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One of these dark periods was set into motion by Bob Dylan finding religion. While not many would have an objection to someone being a born again Christian, it proved to effect Dylan's artistic creations, starting with Slow Train Coming and ending with Shot Of Love. This presents an issue, this issue being that Christian Contemporary Music, otherwise known as CCM, is known for being infamously bad. Not that music with a Christian viewpoint is automatically horrid. Albums such as Wovenhand's Blush Music have Christian themes without coming off as complete trash.
Unfortunately, CCM is usually held back by a combination of weak song writing and irritating lyrics and themes. The themes presented on many CCM albums, such as Saved, are mostly about how the musician's life has been changed with the power of religion. This is all fine and good, but it is done in such a boring way. On Saved, Bob Dylan rarely talks about anything that doesn't have to do with praising God. The only song that really works is the subdued opener, A Satisfied Mind, that wasn't even written by Dylan, as it's a cover of another song. He has nothing new to add to the topic that hasn't been preached all around the world for centuries and will be preached for centuries to come. Every song is almost the same in terms of topic and gets repetitive when repeated for 43 minutes. Dylan manages to repeat the same basics of Christianity and his faith without adding major variations or going into any details.
Coupled with these weak song themes is song writing that is not on par with Bob Dylan's past work, opting to go all out with a Gospel style he would go on to use again on Shot Of Love. This style of music leads many songs to feel very cookie cutter and bland. This sort of upbeat Church music has been seen many times and there aren't many flares here to separate it from the crowd. Gone are the slow and thoughtful flares of Dylan's folk work, as the songwriting is much less subtle in many places, including songs like Solid Rock, Are You Ready, and the title track. This isn't to say that the folk influences are completely gone, as these influences can be felt in Saving Grace and Covenant Woman, the latter even takes a bit to put the religious themes into a different context, this being a context of love. The musicians and singers here all have talent, but I can't help but feel like this talent and potential is wasted.
There is not much to be said here in terms of positives because even the better songs aren't that good, leading to songs being distinguishable due to being less annoying than others. This isn't to say that Dylan's singing of Christianity on its own is upsetting, it's how preachy and smug the album comes off. It can at least be said that this album isn't aggressive in how it preaches, but it feels like Dylan is going on about how good life is going for him because of his relationship with God. This makes the album much more personal in a way that makes anyone of a differing outlook on life feel excluded. Anyone who doesn't have the same relationship with Christianity might as well be listening with a fence between them and Dylan.
After Shot Of Love, Bob Dylan dropped the devout Christian music that was released from 1979 to 1981. This album is not worth a listen and is far from what Bob Dylan is capable of creating. While not the worst religious album of all time, as many artists have even more boring and repetitive CCM albums, it is quite the sin in the music world.
Tracklist for Saved:
1. A Satisfied Mind
2. Saved
3. Covenant Woman
4. What Can I Do for You?
5. Solid Rock
6. Pressing On
7. In the Garden
8. Saving Grace
9. Are You Ready
Unfortunately, CCM is usually held back by a combination of weak song writing and irritating lyrics and themes. The themes presented on many CCM albums, such as Saved, are mostly about how the musician's life has been changed with the power of religion. This is all fine and good, but it is done in such a boring way. On Saved, Bob Dylan rarely talks about anything that doesn't have to do with praising God. The only song that really works is the subdued opener, A Satisfied Mind, that wasn't even written by Dylan, as it's a cover of another song. He has nothing new to add to the topic that hasn't been preached all around the world for centuries and will be preached for centuries to come. Every song is almost the same in terms of topic and gets repetitive when repeated for 43 minutes. Dylan manages to repeat the same basics of Christianity and his faith without adding major variations or going into any details.
Coupled with these weak song themes is song writing that is not on par with Bob Dylan's past work, opting to go all out with a Gospel style he would go on to use again on Shot Of Love. This style of music leads many songs to feel very cookie cutter and bland. This sort of upbeat Church music has been seen many times and there aren't many flares here to separate it from the crowd. Gone are the slow and thoughtful flares of Dylan's folk work, as the songwriting is much less subtle in many places, including songs like Solid Rock, Are You Ready, and the title track. This isn't to say that the folk influences are completely gone, as these influences can be felt in Saving Grace and Covenant Woman, the latter even takes a bit to put the religious themes into a different context, this being a context of love. The musicians and singers here all have talent, but I can't help but feel like this talent and potential is wasted.
There is not much to be said here in terms of positives because even the better songs aren't that good, leading to songs being distinguishable due to being less annoying than others. This isn't to say that Dylan's singing of Christianity on its own is upsetting, it's how preachy and smug the album comes off. It can at least be said that this album isn't aggressive in how it preaches, but it feels like Dylan is going on about how good life is going for him because of his relationship with God. This makes the album much more personal in a way that makes anyone of a differing outlook on life feel excluded. Anyone who doesn't have the same relationship with Christianity might as well be listening with a fence between them and Dylan.
After Shot Of Love, Bob Dylan dropped the devout Christian music that was released from 1979 to 1981. This album is not worth a listen and is far from what Bob Dylan is capable of creating. While not the worst religious album of all time, as many artists have even more boring and repetitive CCM albums, it is quite the sin in the music world.
Tracklist for Saved:
1. A Satisfied Mind
2. Saved
3. Covenant Woman
4. What Can I Do for You?
5. Solid Rock
6. Pressing On
7. In the Garden
8. Saving Grace
9. Are You Ready
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