They are all the match, or maybe the superior, to the ones eventually used. The tracks are Shot Of Love; Dead Man, Dead Man; Watered-Down Love and Every Grain Of Sand. Strangely, they all have better sound quality too.
Also notable songs from the time that showed Dylan going secular again were the wonderfully atmospheric Caribbean Wind (that admittedly contained the line "I told her about Jesus...") that contains references to Mexico and Curaçao that hint that Dylan the great traveller is back. There are two versions - a lovely pedal steel one on the Trouble No More box and the better known one from Biograph. On balance, I think I prefer the former.
Then there is the popular, much-bootlegged piano-backed ballad Angelina. This is what people think of as a "proper" Dylan song, full of intriguing lyrics and all that Dylan atmosphere - "...his eyes were two slits, make any snake proud...". You get the idea, lots of Western-esque images. It is an underrated classic.
Need A Woman is also from 1981 and is a most appealing, almost funky slow groover powered along by solid drums and some killer organ riffs. It would have been a great addition to the album, in my opinion. It is another real unearthed gem. Imagine what an album this would have been with these three on it.
NB - despite being supposedly "remastered" for the Complete Works Box Set, the sound still sounds slightly under par to me, a bit bassier but that's it. For me the only truly decent Dylan remasters are those released as "HDCD" remasters. They all have wonderful clarity and warmth of sound.
