Hello, my name is Ben Barrow and welcome back to Bob Dylan album by album, a podcast that takes an in-depth look at each Bob Dylan studio recording record by record.

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So let's take a look at an album that I think we can all agree isn't that great.

But it's interesting to take a look at it nonetheless, just to see how it fits into Bob's back catalogue.

This is 1985's Empire Burlesque.

Look out across the fields, see me me turning it. catalogue. This is 1985's Empire Burlesque. And so we come to an album that I think we can class as unloved.

It's not a high point for Bob.

The artwork alone is caused for write-off, and the sound isn't much better.

It's a heavily 80-s-s- sounding record that went for a contemporary fill,

but at times tries

too hard to be an 80s rock album. It ends up almost turning into self-parody. However, there

are bits to enjoy that just in short supply. After completing a European tour in the summer

of 1984, Dylan was ready to make his 23rd studio album. Just to put that into a little context, Bob had

now completely shed the Born Again sound, having returned to secular music with the previous

album, 1983's Infidels. That was a record that had done a decent job in starting to reinstall

Bob's reputation as a commercial artist. It reached number 20 in the US and also number nine in the

UK as well as going platinum here too. It was also held as a sort of return to form critically,

which has lessened in hindsight due to some brilliant post-infidels albums, but we can safely call it

a creative resurgence with some impressive songs like Blind William McTell coming out of those sessions.

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