Dylan on Drugs ?

John,
I am a Dylan nut even though I buy a whole load of contemporary stuff ,for me Love And Theft was easily album of the year.
I'm also no Dylan apologist he's had his fair share of low points over the years and I do think his voice could be a problem for the faint hearted...
Time Out Of Mind is a great album,it has 4 or 5 excellent/classic songs but imho it was possibly overrated slightly by the press although you will find others who prefer it to Love and Theft....certainly they represent his best back to back album releases for a very long time.
Dylan to me is without equal in popular music only recent disappointment is that his Spring UK tour is not taking in Scotland which explains why I have tickets for Paris and London.......
Oh and bye the way I think any reference to Dylan and drugs is lazy and shows an extreme lack of imagination regarding his work,that pretentious enough for ya?
Enjoy the music.

erratum to my 1st post: the 30th anniversary concert was done on 10/16/92. -cfb

I liked both albums a lot. Time out of mind was far more serious in tone without being to preachy.. Like My Hearts in the Highlands, what a hypnotic, rolling, free associating look back on a life. What I liked about Love and Theft is the tunes are in a way so unDylan. Some, I think, completely tongue in cheek. I laughed straight through it the first time I heard it. Life is good when your in love with your second cousin, eh?

Keep it up Bob.

Sincerely, I remain

Ben, na.
It was a reverse implication. Implication by inversion (not to be pretentious nor intentious) suggesting that Dylan has regained his lost creative powers because he has cleaned up. Remember back in the 80's and early 90's when Bob was giving Keith Richards a run for Fate of the Earth survivor ?

Ever seen Dylan live ? I did - Dylan and the Dead & later with Tracy Chapman (she was more lively than him too). Or the 30th anniversary show - Nyquil IV ?

Let me know if I can explain 'blowin in the wind' or 'lay lady lay' for you.

John,
Ah you can't kid a kidder but yes apparently the late 80's and early 90's saw Dylan on a bad alcohol trip.
I've actually seen Bob 8 times, all in Scotland-'89,'91x2,'95x3,'97 and 2000(I think these years are right but..)-as CFB points out his new band is excellent and 2000 was certainly the best show I've seen him give,the 91 first date was hilariously bad at times,he'd just put together a new band and well under rehearsed doesn't begin to describe it......Blowin'In The Wind I believe is a song about numerology (each verse has an actual real answer to Bob's questions i.e 7,13,2 etc.)if you add them all up it comes to 1941 the year Bob was born,so it could mean that actually Bob himself is the answer...Lay Lady Lay is probably about his pet chicken Lady and his desire for eggs,since the song is one of yearning we can never be really sure if it worked...of course you may have your own interpretations but they are unlikely to be as accurate are they?