An opportunity for Bob Dylan to play with the interpretation of his career was never going to be uninteresting. Masked and Anonymous remains, at its worst, a fascinating piece of work from Dylan who identifies himself in others. At its best, it is a monumental story where Dylan gets closer than ever to revealing his true thoughts, his real experiences. A soundtrack to coincide with the film saw artists of the time cover Dylan’s work, extrapolating his message through new sounds and wildly different genres from their folk and rock origins. Outtakes from those sessions are a welcome treat and are a bootleg experience worth having. Twenty-five minutes of outtakes is better than nothing, and here are predominantly covers of classic tracks. They featured on the DVD release of Masked and Anonymous, though getting your hands on one of those is harder than plugging into YouTube.
Masked and Anonymous is well worth it. A rare glimpse of unfinished work behind the scenes and in listenable quality. No crackling audio, no harsh harmonica, just a straight style of performance which Dylan had rarely engaged with pre-Time Out of Mind. Classic songs like Amazing Grace and I’ll Remember You are featured here, with the latter being one of the best moments from these recordings. Stripped-back performances shine a light on Dylan’s vocal work and acoustic guitar playing, like those early folk days. A return to that sound was heard on MTV Unplugged but these covers from the set of Masked and Anonymous come across as earnest, fresh interpretations of faith-based songs. Those tones of religious fervour would affect his stage performances in the decades to come, and rightly so. They are welcome experiences and, crucially, they are earnest explorations of the past without having to touch on their own. Such is the thrill of a cover song.
It is not just slow-tempo acoustic work but a rocking riff or two from Dylan pursuing the electric energies of his heyday. Drifter’s Escape is a magnificent offering, and though the quality may briefly waver, is a shot of modern Dylan. Those rocking and fluid tones which raise the bar of his live performance sound just as frenetic and intense in the studio as they do on the live circuit. Closer to a jam session with a few Hollywood flickers to it, Masked and Anonymous: Outtakes is well worth a listen even for those who found nothing of interest in the film. Another piece in the never-ending jigsaw puzzle of Dylan’s career. Tremendous snippets of a time when interest and stock in Dylan were at an all-time high.
That bolstering of his career, a return to the heady heights his work belongs at, is a rejuvenating experience for artist and audience. Hearing it unfold as it does here is a welcome treat. Masked and Anonymous: Outtakes is a refreshing and often exciting piece, extracting performances from the film into listenable, often short moments. They are a welcome experience, a fine interpretation of Dylan’s originals from the man himself, who sounds ready to tackle the deeper cuts of his discography, as he does with Political World. Other occasions hear him and his band rise to the best-of selections, like Blowin’ in the Wind. What the outtakes offer, above all, though, are suggestions of enjoyment for performance, something Dylan lacked in the pre-Time Out of Mind days.
