Maps of Music

Modern Times (2006)

Where the lyrics of Modern Times take you, and where it was really made.

The album's lyrics borrow lines from 19th-century and Roman poets, yet none of those authors are credited on the record.

Key places

Where the songs were recorded (2006)

Recording site Clinton Recording — After rehearsing in Poughkeepsie in early 2006, Dylan and the band went to New York City to record the album. This studio is the recording location listed for the album. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Modern Times: 32nd studio album by Bob Dylan
• Released August 29, 2006 by Columbia Records
• Third work in a run of critically acclaimed albums after Time Out of Mind and Love and Theft
• Continues the blues, rockabilly and pre-rock balladry tendencies of its predecessors
• Self-produced by Dylan under the pseudonym Jack Frost
• Sparked debate over uncredited choruses, arrangements and lyrics from older works
• Lyrics drawn from 19th-century poet Henry Timrod and Roman poet Ovid

Background

• Recorded with Dylan's touring band from the Never Ending Tour
• The band had played with Dylan for all of 2005
• Rehearsed at the Bardavon 1869 Opera House in Poughkeepsie, New York, in late January and early February 2006
• Recording then moved to New York City
• Engineered and mixed by Chris Shaw, as with Love and Theft

Recording

• Chris Shaw said the sessions went slower than those for Love and Theft, taking about a month rather than three weeks
• Dylan had many versions of each song to settle on before choosing an arrangement
• Guitarist Denny Freeman remembered the sessions as difficult
• Dylan told Rolling Stone in 2006 that this was the best band he had ever been in

Cover

• Cover photo is Ted Croner's 1947 photograph Taxi, New York at Night

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Born Robert Allen Zimmerman on May 24, 1941, in Duluth, Minnesota; raised in Hibbing, Minnesota.
• Moved to New York City in January 1961 to pursue a music career.
• Signed to Columbia Records after playing harmonica on Carolyn Hester's album; debut album Bob Dylan released in 1962.

Members

• Solo artist; backed over the years by bands including the Hawks/the Band, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and his touring band led by bassist Tony Garnier.

Career

• Breakthrough with The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963); protest songs such as "Blowin' in the Wind" became anthems for the civil rights and antiwar movements.
• Went electric with Bringing It All Back Home and Highway 61 Revisited (1965) and Blonde on Blonde (1966), provoking controversy among folk fans.
• Motorcycle accident in 1966 led to nearly eight years without touring; Basement Tapes recorded with the Band.
• Converted to Christianity in the late 1970s and released gospel albums; won Album of the Year Grammy for Time Out of Mind (1997).
• Has toured since 1988 on the Never Ending Tour; won an Academy Award and ten Grammy Awards; awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Rolling Stone critic Joe Levy gave it five stars and called it Dylan's third straight masterwork
• Uncut's Nick Hasted called it a direct and audacious sequel to Love and Theft
• Robert Christgau in Blender described it as startling, radiating the observant calm of old masters
• Jody Rosen of Slate called it a better album than Time Out of Mind and even Love and Theft
• Alexis Petridis of The Guardian enjoyed it but did not consider it one of Dylan's unequivocally fantastic albums
• Jim DeRogatis of the Chicago Sun-Times praised the lyrics but faulted the music
• Jon Pareles of The New York Times wrote that the musicians sound as if they are feeling their way into the tunes
• Ron Rosenbaum in the New York Observer called it a wildly overhyped disappointment

Reappraisal

• Metacritic score: 89 out of 100, indicating universal acclaim
• Among the 100 most acclaimed albums on Metacritic
• Third successive Dylan album to top The Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics' poll
• Topped Rolling Stone's list of the 50 best albums of 2006
• Ranked number eight on Rolling Stone's 100 greatest albums of the 2000s
• Ranked number 204 in the 2012 Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums of All Time

Records

• First US No. 1 album for Dylan since Desire in 1976
• First album to debut at the summit of the Billboard 200, selling 191,933 copies in its first week
• At 65, oldest living person to have an album enter the Billboard charts at No. 1
• No. 1 in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Denmark, Norway and Switzerland
• No. 2 debut in Germany, Austria and Sweden; No. 3 in the UK and the Netherlands
• Over four million copies sold worldwide
• Won the 2007 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The album was recorded with Dylan's touring band rather than session musicians
• Because of the length of the songs, the album was split across two LPs, Dylan's third double album in a row
• Elton John is a fan of the album and has cited it as an inspiration for him
• The cover image had previously been used by the band Luna for their 1995 single Hedgehog/23 Minutes in Brussels
• The Limited Edition included a bonus DVD of four Dylan music videos
• Dylan's first song, Thunder on the Mountain, directly refers to Ovid with a line about The Art of Love

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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