Well, isn’t this another long overdue, worthy masterpiece. Rough and Rowdy Ways, a title suggesting his continuing nonconformity and legendary social criticism streak, consists of 9 reflective, self-expressive tunes on 1 CD and his 17 minute previously-released-online classic, “Murder Most Foul”, on a second CD.
This is a smart, intelligent, sensitive, and revealing album with Dylan referencing many of his favorite artists and people including Beethoven, Walt Whitman, Liberace, and General Patton! The first CD is very reflective with Dylan ‘voicing’/reciting rather than singing his personal, intimate numbers. His minimalist back-up band plays behind the all-important lyrics and never distracts from the messages of each track.
There are, of course, some standouts on the first CD including the blues numbers in which the band gets to open up more; “False Prophet” and “Goodbye Jimmy Reed” stood out of this genre, which is a predictable staple of any Dylan album.
Myself, I preferred the quieter, meditative ‘ballads’ beginning with the Whitmanesque “I Contain Multitudes” which contains a typical Dylanesque shower of juxtaposed names and images. I also liked, from the get-go, the Frankenstein-influenced “My Own Version”, which is about what feeds into and has fed into his creative process.
Overall, there is an air of flow and acceptance as in “I’ve Made up My Mind to Give Myself to You”. “Mother of Muses” is a tribute to sources and his own muse Calliope. This CD finishes strongly with Dylan “Crossing the Rubicon” and choosing “Key West” as a finale soundscape for him and his listeners to lavish in; it is a perfect and peaceful ending to this memorable set.
Volumes can be written about the culturally and literary-laced allusions of the main event of this album: “Murder Most Foul”–his look back at JFK’s assassination put into context and POV’d from several different moments and contexts. You pretty much have to listen to this worthy companion-piece to Phil Ochs’s legendary “The Crucifixion” about the horror of this sea-change event in American history, separately, on its merits and deserved separate disc.
One last word: listen to the album alone thru headphones to get the full savour and power of this powerful release. Dylan’s voice and lyrics are the main thing, but also enjoy the ingenuity of the backup musicians riffing on limited chords, and the author’s clever assimilation of American cultural history.