BETA
This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here

More From Forbes

Edit Story

Bob Dylan’s Latest ‘Bootleg’ Release Spotlights ‘Time Out Of Mind’ Triumph

Following

We're still in the midst of February, but the early part of 2023 has so far brought forth some noteworthy music from the vaults during what is generally considered a quiet time for new studio releases. Here is a list of some of those recent releases spanning the genres of roots rock, classic pop, indie rock and New Wave.

Bob Dylan

Fragments—Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996-1997): The Bootleg Series Vol. 17

A seven-year gap between albums of new original material seemed uncharacteristic for the usually prolific Bob Dylan. But that happened after the cool reception to his 1990 album Under the Red Sky. During the next several years, Dylan had only put out Good as I Been to You and World Gone Wrong, two records of traditional folk songs and covers; at the time, it appeared that his career was in a creative holding pattern. But the icon proved the doubters wrong with the 1997 release of Time Out of Mind, produced by Daniel Lanois (U2, Peter Gabriel). Hailed as a comeback at the time, Time Out of Mind—with its introspective mix of country and blues—has since been regarded as a masterpiece, containing such standouts as “Cold Irons Bound,” “Not Dark Yet,” “Love Sick” and “Make You Feel My Love,” the latter which has been covered by artists like Billy Joel and Adele. Time Out of Mind won the Grammy for Album of the Year and kicked off a string of acclaimed Dylan albums for the next 25 years.

The 5-CD box Fragments, which focuses on the period surrounding the making of Time Out of Mind, might be one of the best installments of the Bootleg Series. It features a newly remixed, stripped-down version of the original album that, according to Steve Hyden's liner notes, intend to convey what it truly sounded like sans Lanois' effects and processing that were applied later. The major highlights of the set are the bonus material spanning the earliest Teatro sessions from 1996; outtakes and alternate versions of songs that differ from what would eventually end up on the album —among them “Love Sick” and “Trying to Get to Heaven”—all of which offer a new perspective; material that either didn't end up on the album such as the originals “Dreaming of You,” “Red River Shore” and “Mississippi” along with a rendition of “Marchin' to the City”; and live performances recorded between 1998 and 2001. As heard on Fragments, both the album and this treasure trove of mostly previously unreleased material found Dylan delivering the best material in quite a while. In a career that had its share of defining moments, Time Out of Mind was a pivotal turning pointfor Dylan and gave him a second creative wind that has not yet diminished.

Bob Weir

Ace: 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition

One could make the argument that Bob Weir's 1972 solo debut Ace was really an unofficial Grateful Dead album because the members from that band (with the exception keyboardist Ron “Pigpen” McKernan) played on the record. That aside, Ace showed Weir as a formidable singer-songwriter in his own right; further proof of the album's enduring legacy is that several of its songs—among them “Playing in the Band,” “Mexicali Blues,” “Greatest Story Ever Told” and “Cassidy”—have also appeared in the Dead's set lists over the years. Marking its 50th anniversary, this deluxe edition of Ace not only features the original album but it also contains live performances of the songs by Weir and his band Wolf Brothers from last year at Radio City Music Hall—all of which brings things fittingly to full circle.

Carly Simon

Live at Grand Central

It must have been a strange sight for regular commuters at New York City's Grand Central Terminal in 1995 to witness Carly Simon and her band perform a surprise show there. What these New Yorkers got instead was a memorable concert experience as documented on Live at Grand Central, which has now been released as an audio recording for the first time. The grand space and the acoustics of the terminal provided a perfect setting for Simon as she vibrantly performed material from her then-recent album Letters Never Sent (including “Touched by the Sun,” the title song and “Davy”) as well as the classics (“Anticipation,” “Jesse,” "That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be" and “Coming Around Again,” among them).

New Order

Low-Life: Definitive Edition

In the five years after the death of singer Ian Curtis, the surviving members of the Manchester-based band Joy Division morphed into New Order and saw their sound progress from post-punk to electronic dance music. 1985's Low-Life, New Order's third studio album, further solidified that transformation and contained such memorable club-oriented tracks as “The Perfect Kiss,” “Sub-culture” and “Love Vigilantes.” This new deluxe edition of Low-Life—released just before New Order were announced as a nominee for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last week—features the original album and a bunch of mostly previously unreleased extras: among them the full-length version of the “Elegia”instrumental; the unedited album session version of “Sooner Than You Think”; and the demo of “Skullcrusher” that echoes shades of Joy Division. Two DVDs also grace this new collection, featuring archival band performances from 1985 in Tokyo, the Netherlands, Belgium and Toronto—as well as Manchester's legendary Hacienda club that New Order owned at the time.

Carole King

Home Again: Live From Central Park, New York City, May 26, 1973

(due out Feb. 10)

By 1973, Carole King was at the peak of her popularity, coming off the massive success of her Grammy-winning album Tapestry. That year, she performed a free concert at Central Park's Great Lawn that marked a triumphant homecoming for the native New Yorker. The event was captured on audio and film, both of which were never released until now. The documentary concert film Home Again is slated to stream on the CODA Collection this Thursday and features archival footage from the show as well as new interviews with King and her longtime producer Lou Adler; it's accompanied by the album of the same name containing performances of material from King’s then-upcoming album Fantasy (including “Medley: Corazon/Believe in Humanity,” “You've Been Around Too Long,” “Haywood”) as well as songs from her previous records including Tapestry (“You've Got a Friend,” “It's Too Late,” “Beautiful”). Showcasing King's masterful songs and soulful performances by her and the band, the long-lost Home Again is amazing.

A Flock of Seagulls

A Flock of Seagulls: 40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition

(due out Feb. 17)

With their debut U.S. single “I Ran” hitting the pop chart in 1982, Liverpool's A Flock of Seagulls were one of the first U.K. bands that launched the Second British Invasion of America. That hit song along with another classic New Wave track, “Space Age Love Song,” appeared on the group's self-titled first album—a definitive slice of early '80s futuristic synthpop and post-punk led by the charismatic vocals of Mike Score and the zinging guitar lines of Paul Reynolds. Forty years later, the album will be reissued later this month as a 3-CD set featuring the original work; B-sides, singles and remixes; session performances for the BBC, including one for John Peel; and live cuts from a concert at London's Paris Theater.

Neutral Milk Hotel

The Collected Works of Neutral Milk Hotel

(due out Feb. 24)

Since their formation in 1989, the indie group Neutral Milk Hotel have only released two albums, both of them from the mid to late 1990s. Yet the Jeff Mangum-led band's music – a mixture of lo-fi indie rock, folk rock and experimentation—has garnered critical acclaim over time. Most notable is Neutral Milk Hotel's 1998 album In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, which has since been regarded a masterpiece (“It's a record of images, associations, and threads; no single word describes it so well as the beautiful and overused ‘kaleidoscope,’” Pitchfork's Mark Richardson wrote in a 2005 review). The output by the band (who have been on hiatus since 2015) has been assembled on this career-spanning box set featuring both the band’s Aeroplane and 1996 full-length debut Avery Island; the EPs Ferris Wheel On Fire (whose songs date back to the early 1990s before Avery Island) and Everything Is; and the live album Live at Jittery Joe’s recorded in 1997 and released in 2001. Of special note for the band's fans is the inclusion of the song “Little Birds” presented both as a live recording and studio demo, as well as early versions of the tracks “You’ve Passed” and “Where You’ll Find Me Now.”

Follow me on Twitter