Despite ending his 80s doldrums with the Daniel Lanois’d-up return to form of Oh Mercy, Dylan entered the 90s creatively adrift on further stormy seas, with disappointing follow-up Under The Red Sky and a series of lacklustre performances. Then came 1997’s remarkable Time Out Of Mind. Writers’ block now gone, Dylan commenced the renaissance which re-established him as about the only major 60s icon still making challenging, even exciting music. Relentless touring and The Bootleg Series stoked Dylan’s legacy, while subsequent albums displayed his muse still firing.
But that wouldn’t be all; as Robert Christgau points out on the final part of Chrome Dreams’ series, Dylan spent the latter half of the 00s continuing to evolve into this “strange creature”, putting other aspects of the music industry to shame outside his normal vocation, whether as documentary subject (No Direction Home), shit-hot DJ (Theme Time Radio Hour) or even music writer (Chronicles Volume One). Dylan’s astonishing comeback and emergence as wisened all-rounder is analysed and expounded on between relevant clips by knowledge-dispensing journalists – including Nigel Williamson, Clinton Heylin and RC’s Derek Barker – while Lanois’ right-hand man Malcolm Burn gives intriguing studio insights. Thankfully, the ever-upward 21st Century trajectory isn’t cut short by the Christmas album.
