jeffvrabel.com I humorist and music writer

Billboard — Bob Dylan’s recent trifecta of “Time Out of Mind,” “Love and Theft” and “Modern Times” represents the kind of late-career renaissance so many stars shoot for and nobody actually hits. Those albums were based in an often near-apocalyptic darkness. “Life” hangs loosely on the concept of the highs and horrors of actual, carbon-based love. Dylan wastes no time, dealing out both a consuming love and a bruising void in the opener, “Beyond Here Lies Nothin’.” It’s pretty close to the archetypal new, froggy-voiced Dylan—odd, as lyric co-writing credit goes to Robert Hunter on eight of 10 songs, which tamps things down noticeably. And there are clunkers, like the half-there torch song “Life Is Hard.” But the great thing about 67-year-old Dylan is that even when it’s not working, it’s working. His band, anchored by Heartbreaker Mike Campbell’s guitar and David Hidalgo’s blissful border-town accordion, create a sublime atmosphere built from scraps of 100 years of American music: porch-blues, but also Cajun swing, ragged folk, saloon boogie, the circus and a cast of dusty characters who drift into towns and wander. And there are plenty of peak moments, including “I Feel a Change Comin’ On” and “It’s All Good,” a sharp-tongued send-off about failure and shackled-up hope. (He’s being sarcastic with the title.) Lacking a fireworks moment or a big revelation, “Together Through Life” might not be on par with Dylan’s newest holy trinity, but as a continuation of the inscrutable, impenetrable Dylan story, it’s all good.

• Bob Dylan – It’s All Good.mp3