By Paul Bradley

1d ' - ***** - Ekcellent **** - very Good

***—Gcod 1/ -**-Fair.

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**1/2 Shot of Love - Bob, . Dylan 7'

After Bob Dylan's last two albums, anything he does now could only be an improvement." Extolling the virtues of his born- again Christianity on Slow Train Coming and Saved was a commendable moral exercise on‘ Dylan's part, but it made-for two of the worst albums in recent In not _ necessarity taking a ’shot at ,the man's themes - rather, that Dylan got carried away with ideals and simply neglected to inject any lyrical or melodic quality into his efforts. , / ' ,

I am pleasedto report that Shot of love an hrproveuent— and a relatively substantial one. Dylan appears to have taken a cue from the

DEXTER T. GNOME

scathing criticism which 7 ‘

Sloup'l‘rain and Saved 7 receiVed. The "fire and Brimstone, revival ’ meeting mood has been toned down significantly. Far and away the best song on the album (and one of Dylan's best in years) is "Ienny Bruce"

‘ - a stirring tribute to

the controversial legend of satire who did for

I comedy what Dylan did ~

for POP music. Dylan

and Bruce have something very important in common-1 when each was at his ' respective peak, he was hated by the establish- ment. Dylan writes: "Lenny Bruce. . never > robbed any churches/ never out off any babies heads/ he didn't commit any crime/ just ripped off , the lid before its ./ Lenny Bruce was bad/ . .

_ he was the brother you

never had. "

"Every Grain of Sand" also features Dylan at the best we have heard in some time. Sure, the song is spiritually influenced; yet it is delivered in a quaint, introspective and very

listenable , manner.

The title track, _ ~' "Shot of Love", has potential but it never quite gets off the ground ~ possible because

’it sounds a little too much like "Gotta Serve Somebody" from Slow Train. The remaining tunes» have that recorded-in—the- basement feel about them and have too many rough edges to be accessible

to anyone but a devoted Dylan fan. a

If you have never thought much'of Dylan's past work, this l.p. will do little to change your opinion. ‘For the rest of us, Shot of Love is eVidence that the man \ still has some good music in him. -

***1/2 Pirates - Rickie :ee Jones ' With Pirates, Rickie Lee Jones has established 'herself as one of the premiere female artists in music today. The. immediate temptation is .- r to accuse Jones of imitating Nelanie Safka (they sound that much alike). However, this

a

THE SUN, Thursday, October 1, 1981, page 7

eel

. lady has too much talent

to need to imitate anyone. Like Melanie, Rickie

Lee Jones '. voice has the

range and pitdn that make everything from a whisper to a scream sound good. Unlike Melanie, Jones' songs have an air of sophistication that the former could never achieve (as in the

splendid "Live it Up") .

It is difficult to categorize the music on Pirates into any particular genre. Jones has struck an effective balance of R&B, ’jazz, and a little bit of soul; and she moves quite nicely

from one style to another (Contrast the

laid-back "A Lucky Guy" with "Woody and Dutch on Slow TRain to Peking',‘ a jazzy, up—tempo number).

None of the songs on Pirates bear any resemblence to her hit "Chuck E's in love". That's another reason why I like this album so much. ReccOmmended cuts: "Living It Up", "Skeletons", "We Belong Together", "A Lucky Guy", and "The Returns".

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