Review Summary: The most kvlt album title in Bob Dylan’s discography
Shadow Kingdom is likely not the release most Dylan fans would’ve preferred as a follow-up to his widely-heralded 2020 record
Rough And Rowdy Ways. That’s because it’s not new material, per se. Instead, this album consists almost entirely of recent re-imaginings of songs from earlier in the folk visionary’s career (plus an original instrumental functioning as the closer). In particular, the tracklist is heavy on deep cuts from Dylan’s ‘60s and ‘70s output. The results are mixed - I’d be hard-pressed to identify a single song whose updated rendition surpasses the original studio recording (although the slowed-down version of “Tombstone Blues” and the moody and spacious take on “What Was It You Wanted” come close, and “Forever Young” is a stunner here) - but it’s still intriguing to see the oft-dramatic transformations Dylan applies to each, and his ever more wizened voice manages to bring another distinguishing feature to the tunes. At worst, it’s a reminder of just how much creative brilliance was poured out by Dylan in his early heyday - listening to “Queen Jane Approximately” or “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues” and then realizing neither song attracts much attention relative to other tracks on their parent album is an eye-opening experience. As a whole,
Shadow Kingdom might not be a revelation, but it’s an interesting experiment with plenty of solid results. Besides, at this point I’ll take any new material from Dylan, whatever form it takes. The man himself turned 82 just a few weeks ago.
May you stay forever young.
