Bob Dylan – Hard Rain Review

Flat out and running on fumes, Bob Dylan and his Rolling Thunder collective, at the time of recording for Hard Rain, had just about scraped through the barrel. They had given all they could – no more was left in the tank. It can be heard here, this live recording from the right tour but plucked at the wrong time. Head back to the start of it and a spirited Dylan, full of belief and confidence in the massive spectacles he and the band were setting out on, are easier to swallow. But Hard Rain has the run of form expected of a group of musicians who are now tired of one another’s company and all too familiar with the moments of expression or spontaneity. But those wild reactions, the man at the beating heart of this nine-track setlist, is still riotous, enraged and spirited. Hard Rain has it all – the lightning strikes of a storm put to tape. 

Opener Maggie’s Farm has all the range and expectation of a lively Dylan performance though something feels off. A little frustration, and a lack of energy in some spots and the crowd does some of the heavy lifting. It is not shaken off but adapted to One Too Many Mornings, a venomous piece from Dylan who sings as though he has something, anything, to prove. Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again takes a swing and rides through the storm neatly, the flourish and flurry of a band who truly thinks they have hit the end of the line. Far from it of course, though the benefit of hindsight was not at hand for Dylan who delivers every line here as though hammering against an unbreakable wall set on crushing him. Passionate displays such as this are a rare breed to any artist – Hard Rain captures a musician who believes he is spent, and he sounds it here. 

But through this is a courageous explosion which cements itself best of all on album closer Idiot Wind. The harsh truths of the world come to a head with an ambitious artist who felt his past successes were not appreciated enough. They probably were not, and this brushed-off feeling is the mighty core of Hard Rain. Those crowds whooping along sound closer to masses yelling at zoo animals than those appreciating a man ripping through Lay, Lady, Lay. Thumping percussion and exceptional instrumental interludes toward the end of You’re a Big Girl Now give this Hard Rain collection the mighty punch – a calm before the storm of I Threw It All Away and Idiot Wind, two responsive and necessary tracks to chart a period Dylan found himself in.  

Doing so sheds some real and mean-spirited light on a tumultuous time for Dylan. He could feel the gears grinding away, and the grand frustrations are, decades from now, his vindication would come. Hard Rain is an exceptional piece, a turning point caught on tape as one of the finest musicians of any generation finally gives in to being pushed through a system he knows will not suit him. Dylan is flaming, and fiery. It shows itself throughout this piece. A monumental effort from those within to channel his rage, to fuel the fire Dylan finds himself desperately, furiously kindling. It is a slice of necessary history buried below the depths of a shift in tone and focus that Dylan would undertake just a few years later. Head back and hear the voice of reason crushed under the boot of record labels.