Bob Dylan and The Band – Dreams of Iron and Steel Review

A phenomenal tour now well-documented on an official release, the pairing of Bob Dylan and The Band in 1974 is magnificent. Even with a massive package of material put out by the Dylan team, it’s worth considering the impact and effect of bootleg releases such as Dreams of Iron and Steel. Before the luxury of those soundboard recordings were pieced together and put out with all the glitzy extras this tour deserves, listeners had to rely on compilations like this. Songs performed on the January and February dates of the 1974 tour, a blowout where Dylan and The Band performed afternoon and evening shows across the United States, two on the same day at times, showcase just how hellbent Dylan was on making his return to the stage a permanent one. He would barely miss a year between Dreams of Iron and Steel performances and the modern-day. Reinventing his greatest hits is the route he takes, as ever, on stage.  

With The Band backing Dylan again, this time with a collection of their own hits, there’s a shift in power on stage. It feels as though a balance has been struck between reinventing Dylan and profiling The Band in the years leading up to The Last Waltz. Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat has Dylan lead a considerably strong rendition of the song, but the bouncy, flourishing tone brought on by those essential backing musicians gives it an extra layer the Blonde on Blonde song simply doesn’t have in the studio. It’s not an improvement, it’s an alternative. That’s the crucial difference to be made with songs like She Belongs to Me, Visions of Johanna, and a roaring Gates of Eden. Dylan returns to the stage, yes, but the music that got him there is changed with such an overwhelming instrumental range. Those renditions are nothing short of triumphant, and a vindication for Dylan’s ever-changing stage style.  

Acoustic work still prevails in this set, but the upbeat tempo, the sharper tone of She Belongs to Me, is a phenomenal adaptation of that great song. Much of the work Dylan and The Band provides here is in adapting to the new vocal range Dylan would use across his future tours in the 1970s. A deeper sound to his voice gives the songs not just further credibility, but longevity. Dylan has offered enough variety, in the studio and on stage, to warrant a listen to most of the tours he took part in, but the performances with The Band compiled here on Dreams of Iron and Steel are a cut above the rest. A career-defining tour, which would be the best-remembered tour of the 1970s had it not been for The Rolling Thunder Revue and all its quality just a year later.  

Here, you can hear Dylan recapture his love for live performance. It had been some time since he had consistently performed live, and with The Band’s backing, Dylan shows signs of understanding not just pop culture, but where the future of his sound lay. Planet Waves would release around the time of this tour, but it has less impact on his sound here than you would expect a new album to have. No, the focus on reinvention comes from ongoing creative ideas and the flow of influence The Band provides. Dreams of Iron and Steel is still worth a listen, even with The Complete 1974 Recordings now available. These are alternate pieces for the listener wanting to know that little bit more about a tour better identified as a blowout for The Band than for Dylan.