1. Love Sick

2. Dirt Road Blues

3. Standing In The Doorway

4. Million Miles

5. Tryin' To Get To Heaven

6. Til I Fell In Love With You

7. Not Dark Yet

8. Cold Irons Bound

9. Make You Feel My Love

10. Can't Wait

11. Highlands

Rolling Stone

Dylans first album of new original material for six years and his first new studio album for four years. Daniel Lanois was back in the fold and together with Bob was searching for a way to make this sound like an old vinyl record in a digital age. The idea was that this album would simultaneously sound new and old, at the same time. Add in a handful of the most impressive new Bob Dylan songs in eons, and you have the most critically acclaimed Dylan record since 'Desire' if not 'Blood On The Tracks'. Dylan had a serious illness shortly after the recording of this record. He very nearly died. Many of the songs appear to be somewhat deathly and sombre in tone. Although, try telling Bob that! An interview in Mojo magazine got Bob very agitated and angry when the interviewer tried to suggest that 'Time Out Of Time' was sombre in tone. Bob nearly exploded, pointing out that this was just a collection of songs - if you want sombre tones, just look at what is happening in this world around you! Anyways, when I first heard 'Lovesick' I was astounded. Truly. It sounds both modern, and timeless, and old. It could have been recorded virtually during any decade bar the eighties. The eighties had a sound all of their own. Whatever, it's just such a fantastic, scary and wonderful piece of work. It's worth getting this record for this one song alone.

The second song is similarly stupendous. It sounds as good as anything from the first half of 'Bringing It All Back Home', and yes, that's A COMPLIMENT!!! 'Standing In The Doorway' is far more straightforward than either of the first two songs. Still, it's equally as captivating and stretches out alluringly over seven minutes and is listenable for each and every one of those minutes. 'Million Miles' is a blues track but just as haunting as the opener 'Love Sick'. The realisation that this record sounds so fantastic is hammered home by this. Not especially a startling composition, but you just try not to pay attention to every single second of it. 'Trying To Get To Heaven' is a little of a throwback to 'Oh Mercy' and sounds a whole lot less timeless than much else of what's here. It's still a fine and commendable song, but lacks the special atmosphere of much else of what's here. 'Til I Fell In Love With You' following on from this, creates a lull in the centre of the record. A fairly standard blues based number with very little to distinguish it. Still, the utterly beautiful 'Not Dark Yet' arrives afterwards. It's as good as anything from 'Oh Mercy' and that record had a fair few highlights itself. 'Cold Irons Bound' is a groove! What a bass groove! Addictive as breathing. 'Make You Feel My Love' is formula, and filler. No, this isn't a perfect album, but then, how many are?

'Can't Wait' joins 'Cold Irons Bound' in having an utterly addictive musical rhythm. The key track here is the final song, and it's sixteen and a half minutes long. Ambitious? Not really. The music barely changes beyond repeated and repeated and repeated blues lines, over and over. The lyrics are fantastic though, really really funny. Of course, not everyone will have the patience to sit through sixteen minutes of seemingly random Bob Dylan reminiscences, however poetic they may be. This isn't actually an easy record to whole heartedly recommend to friends. It is dark in tone, it is blues based and really very good, but perhaps not to everyone's tastes.

All Music

After spending much of the '90s touring and simply not writing songs, Bob Dylan returned in 1997 with Time Out of Mind, his first collection of new material in seven years. Where Under the Red Sky, his last collection of original compositions, had a casual, tossed-off feel, Time Out of Mind is carefully considered, from the densely detailed songs to the dark, atmospheric production. Sonically, the album is reminiscent of Oh Mercy, the last album Dylan recorded with producer Daniel Lanois, but Time Out of Mind has a grittier foundation — by and large, the songs are bitter and resigned, and Dylan gives them appropriately anguished performances. Lanois bathes them in hazy, ominous sounds, which may suit the spirit of the lyrics, but are often in opposition to Dylan's performances. Consequently, the album loses a little of its emotional impact, yet the songs themselves are uniformly powerful, adding up to Dylan's best overall collection in years. It's a better, more affecting record than Oh Mercy, not only because the songs have a stronger emotional pull, but because Lanois hasn't sanded away all the grit. As a result, the songs retain their power, leaving Time Out of Mind as one of the rare latter-day Dylan albums that meets his high standards.

Adrian’s Album Reviews

Dylans first album of new original material for six years and his first new studio album for four years. Daniel Lanois was back in the fold and together with Bob was searching for a way to make this sound like an old vinyl record in a digital age. The idea was that this album would simultaneously sound new and old, at the same time. Add in a handful of the most impressive new Bob Dylan songs in eons, and you have the most critically acclaimed Dylan record since 'Desire' if not 'Blood On The Tracks'. Dylan had a serious illness shortly after the recording of this record. He very nearly died. Many of the songs appear to be somewhat deathly and sombre in tone. Although, try telling Bob that! An interview in Mojo magazine got Bob very agitated and angry when the interviewer tried to suggest that 'Time Out Of Time' was sombre in tone. Bob nearly exploded, pointing out that this was just a collection of songs - if you want sombre tones, just look at what is happening in this world around you! Anyways, when I first heard 'Lovesick' I was astounded. Truly. It sounds both modern, and timeless, and old. It could have been recorded virtually during any decade bar the eighties. The eighties had a sound all of their own. Whatever, it's just such a fantastic, scary and wonderful piece of work. It's worth getting this record for this one song alone.

The second song is similarly stupendous. It sounds as good as anything from the first half of 'Bringing It All Back Home', and yes, that's A COMPLIMENT!!! 'Standing In The Doorway' is far more straightforward than either of the first two songs. Still, it's equally as captivating and stretches out alluringly over seven minutes and is listenable for each and every one of those minutes. 'Million Miles' is a blues track but just as haunting as the opener 'Love Sick'. The realisation that this record sounds so fantastic is hammered home by this. Not especially a startling composition, but you just try not to pay attention to every single second of it. 'Trying To Get To Heaven' is a little of a throwback to 'Oh Mercy' and sounds a whole lot less timeless than much else of what's here. It's still a fine and commendable song, but lacks the special atmosphere of much else of what's here. 'Til I Fell In Love With You' following on from this, creates a lull in the centre of the record. A fairly standard blues based number with very little to distinguish it. Still, the utterly beautiful 'Not Dark Yet' arrives afterwards. It's as good as anything from 'Oh Mercy' and that record had a fair few highlights itself. 'Cold Irons Bound' is a groove! What a bass groove! Addictive as breathing. 'Make You Feel My Love' is formula, and filler. No, this isn't a perfect album, but then, how many are?

'Can't Wait' joins 'Cold Irons Bound' in having an utterly addictive musical rhythm. The key track here is the final song, and it's sixteen and a half minutes long. Ambitious? Not really. The music barely changes beyond repeated and repeated and repeated blues lines, over and over. The lyrics are fantastic though, really really funny. Of course, not everyone will have the patience to sit through sixteen minutes of seemingly random Bob Dylan reminiscences, however poetic they may be. This isn't actually an easy record to whole heartedly recommend to friends. It is dark in tone, it is blues based and really very good, but perhaps not to everyone's tastes.