by KIRBY FERGUSON

Good as I Been to Fou Bob Dylan

(Sony)

Harvest Moon Neil Young

(Warner)

Pocket Full of Kryptonite Spin Doctors

(Sony)

Main Offender Keith Richards

(Virgin) Izzy Stradlin and the Ju Ju Hounds (MCA)

Neptune The Northern Pikes

(Virgin)

Wy

fin iia vu

am about to lose the respect of my

reader(s): ’mnotabig Dylan fan. The

man is certainly one of the greatest

songwriters ever, rivalled only by Lennon/McCartney, butI’vealways hada hard time getting off on his ramshackle arrange- mentsand that... voice. Dylan was once quoted as saying he didn’tcare whathis band did with the music, he just cared about the words. And I rest my case. ‘Sides, I’ve heard his inter- views, notto mention Se/fPortrait, so he can’t be that great, right?

Having said that, I also think his new album, entitled --get this-- Good as I Been to You (10), isnothing shortofamasterpiece, his bestalbum since Bloodon the Tracks, topping the formidable Oh Mercy. Indeed, for once Bob has been good tous, following up the nostalgia of the Bootlegs box and Dylan tribute with a work that harks back to Freewheelin’ days. Good as I Been to You is acollection of solo performed traditionals ranging from charming nonsense like ‘“Froggie Went a Courtin’”’ to chilling blues like ““You’re Gonna QuitMe.”’

_ What’s to say about a great Dylan album?

Nuthin’. Check it out, it could be Bob’s last creative breath... but you never know.

Never let it be said that Neil Young doesn’t give the people what they want. A mere twenty years after the fact, in traditionally schizoid manner, Young has released a ‘‘se quel’’ to Harvest, his mostsuccessful album. If you’ veactually been waiting for a Harvest

follow-up, Harvest Moon (4) probably won’t

disappoint. For the restofus, Harvest Moonis asempty of feeling as any country music. The back-up vocalist pairing of James Taylor and Linda Rondstadt is more white bread than all but the yuppiest of us can stomach. The songwriting is decent and may have flowered in more fertile ground, but instead we’re left with aremarkably dullalbum. But fear not, at this blistering pace we can expect Ragged Glory ITaround2010.

Actually released last year, the Spin Doctors are just getting spun now. Pocket Full of Kryptonite (6) is a retro funk ‘n’ roll set that’ ll bring back memories of loads of seven- ties bands toomediocre te dedicatetomemory. Still, the album exudes good vibes and the concoction of Stonesy riffs, Zep thunder and JB funk works memorably well on atrio oflean, infectious, lazy rockers: *‘Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong,”’ “‘Jimmy Olsen’s Blues,’’ and