What's your opinion of Dylan's "born again" albums?

Another atheist here. I have only heard "SLOW TRAIN COMING", and I love it. The melodies are very good, some of the lyrics, too - at least, he is passionate about them. It´s also nice to hear an album with more elaborate and even streamlined production for Bob Dylan - too many times his songs sound as if they were rushed through the recording process. Which they probably were.

 

The music is amazing.

Personally I think the particular crowd Dylan ended up with did mess with his mind. And that he did backtrack from that flavour of Christianity though not from faith in general. But I am speculating because I haven't heard him talk about it outside what you can glean from the songs.

Tim

 

I'm not keen overall, but I think Shot of Love is a decent album and love I Believe In You from Slow Train Coming. I've played Saved once. I dislike Gotta Serve Somebody.

 

I don't care for Bob Dylan but I do think Slow Train Coming and Saved are good. I became aware of them 20+ years ago when I believed in that born again theology and if today I had to listen to some Dylan I'd pick one of those two albums. Haven't heard either one of them in a long time.

 

When it comes to these three albums, I am a Shot of Love fan, and I think "Every Grain of Sand" is the best song from the period. "In the Summertime" is a personal favorite that never seems to get any recognition.

 

Very dull

 

I just got the new vinyl reissues of Slow Train Coming and Shot of Love. I was very impressed by the sound quality of both of them. Now, it took me multiple copies of each to get a good pressing. But once I did, they were great. Shot of Love especially!

 

I really like Shot Of Love and it does feature my favourite Dylan song ("Every Grain Of Sand"). Slow Train Coming is a very solid album as well. Saved is one of my least favourite Dylan albums. Even if you don't mind the born again lyrics, musically it just falls short.

 

I think there are a lot of good songs on those three albums but I don't like to listen to music about it. Every grain of Sand is the only religious one I listen to. Dylan was at his best live at that point. I think Dylan is the greatest artist of the rock era but he has been awful live for basically his entire career. This period was a rare exception. It was like he really wanted people to hear what he was singing so he decided he better sound good and not just change tempos and experiment. ( butcher his own songs ).


bob dylan saturday night live - Bing video

 

Bob Dylan has so many other better periods and eras, I rarely listen to this one. I find it a bit dull. That said, TNM showed that it's better than previously thought.

I still laugh when people refer to this as his "gospel" period. It's not gospel music. It's rock music, with a fair amount of R&B sprinkled in.

 

Among my least favorite Dylan albums.

 

I don't care for them. Frankly, I can't get into much of Dylan's output post-Desire. Although, watching the Both Sides of the Rainbow documentary did give me a greater appreciation for that period.

 

I was ok with Slow Train, but the other two? No thanks! - and it has little to do with me not being religious, and more with the songs not being any good.

 

Slow Train Coming is lame.
Saved is garbage.
Shot Of Love is great.

I enjoy the STC and Saved songs on Trouble No More.

 

The material is strong and his commitment to it is more than obvious.
Great singing and playing; great arrangements. Excellent production and sound quality; one of Dylan's nicest sounding recordings.
"I Believe In You" is one of his nicest songs (Sinead O'Connor would have been great doing this at the concert that she was booed at, had she been allowed to sing it; a real shame)
Misunderstood upon release (by me among many) but now seen as one of his great studio albums.
It's Nick Cave's favourite Dylan album!

****/5

 

I just LOVE Shot Of Love! Fred Tackett was so good for Bob on that one, and on Saved too (and Budokan). But In The Garden is ruined for me -- when I saw Dylan playing that song, Neil Young played a brilliant guitar line on that that makes the song, such that the original version on Saved just doesn't do it for me.

 

I Believe in You is very nice on the Trouble No More release. The songs from Saved are much better than the album was.

 

LOVE THEM.
IN the GARDEN probably my fav Dylan song after Brownsville Girl and Caribbean Wind. Those are my top 3

 

Having been brainwashed by a Christian fundamentalist denomination as a child, by the time I was free to think things through on my own I found plenty of other avenues for musical expression available to be interested in Dylan’s religious material. Never got back around to it. Strangely, I had no problem relating to George Harrison’s obviously religious work.

 

Not a fan of the religious messaging but I consider these his last really great and significant albums. He made some more great ones a couple decades later, but at that point be was just making them for the die hards as the world at large was no longer hanging on his every creative utterance.

 

Not bad

 

Saved is a top 5 Dylan album for me.

Slow Train is okay - good but not great

Shot of Love - possibly the worst Dylan album IMO and completely unlistenable to me.

 

I'll put those three in a box along with Self Portrait. And leave them out by the curb.

 

, II don't know what to think of these records really .
I enjoy Slow Train , but the other 2 records I don't really care for as albums .

 

Dylan is one of my all time favorites. I am only really familiar with Slow Train Coming. I like it, but these albums always make me laugh. It seems nuts that Dylan was doing several albums in a row about Jesus and his new faith. It's a bit ridiculous, but there are some good performances. If I fell asleep in 1967 and woke up in 1980 I would be very confused.

I have always put off listening to Saved and Shot of Love, but I just bought Shot of Love and giving it a spin. I think it sounds pretty good. It's an odd album, but I like when Dylan is weird. It's interesting and has great players on it. He sounds like he is feeling it and there is passion in some of these recordings. It's still too early to say but Shot of Love sounds almost as good as Slow Train. It's the same style of singing and has the same groove. Some early observations are "Watered Down Love" is awful , "In The Summertime", "Shot of Love", and "Every Grain of Sand" are great. The rest hasn't made much of an impression yet. I will report back with more thoughts on Shot of Love and Saved.

I think he could have boiled all these albums down into one really great album.