Planet Waves Columbia MD

Planet Waves

Bob Dylan

Asylum, 1974

REVIEW BY: Christopher Thelen

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 01/16/2008

In 1974, Bob Dylan was facing an identity crisis. He had been on the circuit for well over a decade and had enjoyed great fame, as well as the musical respect of artists such as The Band and The Grateful Dead. But the folk era was over, and Dylan’s escapade into country music was brief. On top of that, he had left his long-time label Columbia (who retaliated with the infamous Dylan album), and was starting anew on Asylum.

Bob Dylan, in short, had nothing to lose. Teaming up with The Band as his backing musicians again à la The Basement Tapes, he came up with Planet Waves, a natural-sounding album that seemed to place Dylan in the same musical styles as the Dead and The Band.

Here’s the funny thing: it works.

Dylan is in fine voice throughout the 11 tracks of this disc, creating a collection of breezily pleasant rock music and heartfelt ballads for the bulk of the disk, and only dipping back into his folk roots at the very end. How this all works together so well is beyond me, but it does.