Reviewed by Trevor Raggatt

The final instalment of Dylan's famous trilogy of Christian albums (alongside 'Slow Train Coming' and 'Saved'), 'Shot Of Love' is a patchy, somewhat unsatisfying affair. Sure, there are some good songs such as "Property Of Jesus", "Dead Man, Dead Man" and "Heart Of Mine" but then again there are some which are truly disappointing - especially by the standards one would expect from one of the 20th century's finest songwriters. A case in point is the eulogy, "Lenny Bruce". The piano and voice arrangement comes across more as a demo than a finished track and the lyrics are often little more than doggerel or notebook jottings. "He never robbed any churches, Nor cut off any babies' heads, He just took the folks in high places, And he shined a light in their bed." This and other tracks also hint at an annoying characteristic which infested much of his '80s and '90s output - a novel approach to little musical conventions like bothering to have a melody or singing with intelligible diction. Where the album is most effective is were Dylan takes the straight-ahead gospel meets AOR rock approach adopted on 'Slow Train Coming' or 'Saved'. The blues-based tracks like "In The Summer Time", "Trouble" or "The Groom's Still Waiting At The Altar" (a B-side bonus track, shoehorned into the middle of the album) are somewhat less successful. All in all, a proverbial curate's egg only sporadically shot through with expected brilliance.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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