Bob Dylan's Modern Times, a new Masterpiece?

Anybody else think that the #1 chart position has more to do with the i-pod ad than the music? Don't get me wrong, I think the record is Dylan's best in ages, but I have a (sinking) feeling that this may be a secondary factor in its commercial success.

I feel vindacated. This album has debuted in one of the top 3 positions all over the world. Five stars from Rolling Stone magazine, their highest rating. Calling it one of his three masterpieces. Mark my words, this will win the Grammy for album of the year. The songs are rich in texture and melody and the production, his own by the way, is crisp and clean. Martykl, what a silly obsevation from someone who thinks this is Dylan's best in ages. The music speaks for itself. Word of mouth has driven this record to the number one spot on the charts. A position it rightly deserves.

Media is so overblown if your not in it you have no chance, so good for BD. American consumers especially are like blocks of clay waiting for media-land to mold an opinion or thought. Ever watch football on ESPN, you can't get a feel for the game because of the high tech media circus, it's almost like watching a video game.

Looks like I'm burned out on TV!

I'm a huge Dylan fan, and I like to see that people still consider his new work worth listening to, but I can't see how you can call "Modern Times", anything more than a three star disc. And that is probably being overly generous.

It sounds ok, but it is almost entirely recycled from classic blues and folk tunes and from his own material. He has done this picking things here and there all through his career of course, but he used to make things his own, now he is just copying them. That being said, he is 65, and that is a hard lived 65, lots of concerts and lots of partying have left him with limited vocal ability and apparently not much to say.

So what, accept he is past his prime and revel in all the great music he has made. Even if most of it was made before 1979 or is that 1969?

matthew

I've listened to it about 10 times so far which IMO is far too little for any final evaluation. However, at this moment I feel Highway 61, Blonde on Blonde, and Blood on the Tracks are better.
Everybody has their opinion on Dylan's best as evidenced in the two current threads, but Modern Times for me at this point is not his best. It has, however, received more hype than any of his releases I can remember.