Bob Dylan – Rise Again Review

Rise Again is an apt title for an unofficial Bob Dylan bootleg charting the fallout and born-again rise of the artist. Follow on from Street-Legal and the ravages of Desire before it. Dylan was all over the place in the late 1970s. Phenomenal music, time and again, but rudderless and heading towards choppier waters. His adaptation and acclimatisation to the 1980s was brutal, never really heading anywhere or confirming his solo presence. He found success elsewhere, and yet the start of the decade, as charted on Rise Again, was a masterstroke. This is a turning point that Dylan, even now, sticks to. A change in the fundamentals of his greatest hits, a complete rejuvenation of songs from his glory days. Religious flourishes should be of little surprise. Live at Budokan was already tearing at the foundations of his best works – and successfully so.  

A rekindled relationship with God is what drives Dylan to make these changes, and they are massively different. Just one listen of Blowin’ in the Wind showcases this. With or without the context of his born-again experience, the fundamental, instrumental changes to be had with these songs are phenomenal. Hard to find, unreleased pieces like A Couple More Years hear Dylan drift away from those gospel backing vocalists and into the standard instrumental charms which last on the road through Rough and Rowdy Ways. Guitar-focused jams, joyful occasions and one of many tracks we can only wish were released. Still, this is the purpose of bootlegs. Pieces from Slow Train Coming and Saved follow, with What Can I Do for You? and Slow Train usually sound stronger when played live than they do from the studio. What Can I Do for You? is given some tremendously warm treatment here.  

Move along from those religious staples, the songs Dylan wrote to interpret and understand his faith. How he adapts those previous years to those live shows, like To Ramona, is magnificent. Dylan sounds charmed and laughs through an introduction to the song and, once it kicks on with Jerry Garcia’s recognisable guitar flourishes backing this change in tone. It is one of the few pre-1980s songs to feature, the bulk of Rise Again is a gold mine of rare cuts and unreleased material. This is the type of release which has people frothing at the mouth. A performance of Señor (Tales of Yankee Power) from Street-Legal and a flood of rarities including Let’s Keep it Between Us and City of Gold is monumental.  

Staggering. Even with a few spots of audience discomfort, the ingenuity and desire to reinvent these songs can be heard, and it is a welcome change. An artist who does not adapt their work is an artist merely posing as a former image. Dylan was never about that – still isn’t as he tours the Rough and Rowdy Ways shows well into this year, and likely the next. Rise Again is a monumental example of his desire to keep shifting the furniture of his live performances, to maintain a new and refreshing route through. Compare this with the previous decade of performances and what shines through is an optimism, a spirited rekindling of what he loves most about making and performing music. It is a far stretch away from his semi-retirement, and that much is clear. Rise Again charts a course through 1980, a letdown in the studio, but an occasion of sincere celebration on stage.