(Columbia)
Dylan’s erudite new album contains multitudes. Is it a last boomer hurrah?
Greatness is often contested territory. Rough and Rowdy Ways, Bob Dylan’s 39th studio album, is awash with pre-eminence, both in its actual and its more unstable forms.
“I’m the first among equals, second to none,” harrumphs Dylan mischievously on False Prophet, one of three excellent songs that trailed this album. A roguish twinkle in his eye, Dylan is very much flirting with his own status as the marquee bard of the 20th century here, the kind of guy who can’t quite break the internet, but just slow it down a mite when he puts out a new song.