Peter's top ten Bob Dylan albums

Peter Stone Brown on his top 10 Dylan albums (source rec.music.dylan, pre 2001)

10. Slow Train Coming

When Slow Train Coming came out in August 1979, I bought it immediately and despite having qualms about some of the lyrics, I thought it was one of Dylan’s best albums. Producer Jerry Wexler captured the right sound at the right time and I dug certain cool touches only he would’ve done like the subtle horns on “Precious Angel.” The drawing on the cover of the workers with a pick axe (signifying a cross) laying down the rails while the train comes up behind reminded me of something you might find on a Folkways Records album cover of labor songs. But what made the album great along with the production and superb musicians like the then new guitar genius Mark Knopfler was Dylan’s singing. It was as intense, passionate and committed as he could get and it really didn’t matter whether I or anyone else disagreed with or had questions about this particular message. When Dylan sang the lines (o…