Read a thing on NME.com yesterday where he was bemoaning the quality of records in the past 20 years. He certainly hasn't come out with a really great one in about 3 decades.

He has now with this new one.

Love and Theft is a brilliant album and he released that 5 years ago. Time Out of Mind (1997) is a great record too. He has been in creative resurgence for the last 10 years. His live performances are gone to hell, but the man can still write great songs.

Yeah, his last two albums were really good. This new album has a more immediate feel to it that the previous two didn't. Really recommend anyone picking it up.

I bought this and listened to it last night. To me, a first impression of an album is just as worthy and interesting as a long term appraisal. So here goes... in a nutshell, I did not find the tunes and melodies interesting enough to sustain the sheer volume of verse / length of lyric. Now I know this is Dylan's oeuvre, but I did find my finger hovering over the Fwd button on my remote on a few occasions. To me, at least 6 of these songs did not cope with extension up to and past the 6 minute mark. There is a notable exclusion - Workingman's Blues #2 should weave its way into Dylan's canon of classics. It clearly is an album that requires digestion and cogitation and I will be giving it more love and attention over the coming weeks.

My first impressions are that this is an album worthy of Dylans canon but not a masterpiece.The problem for me is the band.They're ....meek!Maybe I'll get used to them but they're nowhere near Dylans Love & Theft band who were absolutely smokin'. Anyhows Bob is on form vocally & lyrically with early standouts being Nettie Moore,When the Deal Goes Down,Workingmans blues #2 & Ain't Talkin'. Musical & Cultural touchstones would be Chuck Berry,Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker,Judy Garland,Frank Sinatra,Merle Haggard,Charlie Chaplin,New Orleans,Travel,Lust,Violence & Alicia Keys. Modern Times indeed!

Easy now !!His live performances are amazing ,saw him last year .i was nearly in tears of joy

Bob Dylan has hit the top of the US album charts for the first time in 30 years. Modern Times is Dylan's third consecutive top 10 album, but his first chart-topper since 1976's Desire.

I have to agree that the music rather than the lyrics is/are the weak link. I think the tunes themselves are there or there abouts and with a good band and "Oh Mercy" type atmosphere or production it would be a great album. L. Cohens last few albums are great examples of making the best of somewhat ordinary melodies, so that the album holds your interest and copes with sustained listening.

Like the shame and social repulsion caused by a person claiming not to be a lover of Johnny Cash, I'm weary of saying this but I must: I hate Bob Dylan's music. Never saw the appeal.

i think the albums great... some parts a bloody marvellous. but i agree that some songs struggle to hold my complete attention. The band playing with him are dead solid but sometime seem to be playing auto pilot blues.. lyrically the songs are some of his best ever. Ive listened to the album regularily since its release and i havnt got weary of anything on it yet... oh and does anyone else think that the melody at the very beginning of working mans blues smacks a bit of the total eclipse of the heart... maybe my ears are playin tricks on me... bloody brillaint song though

Bing Crosby? Think you've been listening to the wrong album mate.

In fairness the record does sound like a 40s radio show. Rockabilly, 12 bar blues, watlzes, ballads, are all in there. I enjoy it, but it definately sounds like a period piece.