Bob Dylan fans were full of praise for his Time Out of Mind comeback, and say it captures the “weirdness of the 90s”.
The 1997 release, which picked up a Grammy Awards win for Best Album, has been hailed by listeners as capturing the oddities of the time. A post to the r/BobDylan subreddit saw one user praising the production value, and it may be the reason the album is regarded as one of his very best. The original post reads: “Love the production on Time Out of Mind. The sound is just so incredible to me. I mean it really feels like a 90s album, you know? The weirdness of the 90s I mean. It evokes the feeling of being in a diner, next to a venue where some old crooner is performing.
“Like something out of Twin Peaks, that feeling of the darkness of city life meeting Americana.” Fellow Time Out of Mind lovers have put this sound down to the production style and credited Daniel Lanois for the atmosphere. One user wrote: “That’s Daniel Lanois for ya. I agree… it really breathes. Evidently, Bob and he clashed a lot during the recording of Oh Mercy, and it took some cajoling to get them back together. If you haven’t already, check Daniel’s solo albums.”
Another added: “Lanois’ album Acadie is amazing. One of the very best. As his work on U2’s Unforgettable Fire and The Joshua Tree. Also, check out the guitar-only album he did with Neil Young called Le Noise. And Wrecking Ball from Emmylou Harris. There are so many reasons why he’s my favourite producer of all time.” A third compared the album cover and the “wooziness” Lanois managed to capture on Time Out of Mind.
They wrote: “The atmosphere of the production matches the woozy blurriness of the cover photo.” Another agreed with the blurred image and suggested there was a strange power to the album. They added: “I absolutely love it, one of my favourite ever albums. There’s an almost strange, unnerving power to it.”
love the production on time out of mind
byu/TheBoxening inbobdylan
A third added: “The atmospherics are one of the best parts of the album for me too! I don’t get people who prefer the remix – it makes it sound similar to love and theft/modern times and takes away the unique feeling of the record.”
Others have suggested the intensity of the 90s “weirdness” is what made the difference for Dylan listeners, as the album helped get them back into his music. They wrote: “I had pretty much given up on Bob. Beginning with a hard pass on Real Live, and finalised (I thought) by that unintelligible Masters of War performance with Jack Nicholson. Because if he didn’t give a f*ck why should I?
Then one Sunday afternoon, driving along the Arkansas delta near Memphis I heard Dirt Road Blues and went ‘WHOA’. Yeah, great buncha songs even without the Lanois touch, but that sonic environment Daniel bathed those tracks in forced everyone stand up and take notice.”
