Bryan Ferry - Dylanesque

If you’re so good why, then, don’t you show it…

Given Dylan’s rabid fanbase, Ferry set himself up for a fall by devoting a whole album to Dylan covers. That aside, this really is dull. A longtime fan, he first covered Dylan on record on 1973’s These Foolish Things: a theatrical and�highly inventive take on A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall. It was excellent and proved that he wasn’t scared of taking on the canon and winning.

Here, however, Ferry’s takes on 11 Dylan originals have none of that spark of imagination. He takes the nuances out of these songs but, unlike with the aforementioned Hard Rain…, doesn’t replace them with anything. He’s best when playing it low-key, as on Make You Feel My Love or Positively 4th Street, though even they suffer from overproduction (stand aside, those who didn’t like Daniel Lanois’ work on Dylan’s albums). Simple Twist Of Fate and All I Really Want To Do, on the other hand, are overwrought MOR-and-guitarsolos, the likes of which you would have expected from late-period Roxy. Ironically, those who don’t like Dylan ‘because he can’t sing’ will likely enjoy this because the bland bits render it palatable for the lazy listener. Let’s hope Ferry’s inventiveness has gone into the Roxy reunion album, or else all is lost.

2 stars 2 stars

Virgin | CDV 3026

Reviewed by Jason Draper
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