BOB DYLAN : SONGS OF DARKNESS SONGS OF LIGHT

 

Disc One (76:20)

  1. Down In The Flood
  2. If Not For You
  3. All Along The Watchtower
  4. Queen Jane Approximately
  5. Watching The River Flow
  6. Knockin' On Heaven's Door
  7. Mr. Tambourine Man
  8. Boots Of Spanish Leather
  9. A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall
  10. Tombstone Blues
  11. She Belongs To Me

Disc Two (76:47)

  1. Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
  2. Ballad Of A Thin Man
  3. My Back Pages
  4. Maggie's Farm
    Bonus Tracks :
  5. I Want You
  6. Shooting Star
  7. Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll go mine)
  8. Simple Twist Of Fate
  9. One Too Many Mornings
  10. Dignity
  11. I And I

Label : The Razor's Edge

Venue : Labatts Apollo, Manchester, UK

Date : April 5, 1995

Quality : Audience recording (A-)

Review (Bob's Boots) : The 1995 European tour was exceptional. Dylan performed several songs without wearing a guitar. With only a microphone in hand, he sang with a power and commitment that had often been lacking in the previous few years of touring. The Manchester show presented here is a great, great performance. Unfortunately, I feel that the release is marred somewhat. The sound quality on the first disc is wonderful. Upfront and well defined... simply a fantastic listen. The second disc, however, has some problems. Although the first four songs of disc two conclude the main April 5, 1995 set, they are in quite noticeably lesser quality than disc one. The same can be said for the entire bonus material. I can only conclude that there was a problem during the mastering of the second disc. Personally, I find that this distracts from the overall desirability of this release. Some may not, but it would have been a lot nicer if the sound quality had been consistent over the two discs. The overall package aesthetics are weak as well. There is only a couple images of Dylan on the insert, and the back cover is as amateurish as has ever been released.