Slow Train Coming

About

<i>Slow Train Coming</i> marks one of the most beguiling turns in Bob Dylan’s career, as he embraced born-again Christianity after experiencing divine intervention at a tour stop in Tucson, Arizona. While Dylan’s strict, non-ironic religious conversion alienated much of his longtime fanbase <i>Slow Train Coming</i> shows that his newfound convictions weren’t so much a reinvention of his identity as a new prism through which Dylan continues to examine his lifelong themes. “I Believe In You” describes overwhelming romantic love even if it was written as a devotional hymn. By the same token, “Slow Train” describes the looming terror of the modern world with as much detail and frustration as “A Hard Rain’s A Gonna Fall.” Producer Jerry Wexler brings a bluesy, moody feel to the album, aided by Mark Knopfler’s guitar and Barry Beckett’s keyboards. Despite the album’s overtly Christian leanings, <i>Slow Train Coming</i> succeeds on a balance of accessibility (the Jackson Browne soundalike “Precious Angel”) and vulnerability (“When He Returns,” which features some of the most emotionally naked singing of Dylan’s career).

via Apple Music

The Clerk says

Start your shelf to read the full take →