KICKING UP A STORM: Pauline Fisk on Bob Dylan's 'Tempest', and 'Sparks', the forthcoming Authors Electric anthology
A couple of weeks ago my brother and I got into a heated argument on the subject of Bob Dylan’s voice. He reckoned Dylan had lost it. I reckoned [and PS. I was right] that Dylan’s singing better than ever. Singing differently maybe, but different in a good way. The difference of age and experience, and of having lived a life. Certainly in his latest offering, ‘Tempest’, Dylan has things to say and he says it in good voice. I came across it recently, and found it to be as powerful as anything he's written for a long, long time – which is saying something because these last few years Dylan's writing has been good. The album gets off to an impressive start with 'Duquesne Whistle' and 'Soon After Midnight,' but then Dylan really starts to dig in, dig deep and suddenly he's off like a sky rocket. 'Long and Wasted Years. Oh, my. 'Pay in Blood'. He sings it like he has. ‘Scarlet Town’. Been there? Recognise anything? ‘Tin Angel’. Dy...