For Week Ending:
2 February 2023

Bob Dylan - The Bootleg Series Vol. 17, Fragments (Time Out Mind Sessions 1996-1997) [Deluxe Edition] (2023)

[Classic Rock]

1997's 'Time Out Of Mind' is often labelled as the great Dylan comeback album. With a number of years passed since his last (mediocre) albums of originals many fans had low expectations, but were pleasantly surprised when he unveiled the late career masterpiece. This Bootleg Series instalment focuses solely on the album (for its 25th anniversary), and has a few great surprises. A complete new remix of the original album removes the swampy and atmospheric production of Daniel Lanois that has divided critics and fans alike for over two decades, and in its place we get a fresh clean sounding version of the album revealing many highlights I'd otherwise missed in the murky mix. There are also three discs of demos and outtakes (although one whole disc is made up of tracks from previous Bootleg Series entries). My only complaint is the quality of the disc of live tracks from the era - Sounds good in principle, but the recordings are reasonably poor unfortunately.

Arist Information
Bob Dylan (born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Generally regarded as one of the greatest songwriters ever, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his 60+ year career. He has sold more than 145 million records, making him one of the best-selling musicians ever. He has received numerous awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, ten Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award. Dylan has been inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, Nashville Songwriters Hall Of Fame and the Songwriters Hall Of Fame. The Pulitzer Prize Board in 2008 awarded him a special citation for "his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power." In 2016, Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition."