Bob Dylan’s output in the 1980s has befuddled, fascinated, and frustrated fans in all the years since the decade came to an end. For every defender of his music during that time (that’s us), there are just as many detractors.
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Let’s try to win some of that latter group over, shall we? Here’s one song from each of Dylan’s seven albums in the ’80s that deserves more attention and love.
“Solid Rock” from Saved (1980)
People who focus on Dylan’s lyrical shift to religious themes in the late ’70s and early ’80s tend to overlook that he was delivering some of the sharpest music of his career in that stretch. Case in point: this crackling rocker featuring some scorching lead guitar from Fred Tackett and a relentless beat by Jim Keltner, over which Dylan testifies with undeniable power.
“Property of Jesus” from Shot of Love (1981)
Shot of Love was caught halfway between the holy and the secular. But no matter where Dylan’s head and heart were at on each individual song, the writing is uniformly sharp. On the fiery “Property of Jesus,” he challenges his listeners to find faults with someone’s deep religious beliefs, perhaps as a way of answering the critics of his “Born Again” period.
“License to Kill” from Infidels (1983)
Infidels is the album where Dylan notoriously kept much of the best stuff (“Blind Willie McTell,” “Foot of Pride”) languishing on the cutting-room floor. Which is a shame, because there was enough good stuff that he included to make this a flawless album. “License to Kill,” which muses on how humankind’s relentless rush to progress can be detrimental to the world at large, is one of the subtler, and yet more powerful, moments on the record.
“Clean Cut Kid” from Empire Burlesque (1985)
The criminally underrated Empire Burlesque mostly focuses on love and romance, especially the tortured kind. But Dylan diverges from those themes on the wildly entertaining “Clean Cut Kid,” one of those songs where his neurons just seem to fire on a different level from anybody else. Practically every line in the song is quotable, and, heck, Peter O’ Toole (in the lyrics) and Ronnie Wood (on lead guitar) make surprise appearances.
“Maybe Someday” from Knocked Out Loaded (1986)
Knocked Out Loaded is generally known among Dylan enthusiasts as the album that houses the epic “Brownsville Girl” and not much else. Look, we’re not going to claim the album is a classic of any kind. But “Maybe Someday,” featuring a busy arrangement that seems to keep picking up steam and lyrics that fly by the seat of their pants, is quite a hoot.
“Had a Dream About You, Baby” from Down in the Groove (1988)
Down in the Groove proved a cast-of-thousands approach just didn’t work on a Dylan record. No matter the huge names that provided instrumental support, the musical backing still came off as somewhat forgettable on an album of mostly covers. At least “Had a Dream About You, Baby,” distinguished by Mitchell Froom’s bluesy organ work, shows a lot of spunk.
“Shooting Star” from Oh Mercy (1989)
There’s not a single miss on Oh Mercy, Dylan’s final and finest album of the decade. Yes, Daniel Lanois’ production can hang a bit heavy on the proceedings at times. But he mostly just ladles some subtle atmosphere on “Shooting Star,” which features Dylan at his most reflective and dreamy as astral phenomena remind him of the one that got away.
Photo by Chip HIRES/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images
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