Slow Train Coming
by Bob Dylan

From Mercury TOP 100 COMMENTER 05/09/2014 00:59 | #111243 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

Ah yes the "Christian Years". This is generally regarded as a bad time in Bob Dylan's career. Musically the music became very dramatic, religious, overbearing, clean and kind of self-righteous. And this is the album where it all got kicked off.

I'm not a big fan of the new thematic direction Dylan went with this album. I'm not anti-Christian but I just don't count myself as someone who likes hearing his idol preach da gospel. However, one of the best things about this album is the production is so great most of the way through that it manages to distract me from the lyrics. I mostly find myself marveling at the beauty of the keyboards, singers, horns, organ and guitar so much the words jut pass me by. Really, I just can't get enough of the organ work on here. It adds so much beauty to even the most overwhelmingly preachy song.

But in the end the thing is, this is a Bob Dylan album. Lyrics, in the main, are pretty much a huge deal with the man. No matter how great the production is, the general displeasure at the song lyrics and vibes of the album turns me off a good bit.

"Gotta Serve Somebody", works as an opener to not just this album but this era. It serves as a mission statement, a religious, somewhat dogmatic, warning to the masses. It works as those things, but it annoys me. I don't like the lyrics, the song and much of anything else about it.


The album does get much more enjoyable from there. I really love track 2, "Precious Angel". It just possesses a certain carefree, breezy, classic rock element that just really works here. And I love the vocals. Dylan just seems to turn back the clock to '66 vocally and it sounds so glorious!

Track 4 - "Slow Train" is SEXYYYY and funky and absolutely amazing! Love those loud, biting guitar leads and riffs and those organ lines and those back up singers! OMG! What a beauty! Wexler killed it here and really captured the slinking, paranoid, dark aspects of the song without taking out the groove and fun of it.

Another stand out is "Man Gave Names To All The Animals". Its totally cool! The big surprise is it is totally Reggae-fied and really well done really. The song itself, the lyrics, are really uninspired and quite annoying. But the coolness of the track does it's densest to make up for it.

Overall, for all Jerry Wexler's and Barry Becket's best efforts this album doesn't really live up to the production and the tracks. The lyrical content just feels wrong. The vocals are delivered with a mostly bombastic, preachy feel that turns me off more than I'd like. But, outside of those 2 main gripes, the album is really quite pleasant.

Grade: 70/100

The first in Dylan's god trilogy. Slow train coming is the most slickly produced of Bob's albums up to this point. Jerry wexler and Barry Beckett bring the best out of the one of the top group of musicians Dylan has assembled up to this point. As with the follow up to this album, saved, the lyrics are heavily religious. If you're not of this persuasion the words can be extremely grating. As for the music, it's great. Some wonderful sounds on here, especially on, slow train, (the best track on the album ), precious Angel, and the child like, God gave names to all the animals, which is set in the garden of Eden. Personally I don't think it's all great. Gotta serve somebody, is boring with lyrics that anyone could write, but there's nothing bad on here. A very good album. Underrated. (Edited)

I'm 50 years old and are discovering Bob Dylan right now...(what planet have I been living in for the past 50..,)!!! Well.. started out as a hardrocker.. might be an explantation.. not an excuse.. ;) This album turned out to be the first one I really gave a listen.. Great songs in a good recording. And as I am a christian it rocks a little extra... :)

Now, I was expecting this to be appalling. My scepticism at Dylan's conversion and what I'd heard about it combined to leave me less than enthusiastic. However, I was pleasantly surprised. It's not great, but it's certainly not bad, and Gotta Serve Somebody, I Believe in You and When He Returns are good songs. (Edited)

From JulianR TOP 100 COMMENTER 04/27/2018 06:35 | #213744 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

A lot funkier than I expected. Not really in a good way though (Edited)