Slow Train Coming (1979)

As a secular humanist witnessing the coming to power of Republicans in the U.S., having made their deal with fundamentalist religious forces, and with arguably the first shot across the bow of a modern religious war when fundamentalist Shias in Iran took American diplomats hostage, I found this album almost unbearably discouraging at the time of its release. Not to mention dumb as hell. Bob Dylan's greatest expressions of faith, hope, and courage lay behind and, even more so, ahead of him. This was a time of weakness; he lost his way for a period that lasted nearly a decade or more. Defenders of this album point to the clean production work and Mark Knopfler's fine contributions. Or, of course, they talk about Dylan's newfound "faith" approvingly (not so many of them left, really). This is certainly listenable enough, but the best I think can be said for it is that it's better than the two that followed: Saved and Shot of Love, respectively. Good grief.