Customer Reviews

Masked & Anonymous (Limited Edition Digipak)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

A decent CD with some very good stuff, some okay stuff, some bad stuff. Don't buy it unless you're willing to fast forward about half the album!

Good:
On a Night Like This (Los Lobos) --- this song could have been written by Los Lobos! Lively, joyful.
Rap version of Like a Rolling Stone --- Okay, I was surprised at this one, but it's quite good.
Most of the Time(Sophie Zelmani) --- a sweet and innocent female version (but can you rhyme "sure" with "him")

Okay:
The Dylan performances, Grateful Dead, One More Cup of Coffee for the Road, City of Gold, Gotta Serve Somebody

Not so good:
The Japanese version of My Back Pages --- it could drive you crazy! I didn't like If You See Her, Say Hello

In the movie Masked and Anonymous, there are 9 live Dylan tracks used in the movie, yet only 4 appear on this "soundtrack." Songs that are MIA on the CD include 5 others (!): "I'll Remember You" and "Drifter's Escape" (both of which Dylan and the boys are filmed playing), but also absent is a killer "Blowin' In the Wind," which rolls during the final scene and the credits. Also missing are the songs "Watching the River Flow" and "Dirt Road Blues" (both were listed in the credits, but I personally did not recognize in the movie...instrumentals perhaps?). The Dylan songs that did make it onto the CD are all phenomenal (especially if you are a fan of Love and Theft), but this soundtrack really could have been something special.

Since almost every known band (famous and not) has recorded some cover version of a Dylan song this compilation (and movie soundtrack)contains
the most experimental,curious and particular ones
Music style varies from Tribal,Hip Hop,Rap,Country,Folk,Rock,psych
and others..Even if most of readers here,myself included, do not
know some of the artists who play on this CD,the first intention could be not to buy the album ,but after listening to the whole
thing you'll agree with me when I say these cover songs are extremely good,in few words Dylan Songs in a different point of view.
It's a pity the man himself has excluded "My Back Pages" by punk Metal band Ramones or "This Wheel's on fire" by Siouxie and the Banshees in that case i should have given 5 stars .This is not a Best of Bob Dylan,there are alread 100 -best of- cd around here,some reviewer misunderstood the meaning of this album
altough the rating is not 5 stars,Masked and Anonymous is worth buying then most of the releases of these modern years.cya

Bob Dylan can do no wrong. Get this...get the DVD.

As a serious - probably too serious - Dylan fan, I feel that for the sake of my credibility, I should immediately concede that the movie was perfectly dreadful. Confused, poorly staged, and boring as hell. The only moments of drama came in Bob's scenes. His discomfort was so palpable, it was nearly impossible to watch without growing queasy. In other words, a terrible experience... for which our greatest songwriter is largely responsible.

The accompanying soundtrack of "Masked & Anonymous" does, I think, go a great distance towards making up for the disaster of the film. Dylan and Co.'s super-tight performances of "Down In The Flood" and "Cold Irons Bound" are proof of what dedicated fans realized long ago - in the last 12 or so years, Bob has been performing at the highest level, a real golden era of touring.

Meanwhile, the Italian version of "If You See Her, Say Hello," translates beautifully, Los Lobos does a bang-up "On A Night Like This," and Jerry's "Senor (Tales of Yankee Power)" is very nice.

One does wonder at the absence of the outstanding version "I'll Remember You" featured in the movie, but we'll have to hope it emerges elsewhere.

Save your money and buy something else. The Dylan performances are few and uninspired. The rest -- peformances of Dylan -- are sometimes good, sometimes amusing, sometimes odd, but don't amount to much as a collection. I wanted to see the movie until I heard the soundtrack.

The soundtrack to "Masked and Anonymous":-- it is pretty mongrel and weird and fully wondrous, this Dylanesque music new world order: all these Japanese/Spanglish/Italian and Turkish translations of the BD canon done over and sampled in innovative ways, plus a gospel song by the Dixie Hummingbirds that is maybe one of the best sacred do-wop songs ever written... or sung... for me, it's a version of Saint Augustine's City of God, but lyric, sad, and pithy. This is sustenance for the post-ironic pilgrim soul in us, even as we are fallen into the toxic Babylon (well, this city space nation looks like the NAFTA-zone of Los Angeles gone even more lawless and wild) of the new-world-lyric-order as portrayed in the movie that goes along with these amazing songs. Gratitude is much in order here... for BD and his cast of thousands.

Disclaimer: I have not seen the movie. Which probably puts me in the same category as most here (the movie played exactly 1 week in Cincinnati--I guess the DVD rental will have to do).

The "Masked and Anonymous" soundtracks (14 tracks; 66 min.) is a hodge podge of Dylan songs and Dylan covers by notable and less-known (if not to say, anonymous) artists. The 4 tracks from Bob are excellent: new versions of "Down in the Flood" and "Cold Irons Bound", and also new songs "Diamond Joe" and "Dixie". Bob's songs were recorded live (on the movie set, in a matter of 2 days!) with Bob's current back-up band, which, if you have seen Bob in concert in the last couple of years, is simply excellent. All 4 songs sound like outakes from the "Love & Theft" sessions, and I mean that as a compliment.

The covers are a mixed bag. The Dead's "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" is pleasant enough, as is "Senor" from the Jerry Garcia Band (lifted from their 1990 double live album). The best cover is the gospel take on "Gotta Serve Somebody" by Sherley Caesar. There are some real misses as well, for example the Italian "rap" version of "Like a Rolling Stone".

Interestingly, the liner notes make clear that Dylan recorded 8 songs for the movie, but only 4 are on here. Where are the other 4 songs? Why are they not included on the soundtrack? Ot do we have to wait for the "deluxe" edition of the soundtrack in a few years (and fork over more money...)?

This recording is great stuff!!!

[Note: this is part 2 of a 2-part review. Since I want to rate the album 3 stars, I'm giving it 2 stars here and 4 stars there, to average out to 3 stars.]

8. Come Una Pietra Scalciata (Like A Rolling Stone) (performed by Articolo 31): An Italian rap. I don't know what the hell the lyrics to this song are, but I'm pretty darn sure they're not the lyrics to "Like a Rolling Stone" (the fact that this is the only song on the album for which Dylan shares writing credits seems to give credence to this hunch). Basically, there's a hint of the organ from that song sampled in the background of the rap, and the verses are separated by a sample of the chorus from the version Dylan recorded for Highway 61 Revisited (which is itself broken up by Italian echoes). This song has yet to grow on me, but I'm not excluding the possibility that it might eventually.

9. One More Cup Of Coffee (performed by Sertab): An English-language version with a Middle-Eastern flair. Like a few other songs on Desire, the original version of this song already had a Middle-Eastern feel, but this version makes that feeling more explicit. The Turkish vocalist has a beautiful voice, but I actually would have liked to hear her sing the song in her native language, since her inflections are already halfway there.

10. Non Dirle Che Non E' Cosi' (If You See Her, Say Hello) (performed by Francesco De Gregori): A beautiful Italian version of one of my favorite Dylan songs. The music for this track sounds like it was lifted directly from Dylan's recording on Blood on the Tracks (sort of like Italian karaoke), which is a good thing. I also like the fact that the vocalist sings the song straight, without embellishments or gimmicks. It sounds beautiful, even if you can't understand the lyrics.

11. Dixie (performed by Bob Dylan): Just plain silly. This sounds like Dylan was secretly recorded goofing off backstage.

12. Senor (Tales Of Yankee Power) (performed by Jerry Garcia): A fine effort on a forgettable (in my opinion) song. Garcia's performance on this collection is better than The Grateful Dead's, though his song choice is worse. This mediocre song has never really done it for me, but if you like the song you'll like this version.

13. Cold Irons Bound (performed by Bob Dylan): Another new version of a song previously released by Dylan. This one's not as successful as the version of "Down in the Flood" on this album, though perhaps this is only because the original version of this song was recorded too recently. He seems to not have anything new to add to the song, save flashes of music (the auditory version of periodic pyrotechnics on stage) that occur throughout the song. Cruising along at the same pace as the original, to the same infectious beat, these intrusive crashes of sound become quite distracting fairly early in the song. Other than that variation, this track sounds too much like the one on Time Out of Mind to warrant a new version, in my opinion.

14. City Of Gold (performed by The Dixie Hummingbirds): Ugh. Ick. Ack. Dylan was wise to never record (or at least release) this song himself, but he would have been wise to have left it in the vault and disallowed anyone else to record it either. (Disclaimer: I actually have never had the stomach to make it to the end of this song, so it's possible that something extraordinary might happen in the middle of the song that makes the recording worthwhile. The unlikelihood of this possibility has kept me from holding out enough hope to give it a chance of happening.)

So, would I recommend this album? Yes, but with reservations and only for the Dylan fanatic who feels the need to complete his collection. And even that completist is going to be disappointed with much of the album. That said, if you're looking for a few solid tracks to beef up an eclectic Dylan mix for a friend, this album is worth a look if you find it on sale.