Words by Hannah Clemens//Illustration by Jorge Tapia
By now Bob Dylan is a name breathed reverently among listeners and musicians from the coffeehouse circuit to the highest circles of the industry. He has achieved the kind of god-like status few can acquire before death, and now inhabits the same general space in the collective consciousness as Johnny Cash—a sage whose lyrics reflect decades of abuse and experience. The positive and negative effects of this kind of fame are evident in his new album, “Modern Times”.

Back in the day, Dylan’s songs earned him laudation for being wise beyond his years. Now the years have caught up, and though he’s lost none of the wisdom, he has mellowed considerably. As a result it’s distressingly easy to ignore the words to the songs on “Modern Times”—never before has Dylan been in danger of becoming background music. But nowhere on this album are the careening vocal leaps that made songs like “Tangled Up In Blue” and “Like a Rolling Stone” leap up to smack you in the face. Dylan plays it safe, relying on a decidedly small range to complement his gritty tone. Much of “Modern Times” seems content to sit back and wait to be noticed.

This is even more evident in his accompaniment, a subdued (though lush) layer of instruments that miraculously escapes the onus of overproduction. Nevertheless, for the most part these are songs with one mood, one tempo, and one direction. If you do bother to listen closely, these lyrics are a step or two below his strongest work. The twelve bar blues structure of “The Levee’s Gonna Break” suits Dylan’s straight-ahead, grizzled vocals. Many of these songs sound like they could go on for hours with no development whatsoever. On the other hand, album closer “Ain’t Talkin’” is nearly nine minutes long, yet retains momentum and energy despite its despondent tempo.

There is nothing wrong with the individual songs of “Modern Times” (many, like “Workingman’s Blues #2” and “Nettie Moore” are undeniably beautiful) or with the album as a whole (it is entirely listenable), but for a living legend like Dylan, this is a remarkably timid work. For the voice of the malcontent in the sixties, there is a dearth of challenging material on this record. It leads one to wonder why he held back, and whether he still has any tricks up his sleeve or if he really is as tired as he sounds.