Bob Dylan – License to Kill (Live 1998) Review

Frustration may still reign for fans of Bob Dylan when it comes to Infidels. Some of his best-ever songs were cut from the final release, and now the tracks that did feature on his Mark Knopfler-produced classic are languishing in obscurity. Blind Willie McTell wins again, one of the few songs from this period to be consistently played by Dylan over the last few years. We must head back into the archives, then, for examples of what these great songs may sound like. License to Kill is a marvel. Not just in the studio but on stage. Fifteen years on from its release and Dylan was finding a new love for that material, which would pair nicely with the moodiness of Time Out of Mind. You can hear that during this performance from Brussels, Belgium. Knopfler may not be on hand to guide the guitar through but Bucky Baxter and Larry Campbell, on-stage legends when it comes to Dylan’s live performances, do a great job here.  

So too do Tony Garnier and David Kemper on bass and drums respectively, crucial members of the live line-up that make this period of Dylan on stage a career-best. License to Kill, in particular, offers a look into a relatively consistent part of this Time Out of Mind tour. The band would perform the usual hits, a few contemporary songs, but then dug deep into the darker parts of Dylan’s discography. Songs like The Man in Me and Boots of Spanish Leather were, all of a sudden, given a look in. License to Kill is given that same treatment and it’s a remarkable moment. It sounds just as strong as it did on Infidels. Heading back to that song after so many years away from it, the difference between that studio sound off the back of Shot of Love and the soft rock fundamentals of this live version from fifteen years later are clear.  

This rendition has enough difference from the studio version to warrant more than just a passing listen. There’s a gliding, slower tempo to the instrumentals, a softer opening to a song which seems to live in fear of progress. Not because of what it changes but in how it will be used by those in power. License to Kill is an essential observation from Dylan, whose work through the 1980s would dip in and out of the political sphere. Not at all on Empire Burlesque, reliably so on Oh Mercy. License to Kill veers towards Oh Mercy in its quality and commentary, the suggestion of man being capable of cruelty spinning off from its achievements is a brilliantly formed message. It, unfortunately, remains relevant decades on from its first release. 

License to Kill live in Brussels captures that. It has nothing to do with the James Bond film of the same name, but it would be a fitting soundtrack for the Timothy Dalton-starring feature. What could have been and so on. License to Kill has Dylan contemplate the world around him and he doesn’t like what he sees. It’d be a common fixture of his more politically inclined songs, a dissatisfaction with how the accomplishments of the human race are out of step with the political actions of world leaders. Capturing that on a bed of soft rock-like instrumentals, over a decade on from the song’s initial release, is marvellous. License to Kill is given a crucially brilliant performance. It’s a chance to hear the ongoing relevancy of even the deep cuts of Dylan’s discography.