The Guardian - Dylanesque - Fri 2nd Mar

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by Ian Gittins      Rating: Four Stars out of Five

Bryan Ferry recording an album of Dylan covers may sound a misjudgment to rival Duran Duran's infamous 1995 assault on Public Enemy and Led Zeppelin. But Ferry makes this bizarre project work by tackling the songs on his own terms, refusing to incline his languid croon even slightly towards Dylan's nasal whine.

Purists may cry sacrilege, but the Roxy Music singer vastly improves Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues and All Along the Watchtower by imbuing their edgy agitation with his classicist pop sensibility. His defiantly dilettante interpretation renders The Times They Are A-Changin' positively beatific. Ferry admits he has been prevaricating over this album since 1973, yet the results are more credible than he could ever have dared envisage. 

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