BOB DYLAN : WORLD GONE WRONG

  1. World Gone Wrong
  2. Love Henry
  3. Ragged & Dirty
  4. Blood in My Eyes
  5. Broke Down Engine
  6. Delia
  7. Stack a Lee
  8. Two Soldiers
  9. Jack-A-Roe
  10. Lone Pilgrim

Label : Columbia

Length : 43:56

Released : 1993

Review (AllMusic) : If Good as I Been to You was a strong traditionalist folk record, World Gone Wrong was an exceptional one, boasting an exceptional set of songs given performances so fully realized that they seemed like modern protest songs. Much of this record is fairly obscure to anyone outside of dedicated folk fans; "Delia" (covered by Johnny Cash the following year) and "Stack-A-Lee" are the most familiar items, yet they're given traditional readings, meaning that the latter doesn't quite seem like "Stagger Lee." But even if these are traditionalist, they're spirited and lively renditions, and Dylan seems more connected to the music than he has in years. That sense of connection, plus the terrific choice of songs, makes this one of his best, strongest albums of the second half of his career.

Review (Wikipedia) : World Gone Wrong is singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's 29th studio album, released by Columbia Records in October 1993. It was Dylan's second consecutive collection of only traditional folk songs, performed acoustically with guitar and harmonica. The songs tend to deal with darker and more tragic themes than the previous outing, Good as I Been to You. The album received a warm, if not excited reception from critics. Despite earning a Grammy award for Best Traditional Folk Album, it peaked at a modest #70 in the U.S., #35 in the UK. Like its predecessor Good as I Been to You, World Gone Wrong was recorded to fulfill the terms of his January 18, 1988 contract. It would be the final album released under that contract. In May 1993, Dylan once again held sessions at his Malibu home inside his garage studio. Recorded solo in a matter of days, a total of 14 songs were recorded without a single change in guitar strings. Marked by distortion, the recording quality was very primitive by modern standards, with very casual microphone placement and very little tuning. There were some rumors that Dylan had mastered the album from cassette tapes, as Bruce Springsteen had done with Nebraska, but those rumors have been as difficult to prove as they have been to dismiss. Possibly influenced by the controversy surrounding Good as I Been to You, Dylan wrote a complete set of liner notes to World Gone Wrong, citing all possible sources. It had been decades since Dylan had written his own liner notes, and they were always surrealistic; these notes, while still playfully written, were actually informative. The balance of songs in World Gone Wrong swung more towards rural blues. Two had been recorded by the Mississippi Sheiks, two more by Blind Willie McTell, one by Willie Brown, and another by Frank Hutchison. Songs popularized by Tom Paley and Doc Watson were also recorded. In the case of "The Two Soldiers," Dylan had been performing it live since 1988. As Clinton Heylin writes, on World Gone Wrong Dylan invested it "with that classic impersonality the true traditionalist seeks."