Bryan Ferry - 'Dylanesque' (Virgin) Released 05/03/07

Cynicism says Mr Debonair has ransacked the Dylan oeuvre by just going for the best bits in an endeavour to fill the coffers of the house of Ferry. Had Bryan Ferry the demi-god tried to catch a ride on the Travelling Wilbury's tour bus they'd have dropped him off at the next stop for his gall - he's so polished, almost imposssible to concieve of him wearing a stetson, growing a grizzly beard or swigging Jack from the bottle. Bryan Ferry had been wanting to do an album of Dylan covers since his 1973 'Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall' cover, there's something so smug about these recordings that many a busker could have mustered more depth of feeling and what we get is the equivalent of Bryan doing an open mic down the local, yet, with his agreeable, well struck touring band.

The bluesy 'Just Like Tom Thumbs Blues' sounds like a just woken man on the telephone, but the rock of 'Simple Twist Of Fate' and 'Baby Let Me Follow You Down' evoke the success B.F. held with his days gone 'Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall'. The sincerity of 'Make You Feel My Love' helds the tone but Van Morrison would have gone the whole 9 yards in feeling, 'All I Really Wanna Do' sounds like a nursery rhyme reduced in stature, and the greatness of 'Knockin' On Heavens Door' is too polite for its own good. '

Positively 4th Street' works a more vunerable Ferry voice possessed of a huskiness, the piano and and splendid cello performance by Anthony Pleeth marking this tune out with an understated strength. 'The Time's They Are A-Changin'' rocks with the guitar riffs and the biblical poesy of 'Gates Of Eden' seem honoured and respected with Ferry blowing his own harmonica! 'All Along The Watchtower' acknowledges Hendrix's take and goes for the rock classic status with the band playing for their daily bread and a live feel to boot.    

Ferry comments that he feels his voice has gotten deeper and that there's a haunting quality to these versions, but the hauntedness is that of a kid in a bed sheet going "Woooo" - make believe. There's little to these cabaret versions that marks them as Ferry's songs in the way Jimi Hendrix, The Byrds, or even Guns N' Roses have. The touring band of Ferry's has done at good job with the bluesy licks and recording the album in 7 days, but the disengaging Ferry fails to register more than a ripple on the tide to this personal curio of an album.