Fragments - Time Out Of Mind Sessions (1996-1997): The Bootleg Series Vol. 17

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Accompanied by bassist Tony Garnier and drummer Tony Mangurian, they built the tracks on top of those primordial beginnings. It wasn’t until the band stumbled into lockstep, all musicians’ frills burned away, that the song’s dark shadow loomed into view. But something different happens to “Not Dark Yet” and “Mississippi” when the players fiddle with them: They become different songs. If you had a bootleg copy of these shows you would think it was great but not on an official release.

follows the evolution of songs written for the album, from intimate early incarnations in the previously unreleased 1996 Teatro sessions featuring Dylan (vocals, guitar, and piano), Daniel Lanois (guitar and organ), Tony Garnier (bass) and Tony Mangurian (drums and percussion) through incandescent live renditions (also previously unreleased) showcasing Dylan and his touring ensemble channeling the songs on-stage from 1998-2001.This makes for a really fascinating and rewarding listen as you not only trace the evolution of the songs but can decide whether you prefer the album as released or as a more upbeat version. The previous Bootleg Series, Springtime in New York, suffered from focusing on too wide a time period as well as running too short.

Also included are 12 previously unreleased outtakes and alternate versions of songs written for Time Out Of Mind, including such iconic tracks as “Love Sick”, “Not Dark Yet” and “Make You Feel My Love”. Lanois accentuated the gloom and submerged the album in a damp chill of effects pedals and reverb until Dylan seemed to be speaking to us from the beyond. Although the band here is solid, the live songs also differ from the album versions, Love Sick for example really rocks. There are multiple versions of both songs littered across Fragments, and it is fascinating to hear them expand and contract, changing shapes and keys and tempos.For a total contrast, listen to the stunning version of the hymn-like ‘Make You Feel My Love’ (take one – CD 3 – 1997) – a song with gospel organ that’s become a standard and has been recorded by the likes of Adele, Billy Joel and Neil Diamond. Disc five is a bonus disc containing all Time Out Of Mind related tracks that were previously available on The Bootleg Series Vol.

Disc 1 is a new mix of the original album, with a less gloomy feel, and bringing Dylan's feral growl right up front in your living room. For the brooding and bluesy Time Out of Mind – Dylan wrote the songs while snowbound on his Minnesota farm in the winter of 1996 – Daniel Lanois was at the controls. Dylan, who was only 55 at the time, read his resulting lyrics to producer Daniel Lanois, who was stunned by their unearthly power, and the pair headed into the studio to fashion a record falling somewhere between a seance and a last will and testament.This lingering unease points to what makes Time Out of Mind special in Dylan’s discography, maybe even singular: More than almost any of his studio albums, it was the product of cult-like group obsession. All in all at least 12 musicians found themselves crowded in Criteria, with Bob Dylan as their bandleader (“Two of everything, like Noah’s Ark,” marveled pedal steel guitarist Cindy Cashdollar). Listening to the evolution of Time Out of Mind’s most beloved song, “Not Dark Yet,” shows how these lurching, unsteady sessions wound up yielding their particular exhausted glitter.