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We already mentioned in an earlier post that the unconventional Bob Dylan biopic I'm Not There gets released today. Although the soundtrack of the film has been out for some time, we thought we'd take this opportunity to review it - especially seeing as how it's a review copy of the album that we've been listening to and all.
We're not just late on the review because we're lazy, though. There's a lot of music to listen to and mull over here. The soundtrack takes the form of two full discs of Bob Dylan covers by a list of artists that's basically a who's who of modern music superstars, including Eddie Vedder, Sonic Youth, Calexico, Stephen Malkmus, Cat Power, Yo La Tengo, Iron & Wine, Karen O, Los Lobos, Jeff Tweedy, Mark Lanegan, Willie Nelson, Sufjan Stevens, Glen Hansard & Markéta Irglová, The Hold Steady, and The Black Keys. (Bob Dylan himself even shows up - the album includes his original rendition of the title track, "I'm Not There.") It's not hard to guess why all these great artists jumped at the chance to pay tribute to Bob Dylan. After all, this is the man who in many ways created modern songwriting and modern rock. Without him, none of these musicians would be who they are today.
The concentration is, understandably, on Dylan's older, more classic work, although there are one or two examples of his more recent releases. John Doe's dull version of the gospel-inspired "Pressing On" is a particular low spot, but there are far more good songs than bad ones, and overall it's a very strong collection. A particular stand-out is a rocking rendition of "All Along the Watchtower" by Eddie Vedder and the Million Dollar Bashers. In fact, the Million Dollar Bashers provide the backing for a number of the best tracks on the album, including a wonderful "Cold Irons Bound" with vocals by Tom Verlaine; a rollicking version of the essential "Maggie's Farm" with vocals by Stephen Malkmus (although we still prefer Rage Against the Machine's absolutely brutal version of that particular song, sadly not included in this collection); another collaboration between Malkmus and the Bashers, the surreal, funny, almost Kafka-esque "Ballad of a Thin Man;" and an excellent "Highway 61 Revisited" with vocals by Karen O. Then there's Richie Havens' amazing version of one of Dylan's true masterpieces, "Tombstone Blues;" Jeff Tweedy's moving "Simple Twist of Fate;" and Willie Nelson and Calexico collaborating on a great rendition of one of our favorites, "Señor (Tales Of Yankee Power)." Both personalities of Yo La Tengo end up on the album - the slow, romantic personality on "Fourth Time Around" (which is okay, but has never been one of our favorites), and the crazy rocker personality on "I Wanna Be Your Lover" (which is just pure, bouncing, old-school fun). Another amazing track, by The Hold Steady, is "Can I Please Crawl Out Your Window?" They seem to have decided to play this song as if they were covering Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band covering Bob Dylan. We're not sure why (maybe it's because they just naturally sound like the Boss and his band and we just hadn't noticed before), but the result is pure awesome.
Did we mention there's also a fantastic version of "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" by Ramblin' Jack Elliott? Really we could go on and on about all the great songs on this album. Suffice it to say, it's a pretty amazing little collection, and a must for any fan of Dylan, or even of rock music in general.
Oh, and if all this inspires you to do your own Bob Dylan cover, you should know that there's a contest on right now, in connection with this soundtrack, to find the best Bob Dylan cover. Upload a video of yourself performing one of Bob's classics right here and you could win a sweet prize package, which includes a copy of this CD. Good deal.
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