Bob Dylan – A Broken Angel Sings Review

Bob Dylan is no broken angel. There are those who see the veteran songwriter as this staggering, otherworldly figure. A prophet of some kind in his way, a way that few musicians ever touched. It comes from the stream of consciousness, the meaning we imply with the words Dylan has written, often decades ago. But the contemporary material, the featured moments on Rough and Rowdy Ways that highlighted Dylan as a man of suffering and depths beyond having this tremendous read of the world, is a thrill. A Broken Angel Sings, a ten-song compilation of songs from the 2023 Fall tour, a Rough and Rowdy Ways leg of incredible charm, is a must-listen. For those who attended this tour, it’ll be a reminder of how far Dylan has come in just three years of touring. Those who didn’t get a chance to catch Dylan on this leg of the tour, it’s a chance to hear what you missed out on.  

Opening song That Old Black Magic is played up with this blur between romanticised folk-pop and lounge music. Planting Dylan at the core of that soft, slow, swinging style, is a treat. It’s a cover worth hearing. There will hardly be another time to hear Dylan perform That Old Black Magic, but what a performance it is. He picks up the tempo when many of the songs he performed on this tour, Black Rider, immediately after, for instance, take on a gothic, slowed tempo. It suits the tour, that much is clear, but it’s nice to hear Dylan break from that occasionally. His vocals are impressive across the compilation, though it does not get better than the shock and skill of That Old Black Magic. Still, moments of nuance to follow are stronger than the surprise factor, if we are to be objective about this leg of the tour, that is. This is a time when Dylan was infatuated with that baby grand piano, and you can hear it take centre stage on To Be Alone With You. It works well.  

But that upbeat spirit for To Be Alone With You, the constant sound of a piano being punched at by Dylan, delightful it may be, pales when compared to the subtler spirit of When I Paint My Masterpiece. Dylan adapted some of his very best songs to this new, instrumentally challenging style, on the Rough and Rowdy Ways tour. Such a period is now over, but the instrumental choices and that piano-led structure remain. It appears to be the instrument Dylan wants to go out on, and it suits his modern-day style. Just take a listen to Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I’ll Go Mine) or the staggering cover of Stella Blue here. Dylan was much more willing to throw in a cover here or there on this leg of the tour. He would harden on that across the tours to follow, and Europe was always a little short-changed there. Unless it’s Dublin on the final night of the tour, the chances of hearing anything from Dylan that wasn’t part of a rigid, sixteen-song set, was next to zero.  

That’s what makes a bootleg like A Broken Angel Sings so special. You can hear Dylan try out Brokedown Palace and South of Cincinnati, but the most beautiful song of all from this set is When I Paint My Masterpiece. A song that never quite got the justice it deserved. That and I Shall Be Released are in the running as two of Dylan’s all-time greatest songs, and to hear one of them adapted to the stage in modern times is, at the very least, a way to pay the song its dues. I Contain Multitudes and I’ve Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You are both exceptional offerings too, songs that maintain the contemporary appeal of Dylan as a stage presence. Affecting his classics with that style is the point of that tour, and it worked like a charm. You can hear so for yourself across A Broken Angel Sings.