Rock legend Bob Dylan undoubtedly owns one of the most prolific and successful recording careers in American music history. That being said, after 40 years in rock and roll most artists would be satisfied to rest on their laurels and call it a career. Not Dylan.
While not in the same echelon as Dylan classics such as "Highway 61 Revisited," "Blonde On Blonde" and "Blood On The Tracks," "Love and Theft" stands as a modern triumph, easily one of his best albums of the last 25 years.
As implied through the dichotomy in the title, the record moves between giddiness and somberness, and does so with ease. Also, it provides a more inviting tone in comparison to Dylan's last release, 1997's "Time Out of Mind" " a much darker record.
Right off the bat, the listener is hit with the slightly irregular but entirely intriguing rhythm of the opening track, "Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum," which compliments Dylan's trademark croaking vocals.
The record then moves from the somewhat giddy opener to "Mississippi," a melancholy track originally recorded in the "Time Out of Mind" sessions, which reflects that album's more acerbic tone.
Nonetheless, the song is well constructed, and the sharp contrast of the first two tracks catapults the listener into the wide array of styles Dylan delves into on the record.
What makes "Love and Theft" so effective, however, is the rapidly changing musical elements and genres present throughout the album. It careens from a rockabilly and swing feel on "Summer Days," to the relaxed, lounge style of "Bye and Bye," to the straightforward blues on "Lonesome Day Blues." The gentle "Moonlight" slows down the pace of the record only to be followed by the intense, driving "Honest With Me."
Maybe the most interesting musical idea comes on "Cry A While", where the song shifts back and forth from a syncopated reggae feel to slow, plodding blues. Finally, the album ends with the nearly seven minute "Sugar Baby" which provides a satisfying ending to the preceding musical variations as a pleasant, stripped-down ballad.
At its core, "Love and Theft" is vintage Dylan; the songs are uniformly solid in musical construction, and, of course, the lyrics are second to none.
Dylan has always been able to convey a sense of anguish better than any other personality in the history of rock, and when he sings "Why don't you break my heart one more time, just for fun" on "Summer Days", one can really get a hold of his emotions and feelings.
In "Bye and Bye", Dylan says, "The future for me is already a thing of the past." Well, Dylan proves on "Love and Theft" that he is assuredly not a thing of the past, and hopefully his future holds more of such enjoyable and beautiful music from a bonafide rock and roll icon.
