Rough and Rowdy Ways
by Bob Dylan
  • Record Label: Columbia
  • Release Date: Jun 19, 2020
User Score
7.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 192 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 148 out of 192
  2. Mixed: 17 out of 192
  3. Negative: 27 out of 192
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  1. SuperMax156
    Jul 8, 2020
    6
    Not as good as the critics are saying but still worth a listen especially if you like Dylan. I think the critics have been over praising his last few albums because they always think this will be his last. Tempest however was a great album (the one before this).
  2. GuitarPen
    Jun 20, 2020
    6
    On Rough and Rowdy Ways, his first release of original songs since 2012, Bob Dylan dishes on a wide range of topics from mortality, history, and inspiration to pop culture. He speaks more so than sings through a scratchy voice that bristles and pops like a dusty record spouting socio-political ruminations on a world that's not dark yet but getting there.

    The bottom line is that Dylan's    On Rough and Rowdy Ways, his first release of original songs since 2012, Bob Dylan dishes on a wide range of topics from mortality, history, and inspiration to pop culture. He speaks more so than sings through a scratchy voice that bristles and pops like a dusty record spouting socio-political ruminations on a world that's not dark yet but getting there.

    The bottom line is that Dylan's lyrics overtake this collection. The crafty chord shifts, wailing harmonica, and rock rhythms, which defined the folk-rock sound in the '60s and '70s, are nowhere to be found. His soliloquies are, at times, poignant and prescient. Other times they are self-indulgent and self-aggrandizing, making the overall listening experience confoundingly hollow.

    If we focus on the more poignant lyrics, there is a lot to like. Dylan's masterfully infuses metaphor and weaves in pop references to create something of a hip hidden history lesson for the uninitiated. "Murder Most Foul" is by far the most potent track lyrically. Dylan skillfully uses the JFK assassination as a baseline from which to ruminate poetically on the thousand historical reverberations rippling from the impact of that fateful day.

    Still, I had a hard time picturing anything but Dylan on stage at a poetry reading with a bass player and a drummer in the corner laying down jazzy syncopations while Bob reads from a notebook of poems. Couplets that struck me most forcefully include:

    I Contain Multitudes: "I'm just like Anne Frank, like Indiana Jones. And them British bad boys, the Rolling Stones. I go right to the edge, I go right to the end. I go right where all things lost are made good again."

    Crossing the Rubicon: "I feel the holy spirit inside, see the light that freedom gives. I believe it's in the reach of every man who lives."

    Mother of Muses: "Mother of Muses unleash your wrath. Things I can't see, they're blocking my path."

    Murder Most Foul: "The day they killed him, someone said to me, "Son. The age of the Antichrist has just only begun."

    Overall, words alone are not enough to hold Rough and Rowdy Ways together, there is no sonic earth for these verses of truth to take root. Guitar & Pen gives out no free passes, as some other magazines do. While we kneel at the feet of the Gods, we won't always kiss the ring. If only old Bob had brought in Mark Knopfler to play some backing guitar, or Jacques Levy on electric violin or Daniel Lanois to produce, this would be a record for the ages. As is, I consider it more of an audiobook than a record album. While the lyrics shine, the band's restraint makes this a largely forgettable release.    … Expand
  3. Lajaleaa
    Nov 16, 2020
    5
    ( 58/100 )

    Bob Dylan, al igual que la reciente aportación de Neil Young, no tiene nada de malo, pero tampoco se enfoca en apelar a las demandas técnicas que la música actual han elevado. Sin tocar el valor de su pasado, su muy presente calidad de ser un clásico en el presente, y su alcance en el futuro, simplemente que este álbum es muy duro y pesado de apreciar en el contexto de la    ( 58/100 )

    Bob Dylan, al igual que la reciente aportación de Neil Young, no tiene nada de malo, pero tampoco se enfoca en apelar a las demandas técnicas que la música actual han elevado. Sin tocar el valor de su pasado, su muy presente calidad de ser un clásico en el presente, y su alcance en el futuro, simplemente que este álbum es muy duro y pesado de apreciar en el contexto de la producción de hoy en día. El 90% de la calificación se le otorga a la innegable poética y responsabilidad lirica que Dylan tiene en cada canción. Una melancolía política, romántica y social que definitivamente es importante resaltar y rescatar se encuentra en este álbum. Sin embargo, la producción simplemente es un telón en la parte de atrás del escenario que no aportar nada al artista. Hasta cierto punto, este álbum suena mejor sin la música y únicamente con el poético discurso de Bob Dylan.
    -
    Bob Dylan, just like the recent contribution of Neil Young, it's not bad, but it doesn't focus on appealing the technical demands that the current music has risen. Omitting the value of his past, his very present quality of being a classic, and his extent in the future, simply this album is hard and heavy to appreciate in the current context of production. The 90% of the score is thanks to the undeniable poetic and lyric responsibility that Dylan shows in each song. A politic, romantic and social melancholia, which is definitively important to underline and rescue, is found in this album. Nevertheless, the production is only a curtain behind the stage that doesn't help the artist. Until a certain point, this album sounds better without the music and only with the poetic speech of Bob Dylan.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

2
#2 Best Album of 2020
59
#59 Most Discussed Album of 2020

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
95

Universal acclaim - based on 25 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 25 out of 25
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 25
  3. Negative: 0 out of 25
  1. The Wire
    Nov 6, 2020
    90
    Rough And Rowdy Ways is undoubtedly the work of an artist with one eye on his legacy, yet it’s so full of wit, mischief and life that it positively sings. [Sep 2020, p.52]
  2. Classic Rock Magazine
    Jul 29, 2020
    90
    Rough And Rowdy Ways is unique, precious testimony from an elderly rock'n'roll survivor who, for all the games he plays, is a seer nonetheless. [Aug 2020, p.82]
  3. Spin
    Jun 25, 2020
    100
    Rough and Rowdy Days is a typically astounding, kaleidoscopic journey through the last half-century of American history. ... Dylan lapped us a long time ago. He’s still sprinting far ahead. And now he definitely can’t be caught.
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