A mixed bag

First of all, it's outrageous that only a meagre eight songs feature on a double cd! You know, it's sometimes hard to be a Bob Dylan fan. But the music is mostly worth it. The live Grammy version of 'Love sick' is more human than the album version which sounds a bit like music from outer space. Moreover, what's the album version doing on a live album? Halas, 'Roving Gambler', a folk song of the likes of Woody Guthrie, sounds way too American for these European ears; 'Cold irons bound' is quite the opposite of melody; nor will 'Cocaine blues' (what a plain song...) ever be played on my desert island. But the rest is fabulous! 'Can't wait' is irresistable and very fit for both intense listening and dancing. 'Born in time' is a black pearl that hardly came out that way on the original album. 'Blind Willie McTell' is sadness and tragedy with more power than in the evenly beautiful version of the bootleg series. Knowing this performance, you don't want to go on without. It turns out that Bob Dylan still sings very well from time to time.

Love Sick CD Single, 3 Reviews in One

Three reviews in one, because anyone who buys one of these CD singles is going to want to buy them all. Also, it's easier to understand just what you're getting with these singles if you can see them all together.

Love Sick: Dylan Alive Vol. 1. (Japan) Eight Tracks on Two CDs. First CD: 1. Love Sick (Album version), 2. Can't Wait, 3. Roving Gambler, 4. Blind Willie McTell. Second CD: 1. Love Sick (Grammy Version), 2. Cold Irons Bound, 3. Cocaine Blues, 4. Born In Time

Not Dark Yet: Dylan Alive Vol. 2 (Japan). 1. Not Dark Yet (Album Version), 2. Boots Of Spanish Leather, 3. Tears Of Rage, 4. Senor (Tales Of Yankee Power)

Things Have Changed: Dylan Alive. Vol. 3 (Japan). 1. Things Have Changed (Album Version), 2. Highlands, 3. Blowin' In The Wind, 4. Make You Feel My Love

With the exception of the three album versions and the version of "Love Sick" recorded at the Grammy's the rest of the songs were recorded live on that tour of Mr. Ds that never ends.

It doesn't take too much imagination to see that if the people in the suits at Sony threw away the album versions of the above songs, they could combine the rest of the stuff on the three CD singles and make a pretty darned good live album that would be representative of Dylan's Never Ending Tour. Who knows, maybe in the future we'll get lucky and they'll do that. I say lucky, because these songs are great and Dylan is in fine voice. This stuff belongs together, should be listened to together. We can only hope, but until then, they all get five stars.

Reviewed by Stephanie Sane

re-releasing in different parts of the world

The live tracks on these two CDs are also available as the second of two CDs in the Australian release of Time Out of Mind. The first CD is the same as the American release of Time Out of Mind. The "bonus" CD in the Australian album is titled "Live '97."