
Bob Dylan's career has always been about defying expectations. Accordingly he followed 1997's much-heralded TIME OUT OF MIND with a marked about-face. Where its predecessor was a bleak emotional landscape full of languid atmospheres, existential sentiments, & graveyard vocal delivery, LOVE & THEFT finds Dylan much more energized & hopeful. Instead of swamp-like textures, we get sharp, cracking bar-band blues, & lissome ballads with a '20s/'30s feel. The old codger has never sounded more