Bob Dylan – Before the Flood II Review

Efforts from Bob Dylan fans continue to amaze and excite. Not content listening to the monumental turns of form on Before the Flood, a fan has gone out of their way to compile what was left off The Band and Dylan’s collaborative achievement. Hence, Before the Flood II, a collection of rare tapes and leftover bits which prove exceptional to listen to and almost as towering, exciting and influential as the first instalment. Long live the Bootleg tapes. Twenty-eight in total and each a striking piece clipped from the original release or taken from other sources. Before the Flood II cannot be tipped as a sequel or follow-up but does a hell of a job at collating performances across January and February which were absent from the album release but on the tour with The Band and Dylan. More of this quality could never be a bad thing.  

Plenty of choice within these twenty-eight tracks, including a neat and well-worked Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues. Key to Before the Flood II is the success in capturing The Band and Dylan. Their interplay with one another is beyond exceptional on the official release and hearing more of it is a real treat. Some of these recordings are still not of crisp quality but who can complain when listening to an electrified Mr. Tambourine Man or an exceptional version of One Too Many Mornings? Heading back to his 1960s efforts just a decade after their release, it sounds as though a lifetime has passed for Dylan. Moreso now he is touring the Rough and Rowdy Ways works, the artists could be different people. Bits of The Band flicker through with an enjoyable piece of King Harvest, though key to many of these tapes is the understanding of why they were not included. Nothing wrong with the performances these offer some of the finest versions of Life is a Carnival and Dylan’s classic Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat around this era, but they are surplus to requirement. 

All these merely highlight the dedication there is among some circles online to hearing everything, absolutely everything, Dylan did. There is scope to argue for its worth as a pastime, he is one of the few artists to consistently reinvent his work. Before the Flood II is a hell of a deep cut for those feverishly anticipating more of those surprises. A frequent favourite of those heady Bootleg days, It Takes A Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry, features within and this provides yet another lovely live rendition of the Highway 61 hit. Pieces like The Ballad of Hollis Brown are of such exceptional quality they could have been included in Before the Flood, but such is the joy of finding these well-moved, instrumentally thick options.  

The scratchy harmonica flooding She Belongs to Me will be more than enough to salvage your head and heart from a job you loathe. Get the headphones in, get it turned loud and block out the noise. Before the Flood II is another exceptional example of community spirit, more than anything. It has all the rumblings of an interesting period for Dylan though it should be noted Before the Flood II is the excess of his already quality live effort with The Band. A treat for the ears this one, then, and with the likes of Forever Young and Maggie’s Farm playing out the end, what is not to love? More of the prime quality from this period – Dylan and The Band rarely put a foot wrong and there are no flubs here.