Bob Dylan – Better Days: Unreleased Recordings Vol. 1 Review

These are the better days Bob Dylan had been aiming for. A Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction and an Academy Award ignited new interest in his work. Time Out of Mind certainly helped things along. What becomes of those extra appearances, though? The bits which were not laid down in the studio are left to rot. Not anymore. The unofficial bootleg Better Days Vol. 1 does well to collect the odd appearances at The Grammys, the Academy Awards ceremony and a few conferences. Live appearances at places where, of all people, Dylan would feel most uncomfortable. Here he is, though, in fine form, and playing his expected hits up for a crowd who could not care less for the experience. It lingers as a series of performances which would serve appreciative fans better, like the recent R.E.M. reunion. A convention hall is not a place where art booms, so why lend attendees any goodwill? 

Because it got Dylan back into the good books, that is why. Quality performances in sudden, live scenarios feature throughout. Seeing The Real You at Last from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction is a great start. Swinging, brilliant guitar work on a song which features Dylan at his absolute low. Empire Burlesque, with the right fury and surprise, can sound great too. Things Have Changed makes for a marvellous inclusion, an Academy Award performance which is worthy of the prize it picked up that night. Dylan still relies on the croaking vocals which would define much of his work that century. Those who react with disgust for the vocal styling of these later days are simply fearful of their progression in life. They too will sound coarse and feel rough around the edges at some point.  

Unreleased sessions make the most of this feeling. A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall is a scream of aged vocals, but with its new instrumentals feels like a scorching, still-relevant track. The point for many of these unreleased sessions is to prove, to himself more than anyone, that Dylan can still toy and meddle with his oldest, best works. It can be heard in the live sessions, and the David Letterman performance of The Night We Called It A Day sticks out as a fascinating, essential listen. Seek out the video, too. It provides Dylan in a rare moment of disinterest. Television does nothing for him, yet the performance is still a moving, booming experience. Grammy performances and concert benefits are treated with the same suspicion but offer decent work. Maggie’s Farm sounds fiery, here more than ever. 

Forever Young and Blind Willie McTell are given boastful performances yet in the grand scheme of things feel more like a footnote. Dive deep into these collections and come out the other end with shocking appraisals of the great works in Dylan’s discography. There is a drifting sense to these works, where Dylan would rather be elsewhere. Yet even in those moments of disinterest, there is a level of quality expected. Even in appearances which feel more like studio chatter, Dylan is in exceptional form. Better Days Vol. 1 does well to document those rarities and unreleased recordings which were kicking around. Collecting dust is no deserved fate for Forever Young, performed to Pope John Paul II of all people. Eucharist congress meetings, Critics Choice Award events and more can be found in these fascinating performances.