BOB DYLAN : SOUNDS INSIDE MY MIND

 

  1. Drifter's Escape
  2. I Want You
  3. All Along The Watchtower
  4. Tears Of Rage
  5. Silvio
  6. Tangled Up In Blue
  7. Mama You Been On My Mind
  8. One Too Many Mornings
  9. Seeing The Real You At Last
  10. Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
    Bonus Track :
  11. Positively 4th Street

Label : The Razor's Edge

Time : 77:50

Venue : Phoenix Festival, Long Marston Airport, Warwickshire, U.K.

Date : July 14, 1995

Quality : Audience recording (A+) 

Review (Bob's Boots) : A wonderful sounding outdoor field recording of the entire Phoenix Festival performance. Dylan is in top form, and the standard fare show is executed with precision. The package is quite interesting. Though the front is non Dylan, and a bit of a busy bore, The idea behind it is unique. The entire package is meant to resemble a Shakespearean playbill. The inside contains three sharp looking photos from the show.

Review (DEEP) : The impressive run of high quality recordings from '95 continues with another gem from our friends at Razor's Edge (RAZ 018). This time they give us the entire outdoor Phoenix Festival show in excellent quality, and what a show it was. Sounds like Bob might have called it the "WE ONLY HAVE 10 SONGS AND 70 MINUTES SO LETS HIT 'EM WITH EVERYTHING WE HAVE" gig. Things start off with a chunka chunka, swampy, grungy "Drifter's Escape," with Dylan's vocals kind of lost amid the storm of sound from Winston & Tony. If you live in an apartment and hate your neighbors, play this real loud. Sound quality is fine with good separation and "crispness," although "Drifter's..." leaves you wishing the vocals were more upfront. Not to fear, though, as things balance out for both an aching and muscular "I Want You," BDs vocals cutting to the core and the band sounding right on target. A great performance and a harbinger of things to come. Some nice guitar work highlights a fast and furious "Watchtower," the reins are pulled in a bit for "Tears of Rage" as Bob tempers his vocal a bit (unleashes the throaty growl in only a few places), and the band rocks through a razor sharp and raucous "Silvio." Let me add that IMO the band is hitting the target on every song, they've never sounded better. Until the acoustic set, that is - I'll go out on a limb and say this is the best (IMO) acoustic set of '95. Almost 9 and a half minutes of acoustic "Tangled" with some serious picking and harp playing will blow you away - then a dead-on, "been all around this world" vocal by Bob on "Mama You Bin...," along with some wonderful guitar by JJ & Bucky that takes it to another level- and then a gloriously subdued, plaintive and lonely "One Too Many Mornings" ends the acoustic set in grand fashion. The guitars sound absolutely beautiful on this song. Listen to the interplay between JJ's acoustic and Bucky's pedal steel in the background - gorgeous - and then Bob comes in with the harp and ties it all together. "Seein' the Real You" follows in fine fashion -crisp, clear, and energetic. You can tell Bob's pumped by his inspired "ohhhhh yeeaahhh" to end 2 verses and the band kicks into overdrive. Some more fine lead from JJ. Everybody in the band is nailing it this show. An enjoyable and well played Rainy Day Women ends the show...and you even get a bonus "Positively 4th Street" in superb quality from an unnamed 95 gig. I have to mention the packaging - designed like a Theater program of a Shakespearean play with 3 phenomenal shots of Bob and references to Hamlet. A candidate for CD packaging Hall of Fame.