Maybe I'm getting Dylaned out with the end in sight but I was a little disappointed by this one too.
No Mercy (1989)
No Mercy marked another one of Dylan's comebacks, returning this time after a series of not so good 80s efforts. No Mercy teamed Dylan with producer Daniel Lanois who was red hot at the time. I don't think the production suited the man or his material but I can understand why it turned heads in 1989. Lanois produced another Dylan album later on (Time Out of Mind) that I don't remember as being quite as Lanoisy as this one.
I think the sound fits better on the more up tempo songs of side one. "Political World" and "Everything Is Broken" find a nice groove and are pretty well known by mid-period Dylan standards. The band, made up of Lanois sidemen rather than Dylan's touring group, can rock but Dylan sometimes sound like he's in another room. Some of the slower songs on No Mercy are set in a odd ambient soundscape that's unlike anything else I've heard from Dylan. The arrangements are so ethereal that the songs drift away. It's as if Lanois has bleached all the color out of the recordings.
Although I have mixed feelings about the album, I had no problems finding songs for the playlist.
Man in a Long Black Coat has a bit of "Night of the Hunter" about it. The production accentuates the dark mood and post-apocalyptic landscape. I chose
What Was It You Wanted over the more familiar "Most of the Time" because of its unusual sound. It's almost like Dylan in dub with his harmonica reminiscent of Augustus Pablo's melodica on a thousand reggae songs.
In Mrs. Eephus' words, Bosley has been riding "The Confusion Train" the past few nights. His nocturnal wanderings have increased in frequency and length. I'm a much sounder sleeper than she is so I don't hear him at night but it's driving her nuts.