Oh Mercy released: Sept 12, 1989 BUY

Recorded in New Orleans in 1989, Oh Mercy was a much more ambitious album than its immediate predecessors, 10 new Dylan originals set off by producer Daniel Lanois’ moody atmospherics. The album has a sound that commands attention, and the leader’s vocals are pulled together, even – or especially – when he is singing of confusion and chaos, as on “Political World” and “Everything Is Broken.” And “Shooting Star” and “Most of the Time” are two of the most moving ballads he ever wrote. Despite the album’s overall mood of regret and anxiety, the record let everyone know that Dylan was far from finished artistically. Dylan’s description, in Chronicles, Volume 1, of the album’s genesis and recording is one of the most honest and accurate renderings of the ups and downs and reversals and tensions of the creative process ever printed. Political World | listen | Where Teardrops Fall | listen | Everything is Broken | listen | Ring Them Bells | listen | Man in the Long Black Coat | listen | Most of the Time | listen | What Good Am I? | listen | Disease of Conceit | listen | What Was It You Wanted? | listen | Shooting Star | listen |