Bob Dylan – Fragments – Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996-1997): The Bootleg Series Vol. 17 (Highlights 4-LP Box Set)
Review
Bob Dylan may be alone in owning a vault so stuffed with quality recordings he can release hours of outtakes that stand as songs themselves, not merely as interesting but one-listen-and-done snippets and not-yet-finished arrangements.
Of course, as his live performances make clear, Dylan's arrangements are never finished. And the works-in-progress on Fragments – Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996-1997): The Bootleg Series Vol. 17 demonstrate this is a fortuitous circumstance.
The generous compilation includes a tasteful remix of the original LP up front and relatively low-quality live recordings from 1998-2001 and previously released material from Vol. 8 on the back end.
And in the middle lies gold.
This is the restless Dylan of resetting the music, revising his lyrics and reimagining his voice as a nasal cry, a twangy drawl from the briar and a haggard, glass-gargling rasp. It's the kind of restlessness that ensures multiple appearances of the same title sound like different compositions. And it leaves one to wonder whether the original track list and selection of takes for Time Out of Mind was deliberate or merely the tossing of darts at potential recordings for inclusion.
So while "Not Dark Yet," "Mississippi," "Highlands" and others cuts are undeniable classics, Dylan proves with this Bootleg they could've been even more impactful upon release. And he ensures they are now.
Meanwhile, Version 2 of "Dirt Road Blues" reveals the template for "Duquesne Whistle," while Version 2 of "Can't Wait" recalls the sound – but not the message – of "Slow Train."
Comprising five discs, 60 tracks and more than six hours of music, Fragments makes the point that Dylan – in the course of making one late-career album – recorded more potential keepers, more masterpieces tossed away, than many artists do in a career. It also, like so many of the preceding Bootleg Series releases, gives insight to how much different Dylan's linear output might have been had he made different choices or if the hypothetical dart had landed elsewhere.
— Kristopher Weiss, jambands.com
Product Details
Time Out of Mind marked Dylan's first album of original material in seven years when it arrived in 1997, a stark, haunted record steeped in mortality and recorded with producer Daniel Lanois in New Orleans. It won the Grammy for Album of the Year and silenced any remaining doubters about Dylan's late-career relevance. These sessions pull back the curtain on how that brooding sonic landscape was built, one of the most consequential creative processes in Dylan's post-comeback arc.
The latest chapter in Columbia/Legacy's highly acclaimed Bob Dylan Bootleg Series takes a fresh look at Time Out of Mind, Dylan's mid-career masterpiece, celebrating the album and its enduring impact 25 years after its original release.
This edition includes a new 2022 remix, by Michael H. Brauer, of the eleven original recordings on Time Out of Mind, sounding more like how the songs came across when the musicians originally played them in the room.
Also included are 12 previously unreleased outtakes and alternate versions of songs written for Time Out of Mind, including such iconic tracks as “Love Sick”, “Not Dark Yet” and “Make You Feel My Love”.
Tracklist
Side A
A1. Love Sick
A2. Dirt Road Blues
A3. Standing In The Doorway
A4. Million Miles
Side B
B1. Tryin' To Get To Heaven
B2. 'Til I Fell In Love With You
B3. Not Dark Yet
Side C
C1. Cold Irons Bound
C2. Make You Feel My Love
C3. Can't Wait
Side D
D. Highlands
Side E
E1. The Water Is Wide
E2. Red River Shore (Version 1)
E3. Dirt Road Blues (Version 1)
Side F
F1. Love Sick (Version 1)
F2. Tryin' To Get To Heaven (Version 2)
F3. Make You Feel My Love (Take 1)
F4. Can't Wait (Version 1)
Side G
G1. Mississippi (Version 2)
G2. Standing In The Doorway (Version 2)
G3. Not Dark Yet (Version 1)
Side H
H1. Cold Irons Bound
H2. Highlands
UPC: 194399819715
Label: Sony Legacy
Release Date: 1.27.23
Format: LP Vinyl