Surviving In A Ruthless World
No way we could get through this lost albums series without at least a little more Dylan. What we’ve got here is the original “Knopfler” mix of Bob’s pre-apocalyptic near-masterpiece Infidels, which is made infinitely superior to the official album, simply because it includes “Blind Willie McTell.” That Dylan discarded this song — probably his best song of the 1980s — is perhaps the ultimate example of the man’s perversity when it comes to his own art. This “Blind Willie” is the electric arrangement (as opposed to the acoustic Bootleg Series version), and is a gripping performance, with a truly wonderful vocal. It remains unreleased to this day, amazingly — maybe Bob doesn’t like that he sort of chuckles inappropriately at the beginning. Also an improvement is the inclusion of the awesome rant “Foot of Pride” as the album’s closer. The other tracks here feature different vocals/lyrics/mixes — I especially like the variations in “Jokerman,” some truly dazzling rhyme schemes/vocal gymnastics here. All in all, it makes for an excellent listen, one that I think I prefer to the officially released Infidels.
