New Morning (studio album) by Bob Dylan

Just okay really. Poor production and no real stand out songs. Dylan still looking to get his mojo back. It'll take another 5 years.

From rockinsteve 07/07/2018 22:51

I REALLY like this album/cd. It took a few listens to appreciate this one. I guess the best thing about it is Bob actually sounds HAPPY in this collection of songs. "If Not For You" is my favorite, but I like quite a few of the other songs as well. Definitely pick this one up if you're a fan of Bob's music!

I kind of like his simpler style, this one is a spiritual follow-up to Nashville Skyline, with a country vibe and slightly gospel.

From Brandon8 08/15/2017 02:56

I rate this album as another classic. With at least 3 great songs. If Not For You was later covered quite well by George Harrison. The overall vibe is warm and happy. Some offbeat tunes. The Title track is rousing. The Man In Me later used in the Big Lebowski. If you are looking to go deeper into Dylan's catalog this is a good one to grab.

From Repo 05/19/2017 21:54

UNITL IT BECOMES PART OF YOU

This is my third time trying to review this album. My first review started with…

It’s sorta ironic that this was viewed as Dylan’s comeback album after the supposed debacle of Self-Portrait. Because Self-Portrait towers of over it and makes this album feel sort inconsequential & light-weight. Self Portrait teems with life and ideas and unpredictability whereas this sounds like the standard fare country/California rock that was popular at the time.

Well I quickly realized after a few more spins the error of my ways. I was falling quite enchanted with the variety & relaxed vibe of the album. I concluded that my impression was just plain daft. That it was just a different sort of album and that my expectations after the brilliant, mercurial mess that was Self Portrait were just too high. That this was a different affair entirely but totally lovable & cuddle worthy.

So… My next review started with…

This is a mediocre Dylan album. This is an AMAZING album.

I thought it was kinda funny & perhaps even a little witty. Pointing out that Dylan is sort of a God and that even his lesser albums are treasures. I think Mercury summed it up best in a PM to me with …

Oh and yeah I totally agree on "New Morning" it's not peak dylan, yet it's so warm, natural, unassuming, and just unegotistical, so that gives it all that offhand beauty. Even lesser dylan is DYLAN and so is amazing! (but lets not speak of godawful dylan, sad!)

BUT, then something funny happened. This album took over my life. I got the crave to play it every single morning while I fixed my morning cup of coffee for WEEKS. I’ve easily listened to this fifty or so times in the last two months. And I realized something. This is not lesser Dylan. This is peak Dylan! This is Dylan at his most relaxed and unassuming. Just having fun and letting all his influences show and imbue this laid-back country rock record. And I’m a huge fan of country rock from this period. And this easily stands with the best of them.

So I learnt something crucial. Something that I knew well back in the days when I didn’t have every single record ever recorded available to me at the push of my finger. Back when I was teenager. Life way before Spotify existed. And Napster was not even a thought. That’s there’s a great benefit to just plunging into one or two records at a time. Unveiling their layers. Living with them and letting them become a part of you. Instead of being constantly driven to find that next record. Less can truly be more. And in the years since Napster dawned, I forgot this. I forgot how magical those records I bought in the 80s and 90s became for me because I would play them constantly. Over and over again. Until they became a part of me. And I a part of them.

Grade: A. This is yet another five-star Dylan album! It’s a different animal than a lot of his other highly touted albums. Why? Because Dylan’s happy! So it’s warm. It’s playful! Dylan was clearly at peace with himself and that peace comes out of in the relaxed vibe of the songs and feel of the album. What stands out again is Dylan's love of music. All kinds of music - ragtime, blues, jazz. The stuff he grew up with and listened to probably on one of those old-time radios with one crummy speaker. But this time in a very cohesive manner that flows just perfectly. There’s great variety among the tracks here and each one is delivered with love, care and the utmost attention to detail that is revealed upon repeated listens. So let this album become a part of you. Let all albums become a part of you. And this album becomes a part of my chart all the way up at number 15.

Dylan's lightning quick follow up to the strange, self portrait, album. I wonder if Bob felt a little embarrassed or even guilty about it's release. Anyway, new morning, turned up just four months after portrait, and is certainly Dylan's best album since, John Wesley Harding, well, better than, self portrait, anyway. It starts breezily enough with the folk/pop of, if not for you, a nice track. It's the start of a very diverse album, possibly Dylan's most eclectic of his career. Standouts are the glorious title track, one of my all time Dylan faves, the wonderful, man in me, and, the interesting, day of the locusts. Oddball moments include,winterlude, a sweet little waltz that I can imagine Elvis singing it in the mid-sixties, and, if dogs run free, a cocktail jazz number, with female scatting in the background, while Bob talks over the top of it. I also like, three angels, and, went to see the gypsy. A good album, nothing spectacular, but certainly one of Dylan's more interesting albums.

Not one of his stronger records from this period. The material is fine but the production is muddled. It just doesn't jell together. Some outstanding tracks on here though.

I put this in the bottom tier of Bob albums. It starts off strong with the lead of track but then seems kind of average to me.

From Mercury 11/26/2013 22:42

26 November 2013

This album starts out in such a way as to be sorta boring. But as it progresses, some really unique shit goes down. Really good album. The album sounds at times a bit to content on here which prevents it from really blowing me away. And the production is another qualm I have - it just sounds weak and frail.

There are some real standouts here. "If Not For You" is so sweet, the lyrics are sorta silly and the production here suffers that same frail quality I remarked on before. But something about the song sounds so happy and genuine I can't help but love it. "If Dogs Run Free" is a surprise. It's a strange jazzy affair. Pretty cool in a weird way. The strangeness and Dylan's classic, talking delivery makes it sound like something that would come off The Basement Tapes. "Three Angels" also has that unique and beautiful Basement Tapes feel. "New Morning" is also quite joyous and beautiful. "The Man In Me" is excellent! The organ is great, the lyrics are beautiful and true, Dylan's vocals are immaculate and emotive, and the piano and band just kick ass! This is the greatest moment on the album.

All in all it's a record which is pretty solid. Not a classic, but pretty excellent at times.

Grade: 79/100

From RoundTheBend 03/08/2013 20:43

For some reason I keep getting influences from others on this album... or maybe my music history sucks and I hear his influence on them. Hearing a lot of Van Morrison on this one for example.

It is too bad the level of performance on this album wasn't on earlier ones. Bpb actually sounds good here. Maybe because a lot of it is piano? But, his vocals sound better executed.