Bob Dylan – Angel of Rain Review

Bob Dylan’s preparations for touring, irrespective of the decade, is a truly interesting listen. You get to hear the veteran songwriter piece together fresh instrumental forms for some of his very best works. Take a look at the track list for Angel of Rain, otherwise known as the 1984 Rehearsals. Catchy, rock and roll stylings of the very best songs, the likes of Ballad of a Thin Man, Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat, and Girl from the North Country, tucked away on a thirty-five song compilation. A bootleg of real interest to those who want to hear how Dylan adapted his gospel music stylings of the Shot of Love era into a pop and rock sound which would affect Empire Burlesque and beyond. Catchy would replace quality for Dylan during the 1980s, but Angel of Rain highlights the overlap which comes from adapting those quality songs from his discography to a new sound. He would do this time and again over the next few decades, and it always seemed to work.  

Angel of Rain certainly has more than its fair share of quality performances. A rocking version of Maggie’s Farm opens the bootleg, a fine example of Dylan’s vocal quality and interest in adapting the acoustic brilliance of the ‘60s into a rock and roll style, which would be diluted by others well before he hit the stage. Dylan was not quite keeping up with the popular efforts of Bon Jovi and Bruce Springsteen, but was certainly aware of what power a guitar solo could add. All Along the Watchtower sounds closer to the Jimi Hendrix cover than it does to the tender brilliance of the original found on John Wesley Harding here. Not because Dylan is trying to thread his way through to the guitar legend, but because that is what the times were offering. Two versions of Just Like a Woman feel far less spritely and optimistic than the album versions. Not just because of Dylan’s slower drawl, but because of the When You Gonna Wake Up? additions made immediately after. It’s the contrast that matters most. Dylan had not left behind that religious music just yet.  

Sinking the rehearsals with When You Gonna Wake Up? is a bit inevitable, and it remains a mystery as to why it was considered given the instrumental bliss of other songs featured, but it’s there all the same. Dylan doesn’t sound all that confident in these rehearsals, though the same can be said for a few patchy performances of Every Grain of Sand towards the end of the bootleg, and that would stick around in his setlist for decades to come. A few performances on Angel of Rain highlight the general sound Dylan had been seeking for the tour at hand. Amazing instrumental work can be found throughout and though much of it would be repeated and ran through in the 1980s, Dylan sounds far more confident here than he does on stage with Tom Petty or Grateful Dead. Those veterans were cover for Dylan to consider what he wanted to do with his work, but all the same, he dropped into the background a little. Not the case for Angel of Rain, a tremendous working of Shelter from the Storm hears a real confident turn from Dylan.  

Considering Real Live released around this time, it’s staggering to hear Dylan in good form during rehearsals. He would mumble, grumble, and grate his way through many of the shows during this leg of his career. His burnout can be heard in many recordings and is a fascinating step down from what came before, and, crucially, what he followed it up with. But for a decade of pursuing rock and roll stylings, he did come through with decent, entertaining moments. Angel of Rain is full of those and a far better example of what he had aimed for than the live albums which released around the same time. Shelter from the Storm is a particularly brilliant moment from Dylan here, more because the instrumental flow is inspired. That’s an inspiration which Dylan and his backing instrumentalists would lack for some time, no matter which songs he swapped in and out, irrespective of the changes he made from show to show in the mid-80s.