You'd have been forgiven in the past if you'd assumed that Bob Dylan was mostly famous for his radio shows and the way he complains about youngsters like the mad old lady who lives down your road does.
But you'd be wrong, because Bob Dylan is just about the biggest thing in music right now, after Justin Timberlake and that group of midgets who covered Superfreak. The new Bob Dylan album Modern Times is his first number one album for 30 years, it's reached the top spot in all sorts of countries around the world and Bob Dylan is now officially the oldest living person to launch a new album at number one. However, since Modern Times was released in the last 20 years, Bob Dylan is now legally required to detest it and give a shitty interview where he slags himself off for not being as good as he used to be.
Even though the music scene isn't what it used to be now that kids are downloading songs from MySpace directly into their spinal cords, a number one album is still something to be celebrated – especially if you haven't had one for 30 years like Bob Dylan. The last time a Bob Dylan record did as well as Modern Times was back in 1976 with his album Desire. Not that Bob Dylan hasn't been busy since then – he's tried only selling albums to smug Starbucks nitwits, letting Martin Scorsese make an incredibly long documentary about just how important he is, getting his own radio show to play lots of songs about weather in and selling off all his old poems at auction. Oh, and complaining constantly about how rubbish modern music is.
However, now Bob Dylan can go back to being a proper pop star now that Modern Times – which includes a song all about the time Alicia Keys made him cry – is number one all around the world. MSNBC reports:
The 65-year-old rock poet’s latest album, “Modern Times,” sold 192,000 copies in the week ended Sept. 3, his best sales week since tracking firm Nielsen SoundScan started using its point-of-sales data to collate the charts in 1991… Internationally, “Modern Times” opened at No. 1 in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland, according to Columbia.
Even here in the UK, Modern Times by Bob Dylan – although only reaching number three – saw the best one-week sales of any Bob Dylan album ever, although that may have more to do with that eye-gougingly bad DFS Sofa advert that rips off Subterranean Homesick Blues than anything else. Steve Barnett, chairman of Columbia Records, says:
“We couldn’t be more thrilled that fans have responded to it so enthusiastically by putting Bob at No. 1, which is where he belongs.”
Now that Bob Dylan has struck a chord with the mainstream for the first time in three decades with his new, old and even more curmudgeonly, persona, it's down to him to keep this momentum going while its still there. So it's a good job that Bob Dylan has already recorded some songs for the follow-up to Modern Times, with titles including Get Off My Lawn You Bloody Kids, I Can't Work The Video and Now You Come To Mention It I Can See The Benefits Of Owning A Walk-In Bath.
Read more:
Dylan Tops Worldwide Charts With New Album – MSNBC
[story by Stuart Heritage]
Jack Dharma says
You’ve totally misrepresented what Dylan said about the music of the last twenty years–he was referring to the medim, not the message, and it’s true. CDs cannot hold a candle to the quality of vinyl lps. Any audiophile will agree with him.
And, although I’m sure he’s pleased the album is #1 in so many places, he’s never pandered to his audience, but always challenged it. He’s gone his own way, following his art wherever it took him. If you want to go along, fine. If not, that’s fine, too.
Best Wishes,
Jack