Women + Country

All told, Women and Country is Dylan's most accomplished work to date, and will set the bar for all future endeavors.

Woman + Country is somewhat of a grower--it's so purposefully hazy it seems to pleasingly fade into the slipstream upon the first play, but those repeated spins reveal the deep craft at the heart of Woman + Country, deep craft from both the songwriter, his producer, and musicians.

Women + Country is something of a concept album, providing a necessary and unflinching look at a people who are often too proud to admit they're dying slowly of the lonesome blues.

Ex-Wallflower's second solo reveals a chilly, magnetic power growing songer. [June 2010, p. 104]

Producer T Bone Burnett, who could probably turn a Miley Cyrus ringtone into a slice of melancholic Americana, gives the collection a predictably rich frame.

Women + Country sets the standard for new-century conformist rock--a genre far less boring than that phrase might suggest.

Maybe it's the presence of guitarist Marc Ribot, maybe it's the arrangements, or maybe it's Dylan's vocal register and choice of themes, but the vibe often recalls a more laid-back Tom Waits or Joe Henry. That's not bad company to keep, though Dylan's delivery lacks any edge or emotional undertow that make the lyrics speak more pointedly than Ribot's stinging guitar.

It's an inverted-commas proper long-player, which manifests a relaxed mood and maintains it marvellously.

The 11 tracks of "Women and Country" are similarly dressed [as the Robert Plant-Alison Krauss collaboration "Raising Sand"] with low-key Americana atmospherics. The results, however, are mixed.

Where Women + Country mostly suffers is from Dylan's lack of edge. Over the weeping fiddles, creaking shakes and pounds of the percussion, and howling pedal steel, Dylan's gentle baritone and choirboy-like delivery often fails to compliment the production.

The understated gospel-style fervor and steely determination of "Nothing But The Whole Wide World" with Neko Case stands out. [Jun 2010, p.84]

Now fully reinvented as a quietly reflective singer-songwriter blessed with good taste and emotional insight, his second solo album, Women And Country, is more than worthy of the family name. [Jun 2010, p.132]