BOB DYLAN : THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

 

Disc One (71:48)

  1. Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat
  2. Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You
  3. All Along The Watchtower
  4. Under The Red Sky
  5. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues
  6. Silvio
  7. Mr. Tambourine Man
  8. John Brown
  9. To Ramona
  10. Ballad Of A Thin Man

Disc Two (74:04)

  1. When I Paint My Masterpiece
  2. Seven Days
  3. Alabama Getaway
  4. It Ain't Me Babe
  5. Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
    Bonus Tracks :
  6. Drifter's Escape
  7. Man In The Long Black Coat
  8. Positively Fourth Street
  9. Watching the River Flow
  10. Visions Of Johanna

Label : Laughing Camel Records

Venue : The Empire, Liverpool, UK

Date : June 27, 1996

Quality : Audience recording (B+)

Comments from Bob's Boots : A wonderful first effort from this label. They avoid most of the pitfalls usually associated with a first release except for one... it's a little too boomy. Nothing to worry about, though... just crank the bass down a little and rock on. Powerhouse vocals and music explode into a rollicking good time. The vocals are blended into the music a little more than in the more recent shows in which the vocals are way out front. The audience is loud and rude at times, but mostly in between songs. The bonus tracks are wonderfully chosen unique songs from the previous night. The aesthetics are fairly good for a first outing. More than a few of the boot titles of which the manufacturers have opted for a pun end up falling flat, or worse. This one is clever. Little Feat fans will catch the sly, punned subtitle on the disc itself, as well.

Comments from DEEP : Dylan hits the ground running from the get-go here; this one rocks your socks off immediately. Quality is a bit bottom heavy and needs some of the old EQ to balance things out. I thought the vocals were a bit harsh on first listen but subsequent hearings have grown on me. For a show I was not enamored of at first, this one sure has left its mark after repeated listenings. Nice first-time outing for the humpers from Laughing Camel. Highly recommended.
Comments from CDG : Bass-heavy recording of a nice performance. The '96 filler is well-chosen; the '66 filler pointless (and incomplete).
Note : Track 10 on Disc 2 is not on the artwork and comes from the Adelphi Theatre, Dublin, Ireland, May 5, 1966