In his 2001 book Bob Dylan: Behind The Shades Revisited, well known Dylan scholar and author Clinton Heylin had this to say about the sound of Time Out Of Mind:
"Lanois produced perhaps the most artificial-sounding album in Dylan’s canon." He described the album as sounding "like a Lanois CV."
Stephen Earl Thomaswine (how’s THAT for a name? ;-) writes:
"Lanois bathes them (Dylan’s vocals) in hazy, ominous sounds, which may suit the spirit of the lyrics, but are often in opposition to Dylan’s performances." Bingo!
Michael Gray writes:
"Some tracks have Dylan so buried in echo that there is no hope of hearing the detailing in his voice that was once so central and diamond like a part of his genius."
I don’t know what Lanois had in mind, but he clearly got carried away, taking it too far.