Bob Dylan – Rough and Rowdy Ways (2020)
For a time, it looked as if Dylan might be settling into the gentle downstream of American Songbook and pop standards, releasing three such covers albums in the late 2010s. Then, in 2020, he unleashed this masterpiece. Peculiar, poetic and largely preoccupied with the purpose of art, its 10 tracks seemed not just original songs but strikingly original thoughts. The record’s lead single was Murder Most Foul, which rolled in at 16 minutes and 54 seconds, enlisted Fiona Apple and Blake Mills, and considered the assassination of JFK in the broader setting of US political and cultural history. It was audacious and wonderful.
