Stumbling across a compilation of level-headed and dedicated Bob Dylan fans is a brilliant find. It is how pirates must have felt when they found plunders of rich reward. What a day to crack into Expecting Rain: Volume One. That bottle of Heaven’s Door is dangerously close to empty. Fill your soul with that same warmth with a few of the best live recordings from Dylan. We must trust in those who listen so frequently to his work. There is no better judge of these materials, of the countless hours spent on stage, than those who are forever seeking a perfect performance. One must exist. Dylan hinted at such a role on stage with Rough and Rowdy Ways. How far off these recordings are, most of which gathered from moments across 1988 to 1994, is up to an individual. We can trust the masses here.
Detailing the finer points of an otherwise uneventful period for Dylan is an exceptional experience. For those who bothered to push on through the 1980s, they were rewarded with stunners like Oh Mercy, with steady cover works on Good As I Been to You and World Gone Wrong. On stage was a different experience. Dylan lacked the courage to continue writing and, brief this feeling may be, was confident still in his stage presence. Lakes of Pontchartrain may be an odd opener but wait until that instrumental flourish towards the end. Enough to make you say “ooh” and tickle the back of your head. These are the bold moves made by community consensus. When everyone in the echo chamber is on the same page it leads to some monumentally strange pairings and, ultimately, it works a treat. Follow it up with one of the best live renditions of Hallelujah you are likely to ever hear, and Expecting Rain: Volume One more than holds its own.
For those who made their peace with the gruff vocal change from Dylan, this compilation is a treat. Disease of Conceit is a grand piano-hammering bit of brilliance while also shining a light on the contemporary momentum of Oh Mercy. What could have been an exercise in snootiness is a warm collection of forgotten live recordings. Artists and audiences may be flippant to the specifics of live shows considering how frequent it can be to see musicians live but give it time and listeners claw for those moments. We are against phones at gigs until it is time to relive the performance. It is rather staggering to think the weakest part of Expecting Rain: Volume One is a performance of A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall, more because it feels expected than for any reason else. Those strings add a beautiful, temporary layer to it.
Where those spirited violins may add that new layer to A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall, it strips away the primal urge. This is excess for the sake of it because the song had been heard so many different ways before. Where else but an orchestra? Expecting Rain: Volume One does an exceptional job of compiling a period usually referred to as a time of little interest for Dylan as a performer. He was giving it his all, though, as heard in these wonderful covers and assorted originals. Closer I Want You is the steady live experience you could now only dream of. A Blonde on Blonde classic fitted with some instrumental brilliance, a fine trickle of such classy work can be heard throughout this compilation. Staggering is the word for it. A monumental listen through the deepest of live recording cuts.
