BOB DYLAN
Modern Times
 Columbia
****

Some people will tell you (or you may have read) that Modern Times is Bob Dylan's most anticipated album since 1974's Blood on the Tracks. Why this is so remains a mystery (the hype machine is to blame, more than likely), but then everyone likes a smooth journey, and in the past 10 years Dylan has hardly put a foot wrong. His previous two studio albums, Time Out of Mind (1997) and Love and Theft (2001) have already secured his place in the rarefied pantheon of elderly songwriters who can still cut the proverbial mustard. Modern Times can safely be included, making it three in a row. Dylan's newfound confidence has found expression in songs that are, in more than several instances, further proof of the man's enduring intellectual and verbal skills.

The sonic mood is equal parts Time Out of Mind (reflective) and Love and Theft (boisterous); this means there are songs (Thunder on the Mountain, Someday Baby, Spirit on the Water, Beyond the Horizon) styled in the simplistic fashion of pre-rock/blues/country/pop. And there are songs (When the Deal Goes Down, Workingman's Blues, Nettie Moore, Ain't Talkin') forged out of the ballad/folk/talking blues formats that are instantly recognisable as signature Dylan. It's the latter four that directly reference what some people term "classic" Dylan (rolling narratives, linguistic dexterity, etc) and it's no exaggeration to say that they are some of the best he has ever written, with equal measures of cutting social criticism, ribald humour, romance, doubt, disillusion, provocation, satire and textbook rock'n'roll philosophising.

At 65, Dylan may have yet another great studio album in him; to have released two fine albums in a row - each musically disarming and lyrically astute - is an achievement matched by few others of his age or status. To add another one of equal standing is little short of astonishing. Tony Clayton-Lea