Return to the main Bob Dylan page ... and get saved ... Paved Overall Album Score: 5.1 out of 10 Yes. This is most famously hailed as the worst Bob Dylan album ever released. And without having listened to any of his following albums, I'll venture an educated guess and tell you that this is probably true. I don't feel too vile toward this album, though. This is album #2 of Dylan's Christian records, and this time, Dylan forgets all about folky stuff, poppy stuff, and groovy stuff, and he decides to tackle real gospel music that he probably picked up off of tele-evangelist programs. And ... oh ... some of these songs are okay. I like the semi-rousing title track the best, probably. I also think "Covenant Woman" and "In the Garden" have their merits. Even "Saving Grace" isn't bad. However, the remaining four tracks are just bombs. They bomb like no Dylan song has ever bombed. And they make me go "Eek! What a bomb!" A big complaint about this album and one that doesn't really bother me is the lyrics. Yes, Bob completely dumps his wonderful skills of lyric writing and poetry, and he writes these very simple worship lyrics. You know ... almost like stuff you might sing in a church. And, I don't really care if Bob wants to do a little bit of the simple stuff. Christian music lyrics have to be simple. If they're not simple, then you run the risk of being called a heretic. And Christians, especially new Christians, probably don't like being called hereticic ... ic. (That's probably not really true ... it's just a thought.) Anyway, this one was probably better off never existing. Let's go see what's on TV! Overall Album Score: 5.1 out of 10 (A huuuuuuuuuuuuuge disappointment. Although, I don't think you should spit venom at it! It was well-intended. I guess.) Average Song Score: 5.7 (There are three good songs in here ... the rest are pretty much rubbish.) Album Tilt: 5.0 (A Bob Dylan album this tedious? Even if you hated sitting through the guy's folk albums, you'll be SURPRISED after hearing this.) Artist Rating: 4.5 (Geez ... this is the first time I thought badly of Dylan's artistic integrity.) Track Reviews A Satisfied Mind 4/10 Bleak! This is just Bob singing a boring soul song with an occasional pounding of the piano and unorganized females singing in the background. I do understand why people would totally despise this one ... 'cause I despise it myself. It's not a HUGE bomb, 'cause it is kind of minimal and short, but this is definitely un-Dylan-like. Saved 8/10 Yeah ... this sounds too much like something that a traveling evangelist might have on his road show choir show ... but I guess among showey gospel songs, this isn't bad. And it is pretty rousing in that fake, plastic way that a traveling road show evangelists would have. ...You know ... like that one Steve Martin film ... It's no "Mr. Tambourine Man," but it's far from being a bomb. The arranging was actually done very well. Covenant Woman 7.5/10 This is not awful, either. I definitely wouldn't say that this was a badly written song. The melody and instrumentation is lucid enough for me to enjoy listening to this one ... pleasantly. But, this is a bit too long. Solid Rock 4/10 This one is a lot like "Saved" except it's much more flat and ... yikes ... even banal! No wonder so many people hate this album. This song is dreadful. Pressing On 3/10 BOOOOOOOOORING!!!! This one starts out very slow and quietly. And then it crescendos!!! ... into something that's not all that exciting. The melody might have needed a little more tweak to make this one memorable. As it stands, all I get is five minutes of pure tedium. In the Garden 8/10 This one starts out like it's about to be really boring (but it's not so terribly written that it grows tedious). However, this one is actually rather nice. That organ ... boy ... that thing is both beautiful and completely messed up at the same time! That's not a good quality, though. "In the Garden" does manage to catch fire, though, in a satisfying but awkward manner. Saving Grace 7/10 Ooof. This one isn't bad, really. It's just unexciting and *doesn't* catch fire. But it is listenable ... if you have the five minutes. Are You Ready 4/10 Heaven, for me, won't happen for a while. But this album will be over sooner! (Yay!) This, the final song from Saved, and the last soulful thing I'll hopefully have to hear from Bob Dylan, is simply BLAH. It's totally boring and tuneless. You have an opinion of this album. I know it. E-mail me with them here!

All reviews are copyrighted by the author, Michael Lawrence. He writes love notes to random women he passes on the street.