The Famous Etiquette Book

Complete recordings of the two concerts Dylan performed in "The Free State" of Christiania on the outskirts of Copenhagen. Recording quality is outstanding (as you would expect from Crystal Cat), full upfront vocals and clear, well defined instrumentation. Over the two night only three songs are duplicated on the track listing, the inevitable All Along The Watchtower in third slot and Silvio in fifth are joined with unusual opening slots for To Be Alone With You. Dylan's performance is consistent throughout (those days when we feared me mightn't make it to the end of the song seem to be a distant memory now), and he's vocal delivery is both confident and experimental. If you see her say Hello features some superb vocal contortions, there's a majestic rendition of She Belongs To Me, a truly outstanding I Want You a less than frantic Everything Is Broken, an inevitably enjoyable Friend Of the Devil, superb outings for You're Big Girl Now. Tangled Up In Blue and My Back Pages...and the list goes on. The mood is both relaxed and expectant somehow both alive and serene. Dylan seems to be completely at ease with the band, at one point calling on the audience to give them a round of applause, and his confidence with them shows through in the relaxed delivery of his vocals. The filler tracks add bonus points to the I-Spy catalogue. Excellent renditions with clear crisp vocals. A superb representative collection of tracks from the '96 European tour, neatly packaged in a presentation box with understated cover graphics and foldout insert.

Crystal Cat - 72:55 75:05 76:27 76:15
CRAP 5 (5 5 4 4)

A truly astounding recording. Superb quality with powerful vocals and clear instrumentation. Most notable, however, is Dylan's performance which is magnificent. The title felt most undylanesque but soulful is perhaps the best way describe this performance. Positively Fourth Street sets the mood of the show which is supplemented with a punchy Watching the River Flow, a powerful acoustic set that feature a tremendous Friend Of The Devil and a touching Love Minus Zero. Outings also for Queen Jane, Sooner or Later and flavour of the month, Shake Sugary. There are those who seem to feel that Dylan has lost his way that the current touring set-up, with this recording the defence can justifiably rest their case.

Kiss - 64:49 50:30
CRAP 5 (5 5 5 5)

Another outing for the Emmett Grogan Acetates. This is an attempt to put all of Grogan acetates onto disc. Previous incarnations having ignoed the H61 sessions material presumably on the basis that they are mostly the takes used on the official relese, but bringing the acetates together as an historical item is a valid project. Recording quality is usperb, clear cutting definition, full dynamics and tonal separation, comparing very favourably with the officially released tracks. The disc is topped up with additional outtake material from the Another Side and times sessions.

Diamonds In Your Ear - 74:25 59:11
CRAP 4 (4 5 4 5)

A compilation of tracks dating back to Dylan's arrival in New York. Recording quality is as good as it gets throughout - and there're a few pieces here that are new to CD's release, all excellency and sympathetically mastered. Somehow though, as a compilation, it doesn't quite do the period it's full justice. There are some tracks that lend themselves to compilations, others that seems to sit better as complete recordings, and I'd sooner have these in the altter format. In particular some of the tracks have rambling intro's - these are valid in context with the recording as a whole since they build up the atmosphere and create ambience, but in a compilation they just use up space that would be better employed with another song. Still if all that is on offer are the crumbs that others deign to drop from their table I guess we can't complain too much. When you're living below the salt you have to accept what scraps are thrown to you and at least these scraps are off the leaner portions.

RZ - 73:43
CRAP 3 (3 4 2 5)

The complete circulating outtakes from Blood On The Tracks sessions, taken from the best quality currently circulating sources available, which means that, for the most part, the recordings are in absolutely pristine quality. A couple of tracks, taken from the original acetate release, exhibit some vinyl surface noise, but even these recordings are still bright and crisp. Only one of the tracks comes over as slightly muddied and this is largely down to the superb quality of its neighbours rather than any substantial criticism of itself.
Superb recordings that have been scatteres across a variety of disperate releases. Brought together like this they form a formidable body. It's amazing that it hasn't been done before, (though fortunate too since Shelter From The Storm has only recently surfaced as an outtake), and already I can't imagine my Cd collection without it.
Blood On The Tracks is arguably Dylan's most supremely crafted album, and the outtakes provide insight into the development of the songs towards their final unsurpassable incarnations. On the whole I'd have to disagree with those who maitain that Dylan should have stuck to the original version of the album. It's swings and roundabouts but I'd have to side with the finer tuning of the ultimate release.
Nonetheless some of those rougher edges on the unreleased tracks have a barb or two that stick under the skin, the might not flow quite smoothly at times but it's captivating to hear the sharp edge of pain rising a little closer to the surface.
Have I said enough to convince you? Have I waxed lyrical enough? I can go on you know...

Columbus
CRAP 5 (5 5 5 5)

The complete show from Oslo, offering an interesting track listing and a performance to match. It's a show of contrasts. After a rousing bums-off seats opener Dylan turns the mood on its head with an eerily atmospheric Long Black Coat followed by a sprightly Watchtower, and a stately, subdued Positively 4th Street. Tangled is, once again, entracing, with Dylan stretching and twisting the vocals, wringing out the very essence of the song. Hollis Brown, sung with a sparse banjo based backing proves to be particularly evocative, and even Ballad Of A Thin Man is sung with an uncharacteristic melancholy, almost sympathising with, rather than chiding Mr Jones. Indeed the whole performance has the feeling of a winters evening wrapped up by a log fire reminiscing over adventures past, not in a overly romanticised way but certainly with the benefit of hindsight and without rancour. It's the sound of a man who's been there and done it and he's now taking the opportunity to reflect on it for a while.
The whole mood is summed up with the closing song, My Back Pages. It's a superb moment when it finally all comes together. Recording quality is excellent, good clear vocals, well balanced separation, and a relaxed and informal atmosphere. .

Tfeb B (8)

Talk about blowing your mind away! two PA tape recordings in stunning quality. This isn't so much about feeling that you're there, or even part of the action, this is about sitting underneath Dylan's mike stand and having his foot tapping three inches from your nose. The recording is quite simply something else - every nuance in Dylan's voice is captured,even when he's laughing with the stage band, - hell you can even hear picking up his harmonica and the other musicians coming onto the stage. Not that any of this periphery is in any way distracting - once the music kicks in all you hear is shear poetry in the making. I Don't Believe You is sung with a feeling and passion I've never heard before. You feel priveliged just to be able to listen to it. There's no point in wasting superlatives on the performances - you know the kind of thing to expect, just expect to hear it better than you've ever heard it before. Of the two tapes the Plymouth recording has the edge on brightness, a sparkle to the edge that is somehow indefinable and yet significant. The Waterbury tape has a slightly warmer, bassier feel to it, (and it's been out on CD before of course - (Tell Like It Is), but such analysis is pretty academic - both tapes sit nicely together. If I have to come up with a gripe I think I'd have preferred the tapes to have been reversed in running order, simply because the tracks would have followed a more logical concert sequence but we're into picking hairs here when there really aren't any fleas. This one really made my day. .

Tfeb B (9)

It's taken the booters a heck of a time to latch onto the 1997 tour. Quite why this should be so is somewhat baffling, especially on the evidence provided by this disc. What an astounding performance! This is the new line-up, carrying David Kemper on drums and Larry Campbell on guitar. The different sound is a revelation. The overall feel is still fairly laid back, as it was at the close of '96 but there's an added texture to the music, a blending of country hick that flavours the rock rhythms, not tempering them but bending them in a slightly different direction. There's a bags more space there for the vocals to roam around in, even during the electric sets there's an acoustic undertone, less of a feel of a wall of sound. It's more like listening to it on the radio. There's room to move, a greater simplicity to the arrangements, a feeling of sparseness at times. It feels like those early studio recording sessions - with the instruments working together leaning into each other and then moving on before it gets staid. It's an invigorating feeling. So many times in the past few years I've thought - that's it, that's what we've been waiting for it doesn't get better than that. Now I am feeling rather than the end, this could be just the start. He's not so much drawing a line underneath his career as turning the page on a whole new blank page.
Right from the opening song - the bizarre selection of Not Fade Away, Dylan just melts into it. The vocals nuanced are all there. It's nota Rolling Stone's cover, he takes it for his own. And each performance of each song is approached with the same honest open naivity. I can't believe how good I feel after hearing this. WHat a breath of revitalised air. There's a real belief in the performances, a reawakening of the power within the songs. Masters Of War, with it's menacingly repetitive beat, forever pushing the song relentlessly forward, is sung with a gritty determination, an unstoppable force determined to be heard. And even Silvio and Watchtower have an added nuance to them. More space, less clutter. It's as if Dylan's given the songs a spring-clean.
Recording quality matches the performance - every nuance of the vocals is captured with superb dynamics. A phenomenal recording. How come it's taken so long!!!

Tfeb A (8)