Tempest

Description

Product Description Columbia Records announced that Bob Dylan's new studio album, TEMPEST, will be released in the U.S. on September 11, 2012. Featuring ten new and original Bob Dylan songs, the release of TEMPEST coincides with the 50th Anniversary of the artists eponymous debut album, which was released by Columbia in 1962. The new album, produced by Jack Frost, is the 35th studio set from Bob Dylan, and follows 2009s worldwide best-seller, TOGETHER THROUGH LIFE. Bob Dylan's four previous studio albums have been universally hailed as among the best of his storied career, achieving new levels of commercial success and critical acclaim for the artist. Review Grade: ATen remarkable new songs, tackling topics like the Titanic disaster (the epic title track) and the assassination of John Lennon (the deeply felt ''Roll On John''). Thirty-five albums in, Dylan remains as magical and mysterious as ever.Rob Brunner --Entertainment Weekly5 out of 5 Blood, shipwrecks, bad memories....Dylan now stands virtually alone among his 1960s peers. His own final act, meanwhile, rolls on. It s a thing to behold .Will Hermes --Rolling Stone5 out of 5 Dylan sets sail on his finest album of this century....[He is] is a most remarkable survivor: still standing, working and confounding. David Fricke --Mojo Review: One of the best albums of the 21st century so far -- better than 'Together Through Life' and 'Modern Times,' if that is possible - When I'd heard that Bob Dylan was releasing an album in September this past summer, I was stoked. Ecstatic. This was already a great year for music (with The Beach Boys, Van Halen, and Neil Young all releasing great albums this year), but it got a whole lot better when Columbia announced the release of 'Tempest.' I immediately pre-ordered my copy here on desertcart without thinking twice -- this was an album I was going to listen to for the duration of the year and really get into. So the day came, and I received the album. I had heard 'Duquesne Whistle' and snippets of a few other songs, and I had really liked what I heard. So, my expectations were relatively high for the album -- surely it wouldn't be as good as 'Together Through Life' or 'Modern Times,' but it was in all likelihood going to be a good album. I put the album on my speaker, shut my eyes, and just listened. "Wow" was the only word I could mutter when the album had ended. I sat in silence, stunned at the musical forcefield that was just bestowed upon me. Was it possible? At 71 years of age, has Dylan *really* created one of his best albums of his career? Maybe I was just so excited and so eager to have a new Dylan album to listen to that my judgment was being clouded. So I walked away and put the CD back into its cardboard sleeve and walked away for the night. The next day, I listened to it again. Same setting -- a dark room, eyes shut, and the speaker aimed directly towards me. Wouldn't you know it but I liked the album better the second time around than I did the first, which is really saying something. And I would continue to play it day after day after day after day. It then hit me -- Dylan HAS released an album that is on par with his best albums. Dylan's growl is as powerful and as moving as it has ever been. Here, Dylan tackles some great upbeat songs ('Early Roman Kings' is an incredible, Chicago-blues influenced piece of music -- it even "nicks" a bit or so from 'Mannish Boy,' the classic Muddy Waters cut) as well as some amazing slower songs ('Soon After Midnight' is the best ballad Dylan has done since 2006's 'Spirit on the Water'). But the highlight on this album is most definitely the 13+ minute title track. 'Tempest' was written about the Titanic, and includes some great references to the 1997 James Cameron film (with Leonardo DiCaprio, the film's star, having a few subtle namechecks thrown in). 'Tempest' is right up there with some of the great Dylan epics -- 'Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands,' 'Idiot Wind,' 'Highlands' and obviously 'Brownsville Girl,' and the poetry used on this track is classic Dylan. A tribute to John Lennon is also featured. 'Roll on John,' not to be confused with the old folk song that Dylan covered very early on in his career (1961-1962, namely), is an extremely well-written tribute to the legendary Beatles member and it also features a few subtle references (namely a few lyrics from 'A Day in the Life'). The track is nearly 8-minutes, and Dylan's growl is on full display here. Part of what makes 'Tempest' interesting are the song lengths. Only two songs clock in under 5 minutes on the entire album, and half of the songs are over the 6-minute mark. The total time for the album is 68 minutes -- quite impressive for a man that is over 70-years old and is concluding his 51st year as a recording artist. The tracks are so well-performed, however, that they don't feel long. And that's what makes 'Tempest' great. It doesn't feel like a long album -- you'll get so immersed in the songs that before you know it, 68 minutes has come and gone. That is a testament to just how great an artist Bob Dylan is. Overall, if you have been hesitating to buy 'Tempest' (and I honestly have no idea why you would hesitate), get it immediately. This album (and I know this is a bold statement, but I sincerely believe it to be true) is a better album than 'Modern Times' and 'Together Through Life.' While both of those albums are masterpieces, this album is, hands down, among the best Dylan has ever recorded. And while I personally prefer "Love & Theft" (and judging how I feel about this album less than a month after its release, that could quickly change), that's not knocking this album in any way. 'Tempest' belongs in that elite group of Dylan albums -- 'Bringing it All Back Home,' 'Highway 61 Revisited,' 'Blonde on Blonde,' 'John Wesley Harding,' 'Blood on the Tracks,' 'Oh Mercy,' 'Time out of Mind,' etc. -- in essence, the "all-time classics." Even if you are a casual fan of Bob Dylan, I can almost guarantee you you'll find something you like in 'Tempest.' There's something here for all Dylan fans. I cannot recommend 'Tempest' enough. I've got tickets to see Bob Dylan in Philadelphia on November 19 with Mark Knopfler (a long-time Dylan collaborator and Dire Straits' frontman), and boy, this CD has got me feeling pretty good about the quality of that show. Needless to say I'm psyched. Highly, highly recommended. Not only one of Dylan's best albums of the 21st century (like I said, only "Love & Theft" beats it and only by a small margin), but one of the best albums to be released in the 21st century so far. Get this album immediately. You won't be sorry. Review: The Murder of John Lennon.....Bob "Dylan" Zimmerman - Dylan's tribute to John Lennon is very moving and genuine. To me it is the heart and soul of Tempest. No other assassination of a popular public figure was as disgusting and meaningless as Lennon's. What can we do with such a paparazzi-madness fueled culture as this? Our whole culture has become like the final apocalyptic scene in "Day of the Locusts". The song "Tempest" , like Nathaniel West's story, reflects the apocalyptic, panic, confusion and destruction that sometimes takes us out...but on a much larger scale. When John Lennon sang , he no longer believed in Zimmerman or the Beatles or others on his list (the song "God"), he was telling the world to look at them as human beings not fabricated nearly religious icons created by mass media. That dream was over. Dylan surely knew where he was coming from. Good music was still to be made, music that reflected a more truthful reality. There is great "Bob Dylan" music on this album. Every song has something to offer. The band does not really rock but kinda lopes along like a western soundtrack. Solid and supportive with very little showing off or solo work. Just good music for Bob's damaged but still effective voice. This is my favorite Dylan album of the last 15 years and I am not a casual listener, I have of all his work. I'm no expert I just know what I like. . Tempest is successful because he has looked at the world and reflected an honest truthful picture of man in this universe. The ultimate irony of life is on display here and presented in such a way that most people that like Bob's work are responding to it in a positive way. What is that irony?....... the fact that everyone one of us with all of our personalities, feelings, emotions and identities are doomed..we all are here for a short time and then we are gone. We know not where. The life force that created us and holds us will eventually destroy us. There is no understanding of this no matter what we say. Zimmerman has sensed this from the very beginning of his career but he's always been a spiritual person and that gives him peace. It helps a lot of people but as he has said, it's difficult to write a religious or spiritual work...that's why we have Tempest. As dark as Tempest is, I find it very spiritual in a facing the truth manner. As we get older we lose a step or two..... but Bob Dylan/Zimmerman ain't going "gentle into that good night".