I don't know if it's hip anymore (or again, or whatever) to like Bob Dylan, but I've been an unapologetic fan for ages. I even considered taking in his latest movie after seeing his embarrassing performance in Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. Though the universally negative reviews kept me from seeing Masked & Anonymous in the theater, I had heard that at least the soundtrack was good (as was the soundtrack to PG&BTK), so I decided to give it a listen. Here's my review, track by track.

1. My Back Pages (performed by the Magokoro Brothers): An interesting Japanese take on a Dylan staple. At first listen, this seems like a throwaway novelty from a variety act, but after listening to it a few times I really appreciated it. It sounds great and works well. The only negative thing about this track (but it's a big negative) is the annoying and embarrassingly stilted preaching (imploring the listener to ask himself, "ARE YOU HUMBLE BEFORE GOD?") that begins the track. Every time I begin this album, I have to mute my CD player for about 20 seconds. I'll never be able to use this track on a mix disc. (Aside: it's amazing how many syllables it takes, in Japanese, to get out the words "But I was so much older then; I'm younger than that now." The syncopation adds to this version's charm.)

2. Gotta Serve Somebody (performed by Shirley Caesar): A compelling gospel version, performed with passion and flourish. This is one of Dylan's few religious songs that I actually like (another is "Every Grain of Sand"), and this interpretation smoothes out some of the edges. While Dylan's rasp sounds more like a warning against serving the devil, the beautiful voice on this version feels like a more positive opportunity to serve the Lord, if that sort of thing interests you. (Aside: whenever someone covers this song, I always wonder how they'll handle the line: "You may call me Bobby, you may call me Zimmy." This version handles it well and actually improves upon the original verse, I think.)

3. Down In The Flood (performed by Bob Dylan): A good example of how Dylan can reinvent himself and reinterpret his own songs. He takes this old chestnut and polishes it up with his current sound. This track would fit comfortably on either Time Out of Mind or "Love and Theft". In my humble opinion, this version improves on the version released on Greatest Hits, Vol. 2, but it's not as good as the version on The Basement Tapes (where it's titled "Crash on the Levee").

4. It's All Over Now, Baby Blue (performed by The Grateful Dead): Such a pretty song, it's hard to ruin. But The Grateful Dead give it a shot anyway. This isn't meant as a criticism of the Dead in general. It's just that the vocals fall flat throughout most of this track. That said, it still sounds okay. It might cause you to cringe a couple times, but I don't think you'll feel the need to skip ahead.

5. Most Of The Time (performed by Sophie Zelmani): An interesting take. It's quiet and slow, and the spoken-word feeling of most of it gets a little old (though the same might be said for Dylan's own version), but when she starts singing she adds some emotional weight to it. This song grew on me, I must admit.

6. On A Night Like This (performed by Los Lobos): A fun, dual-language version of a fun song. Alternating verses between English and Spanish works well on an album with so many non-English tracks.

7. Diamond Joe (performed by Bob Dylan): A fun, up-tempo rendition of a traditional bluegrassy number. This song will quickly have you singing along. (Note: this is a completely different song than the traditional "Diamond Joe" on Good As I Been to You).


surprisingly good   July 28, 2003
Jay S Winston (Rochester, NY United States)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

This is really surprisingly good. Highlights are the Italian hip-hop version of "Like a Rolling Stone," Bob singing "Dixie" (I thought it would be an amusing novelty, but it actually sounds really, really good--not a bad song despite its historical associations), a lovely, trippy version of "One More Cup of Coffee" and Shirley Caesar's Bible thumping version of "Gotta Serve Somebody." Really the only low point is the version of "Most of the Time," distinguished only by the pronoun trouble that ruins many of the rhymes, along with the general lack of information about the actual music in the liner notes (when I go see the movie, maybe I'll want to read about it--now I just wanna know who some of these singers and musicians are).


Dylan tunes: What's missing from the movie...   April 22, 2004
Craig Fisher (USA)
6 out of 8 found this review helpful

In the movie Masked and Anonymous, there are 9 live Dylan tracks used in the movie, yet only 4 appear on this "soundtrack." Songs that are MIA on the CD include 5 others (!): "I'll Remember You" and "Drifter's Escape" (both of which Dylan and the boys are filmed playing), but also absent is a killer "Blowin' In the Wind," which rolls during the final scene and the credits. Also missing are the songs "Watching the River Flow" and "Dirt Road Blues" (both were listed in the credits, but I personally did not recognize in the movie...instrumentals perhaps?). The Dylan songs that did make it onto the CD are all phenomenal (especially if you are a fan of Love and Theft), but this soundtrack really could have been something special.