Bob Dylan – Saved

Mediocre reissue, sounds flat and compressed. My promo copy blows this one out of the water.

Bought this promo copy after being disappointed in the current reissue and wow, what a difference. Just visually comparing the grooves you can easily see that the reissue is compressed to hell. Definitely grab an original for this under appreciated period of Dylan.

Glad to have this Australian 1980 edition. Sounds fantastic and the songs are exceptional.

The Hong Kong pressing sounds amazing; much better than my US original, much to my surprise.

Critical musical assessment needs to be value free – the Staple Singers or Sam Cooke singing gospel? Universally praised. Bob Dylan praising the lord – wheel out the old “traitor” trope!

Bob’s not trying to convert you here – he’s the same old master storyteller grappling with the contradictions of life & revealing his joy at his own new-found “truth”.

Don’t let narrowminded critics who abhor the un-hip Christian overtones colour your judgement here. Okay, it’s not Highway 61 Revisited but this is an overlooked funky fiery imioned heartfelt well produced R&B LP in BD’s canon with a host of superb backing musos adding to the drama & soulful emotion.
Play this loud & proud.

"Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation." Psalm 95:1

"He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God." Psalms 40:3

I'm a huge fan of all 3 Dylan "Born Again" LPs. (not a huge fandom vs other Dylan eras)
This is the organ/piano driven / gospel harmonied "Tent Revival" of the trilogy.
Bought 2 horrible new pressings via Amazon & Walmart. Got smart & bought a mint used copy on discogs. $13.91 total.

I've nibbled around the edges of the Bob Dylan catalogue for about a decade now. I'm not an expert, I haven't even heard most of the indispensable records, so take it accordingly when I say that this is one of my favorite Bob Dylan albums out of the twenty-odd that I've listened to. A lot of it is the Christian themes - I do like to hear people praise the God who's brought about my salvation and everything good that's happened to me. But "Saved" is a record not of Bob Dylan songs that are informed by Christianity (to get these, listen to "Shot of Love," much of "Slow Train Coming," and arguably "Infidels"), but of Christian songs that were written by Bob Dylan. He must've listened to a lot of American gospel music, black and white, to make this album, because it has the tropes: our usual subjects recapitulated, songs clearly inspired by a single striking concept or Bible verse, ideas delivered in closely-linked couplets and quatrains (much like a folk song), and, of course, barn-burning singalong choruses. Maybe part of the backlash comes from the fact that he did something unique in his career here, which was to let the conventions(!) of a style (classic American Protestant hymnody) guide and inform his songwriting. Of course this would throw off anyone who approaches "Saved" expecting a Dylan Record, with all the strengths and weaknesses those tend to have, but in my judgment he succeeded instead at making a very good gospel album, with some songs that ought to live forever. And anyone with an ear for vocal technique can confirm that the Christian years saw some of his best singing, maybe the best: he exhibits better breath control, hits high notes more exactly, and sharpens his nose-voice into a ionate snarl worthy of the content. In short: think of "Saved" as gospel music instead of as a Bob Dylan anomaly, and you might come to love it too.

Unsure whether it's just my pressing, but the mastering seems very low quality and does not sound dynamic at all. Does anyone else find their copy flat?

Variant :
Matrix / Runout (Side A runout): 01_86113_2A_1 B
Matrix / Runout (Side B runout): 01_86113_2B_1 B
The new price code on rear cover : CB 281 is a white sticker.

For all the "incredible attention to detail," Back-up vocalist Clydie King is misidentified as "Clyde King" [sic] on the liner notes of the Japanese mini-LP. But it is still a wonderful item, great sound production, beautiful artwork and lyrics.