Bob Dylan: Saved CD Track Listing

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Bob Dylan Saved (1980)
Originally Released June 20, 1980 \nCD Edition Released August 20, 1990\n\nAMG EXPERT REVIEW: If Saved did anything, it proved that the born-again Christianity of Slow Train Coming wasn't merely a passing fad, and that it did, in fact, mean something significant to Dylan. Whether it meant something significant to his audience was another matter entirely, since this is where his religion overshadows his music, turning the album into a sermon to an audience that is nearly certainly unconverted -- and never will be, either. Dylan himself may be part of that audience, since he did back away from such a staunchly dogged viewpoint not long afterward, but that doesn't change Saved's status as being a fairly flat -- and, for Dylan, fairly pedestrian -- testament to his faith. And, if Slow Train Coming found him at a fairly creative peak of songwriting and supported by a supple backing band, he's turning out routine songs here, and the backing follows suit, resulting in his flattest record yet. -- Stephen Thomas Erlewine\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nDylan's most outspoken Christian album..., June 21, 2005\nReviewer: ewomack "ewomack" (MN USA)\n\nNo one would accuse 1980's "Saved" of subtlety. The lyrics unabashedly proclaim the Christian faith with lines such as "I've been saved by the blood of the Lamb", "I want to thank you, Lord", "I was blinded by the devil", "covenant woman got a contract with the Lord", "When they came for him in the garden, did they know?", "Are you ready for the judgement? Are you ready for that terrible swift sword?" Not only that, the album's liner notes contained a Bible passage. A few years before, Dylan had studied the Christian faith in California at the Vineyard Fellowship (his girlfriend at the time was also a member, and she apparently convinced a pastor to speak with Dylan; some consider this the origin of Dylan's so-called "Christian phase"). Soon after, Dylan released "Slow Train Coming" to a warm critical and fan reception (he won a grammy for the album and sales were more than satisfactory). But some fans weren't receptive to his new message. Legendary stories about shows at the Warfield Theater in San Fransisco still circulate. According to some, Dylan preached to the audience, and many left. Others claim Dylan gave the performance of his life. All agree that the shows were marked by Dylan's Christianity. \n\nWhether it was due to the success of "Slow Train Coming" or Dylan's hardened religious convictions, "Saved" puts it all out on the table. No double meanings haunt this album. The opening song, a cover of "A Satisfied Mind", almost plays like Dylan's reconciliation with himself for the harsh criticism he received for singing about his beliefs: "Once I was wading in fortune and fame... but suddenly it happened, I lost every dime, but I'm richer by far with a satisfied mind". Was Dylan telling his fans that he accepts the consequences of singing about God? Hard to say, but the choice of that song was a provocative one. \n\nThe album contains some great gospel-tinged music. The title song, "Saved", is a rousing get on your feet number with great guitar riffs and catchy hooks. "Covenant Woman" recalls Dylan's great ballads. "Solid Rock" again brings the crowd to their feet with a thumping rhythm. "In the Garden" retells the Gethsemane story from the Gospels, and probably qualifies as the album's most intense number. The album closes with a bluesy warning. "Are you Ready" states "When destruction cometh swiftly, And there's no time to say a fare-thee-well, Have you decided whether you want to be In heaven or in hell?" Some accused Dylan of giving in to the harsh side of Christianity and deemphasizing its loving charitable side. With lines such as "Are you ready for the judgment? Are you ready for that terrible swift sword? Are you ready for Armageddon? Are you ready for the day of the Lord?" it's not too hard to understand that criticism. Nonetheless, the music on "Saved" is some of the best Dylan produced in the 1980s. \n\n"Saved" remains Dylan's most Christian album. He never again sung so nakedly about faith. Some found this a relief. Others kept wondering about the status of Dylan's faith. Rumors abound that he re-converted to Judaism (he was born into a Jewish family). Speculations bounced like raquetballs. As usual with Dylan, no definite answers appeared. He went on to make, arguably, two more "Christian albums". Though they weren't nearly as outspoken or as blunt as "Saved".\n\n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nA Contrarian's View of Dylan, November 6, 2004\nReviewer: Scot P. Livingston (Denver, CO United States)\nMost people see Saved and Slow Train Coming as two sides to the same coin. And while they may share a common lyrical focus, for my money Slow Train Coming has a lot more in common with its predecessor, Street Legal, than it does with Saved. Looking past the words, Slow Train Coming's songs sound a lot Street Legal's. They're basic pop-rocks songs with the same basic arrangement of horns and backing singers. Sure you've got Jerry Wexler doing a much better job recording it, and Mark Knopfler adding some more zing on the guitar, but really it always sounded like Bob just added the word Jesus to whatever songs he was working on at the time of his conversion. Really, Saved is the first of the quote-unquote born again albums that really sound like it. The music here is Gospel. I don't get why Slow Train Coming is always more respected than Saved either. I mean if the Jesus words bother you, you're not getting much help from either album. I think at the time, Slow Train Coming was seen as a weird one-off diversion, but the fear with Saved was that this would be all that Bob would sing about from here on out. Plus with the music so clearly Gospel, it's harder to pretend that the lyrics aren't really so dogmatic. I think the two are just about equal in terms of quality. I love the extended genre exercise into the Gospel milieu. The title track, as well as "Solid Rock" really rock out. "A Satisfied Mind" is a slip, but a brief one. "Covenant Woman" is really the only bad song on here. It's a solid uncompromising album.\n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nI'm so glad!, March 15, 2004\nReviewer: Howard Sauertieg "Howard Sauertieg" (Harrisburg, PA USA)\nMr. Dylan's most strictly "Christian" album is not bad. Musically, it is quite stirring in places. Dylan's voice is deteriorating here, but his enthusiasm for the "message" he's trying to convey is always touching. He really sounds like a man who's been saved from "the fiery pit" in the nick of time. \nIn a way, SAVED is Dylan's "gospel" equivalent to NASHVILLE SKYLINE, his "country" album. He immersed himself in a genre, turned out some good-to-passable songs in the new idiom, then moved on to other things. Much of the criticism of Dylan's gospel work reeks of hypocrisy. Rock music "experts" like Dave Marsh did chastise Mr. Dylan for buying into a prepackaged ideology and trying to force it onto an unwilling public, while simultaneously lavishing their worthless praise on dead, quasi-literate black men like Blind Willie Johnson and Blind Gary Davis, both of whom sang almost nothing but gospel on street corners. (See the ROLLING STONE RECORD GUIDES of the 1980s.) So what if Dylan resembles more Blind Willie Johnson than he does Blind Willie McTell? Judge the music, not the man. Furthermore, the ideology of the "protest song" movement is fixed for all time, for anyone to adopt and make his own, if only to sell records to a target audience and make a name for himself - as Dylan did when he was young. \n\nSAVED isn't a failure because it's a Christian album from end to end, or because its maker was an icon of the "counterculture." The problem with SAVED, I think, is that it was somewhat hastily thrown together between two evangelical tours, and poorly recorded at that. Dylan's lyrics on SAVED are atypically focused and straightforward, sometimes to the point of ridiculousness. "Are You Ready?" sounds like a Chick tract [crass evangelical comic books, strategically placed in rest rooms and telephone booths] set to music, though somehow it's one of Dylan's best gospel numbers, a nasty mid-tempo groove similar to "Gotta Serve Somebody" but far more threatening in tone. "Solid Rock" is also very much "by the Book," lyrically, and likewise more compelling on the basis of its music. "Solid Rock" and "Pressing On" hammer home one of Dylan's favorite themes, that of the struggle to maintain spiritual correctness against the contrary forces of persecution, ridicule, and one's own weakness. That's another potentially off-putting aspect of SAVED and Dylan's gospel work in general - the singer frankly anticipates these "enemies" and flaunts his struggle against them, as though he's doomed to suffer the tortures of the damned for his correct beliefs. The album opens with a traditional tune, "Satisfied Mind," but Dylan sounds anything but satisfied most of the time. The one "upbeat" tune is the title track; when the singer chants "I'm so glad," you can almost hear the smile on his face. \n\nIn the period from STREET LEGAL (1978) to INFIDELS (1983), SAVED is the least eccentric Dylan album, and it's more raw and undisciplined (in a good way) than the rest. Unfortunately, the original mix doesn't do justice to the music on this album. If SAVED ever gets a remix & the SACD treatment accorded to STREET LEGAL and some other Dylan manifestos, it will get more of the respect it deserves.\n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nWhat's good is bad, what's bad is good..., October 31, 2002\nReviewer: "sonofagunn_1776" (East Lansing, MI United States)\nYou'll find out when you reach the top...\n* * *\n"Saved" is one of those albums that is a highway of diamonds...but it seems only a few of us are driving on this highway. This is one of Mr. Dylan's most under-appreciated albums, and sadly so. Even the record execs stripped it of its original album art (which can be viewed at the bobdylan site). Nothing against the present artwork, but I prefer Tony Wright's original.\nIf the listening public were to judge solely on the music itself, I believe many more would appreciate this album. For a number of people, evidently, Mr. Dylan is just too darn vocal about his beliefs. Too bad for them, because this assortment of song is a joy to listen to. Goodness only knows how many times I've enjoyed the last three chords of "Satisfied Mind" in anticipation of "Saved" (which in and of itself is worth the price of the CD).\n\nI will admit this group of songs doesn't seem to have the same cohesiveness of "Slow Train Coming," (the only reason I gave it 4 stars, quite honestly) but enjoyed individually the songs are strong and sound. Having seen the Massey Hall show of 20 April 1980, I think it would have been advantageous had there been some concert audio from the "Gospel Tour" recorded to this album. The breaks between songs seemed to shift more easily in concert. But perhaps I'm being overly critical. Then again, there are a number of songs that Mr. Dylan has yet to record on a full-length record from those concerts..."Cover Down" comes to mind.\n\nBut dealing with the record at hand..."Saved," "Solid Rock," and "In The Garden" are the essential highlights--with solid beats and wonderful piano rhythms. "Covenant Woman" is quite moving, as well. "In The Garden" is along the same lines as "Slow Train's" treasure, "When He Returns." The piano work is wonderful, and soul-rending. The vocals are superb.\n\nContemporary Christian artists Third Day do a pretty good version of "Saved" on their Worship CD, "Offerings." I'm partial to Mr. Dylan, but they do the song justice. I highly recommend "Saved" to one and all...\n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nYou don't get better than this, January 16, 2001\nReviewer: C Rogers (New Zealand)\n\nWhen Dylan produced Slow Train Coming a lot of people thought that it was a brief 'spiritual' phase he was going through. However when Saved was produced it horrified the secular music world as he had obviously fallen victim to the christian faith. John Lennon called him a traitor to his own jewish people and concert goers threw food at him when he refused to sing songs from older albums. I remember walking past record stores who were almost giving the cassette of Saved away (well, for .95 cents anyway). Yet it remains Dylans most rockiest,clearest and arguably his most passionate album he has ever produced. I absolutely love it and always go back to playing it. Time has shown that it was a 'phase' for Dylan, and when I went to a concert of his in 1986 with Tom Petty, all his passion had gone..he didn't seem to know who he was or what he was singing about(the critics had a field day). His obviously has come back since then, but I remember this album as a pinnacle of a singer who gave up his dignity and reputation to follow his heart...and isn't that where all good music comes from?\n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nGlorious, July 17, 2000\nReviewer: B. W. Fairbanks "Brian W. Fairbanks" (Shaker Heights, OH United States) \n\nMore than 20 years after its release, the reputation of Bob Dylan's "Saved" remains in need of salvation itself. Reviled as one of his worst albums by critics and fans alike, it is actually one of his best. The follow-up to the previous year's "Slow Train Coming," it did not rack up the impressive sales of that effort, perhaps because the novelty of a born again Dylan had worn off by the time of its release, but its less pedantic tone should make it more palatable to those who found "Slow Train" offensive. If "Slow Train Coming" was a religious tract meant to bring non-believers to their knees, "Saved" is a worship service, a joyous celebration that could even make the devil shout "Hallelujah!" \nThe opening track, an impromptu cover of "Satisfied Mind," is glorious in its simplicity, and if the title song and "Covenant Woman" fail to keep the momentum going, it returns with a bang when Dylan rolls out the incredible "Solid Rock" followed by three outstanding tracks that represent some kind of highlight for gospel music: "Pressing On," "In the Garden," and "Saving Grace." There's far less finger pointing than on "Slow Train Coming," and more signs of the love and forgiveness that the Good Book is supposed to represent. What is really on display here, though, is Dylan's amazing talent. Just as he segued from folk to rock, and proved an essential force in both, he turns to gospel music as if he had been born to it. When the man is inspired--and the heartbreaking harmonica at the close of "What Can I Do For You?" is all the proof anyone needs to realize he is--nobody can touch him. "Saved" is a great album, and an absolute must for every serious fan of the 20th century's greatest troubadour.\n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nIf John Calvin had a guitar..., January 24, 2000\nReviewer: Mike Johnson (a smalltown, Alabama United States)\nYou don't want to miss this one: classic rock with r'n'b and gospel tendencies underpinning sound biblical doctrine. Dylan says he was blinded by the " /born already ruined/ Stone cold /as I stepped out of the womb. By His grace I have been touched, by His Word I have been healed, By His hand I've been delivered, by His Spirit I've been sealed; I've been saved By the Blood of the Lamb..." Dylan puts the blame where it belongs: the fallen state of man. And then, with a flourish that would make the apostle Paul smile, Dylan puts the credit for the cure squarely where it belongs: the grace of God. The biblical theme is very strong here. Actually, Dylan seems more concerned with the prominence of the Bible in his thought than does the Vineyard movement that was instrumental in his conversion. Dylan's is no signs-and-wonders-gospel. "Many try to stop me, shake me up in my mind Say, "Prove to me that He is Lord, show me a sign. What kind of sign they need when it all come from within?" Dylan shows more concern for the "quiet man of the heart" than for a religion of miraculous display. Two other cuts should be mentioned here. "Covenant Woman" explores the role of romantic love in the context of a life of faith. The next cut-the heartfelt "What Can I Do For You?"-is, to borrow a multi-platinum phrase from elsewhere, a lovesong for a Savior. Dylan paints the theme of love with broad strokes. Too bad Mark Knoppfler and Pick Withers didn't show up for these sessions as they did on "Slow Train." (After all, isn't it possible that "Precious Angel" is actually the apex of Dire Straits?) But, no matter. This album rocks. If you can imagine John Calvin fronting a rock-and-roll band-and who can't? (lol)-then you should get "Saved."\n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nA Shining Showcase Of Dylan's Talent., October 2, 1998\nReviewer: Douglas MacRae (Toronto)\nA strong follow-up to Slow Train Comin', this collection of songs pays homage to the American gospel tradition of Pops Staples, Mahalia Jackson, Marion Williams, and Aretha Franklin. The writing is brilliant and the music equally good, with complex, varied arrangements. Saving Grace and Covenant Woman rank with his best ballads. They are sincere, and heartfelt poetry. Saved and Solid Rock are great rock songs propelled along by one of the best rhythm sections in rock - Jim Keltner on drums, and Tim Drummond on bass (Drummond also contributes as co-writer on Saved). This is timeless inspirational music from someone who obviously met his Lord and saw the love in his eyes. It stands alongside the best of Dylan's work. Some critics have called the songwriting "less inspired" but I disagree. My only regret is that Mark Knopfler or Mick Taylor apparently couldn't make it for this session, though Fred Tackett gives some excellent playing, especially on Saving Grace.\n\n\nHalf.com Details \nContributing artists: Fred Tackett \nProducer: Barry Beckett, Jerry Wexler \n\nAlbum Notes\nPersonnel: Bob Dylan (vocals, guitar, harmonica); Terry Young (vocals, keyboards); Clydie King, Regina Havis, Mona Lisa Young (vocals); Fred Tackett (guitar); Spooner Oldham (keyboards); Tim Drummond (bass); Jim Keltner (drums); Barry Beckett.\n\nRecorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, Sheffield, Alabama.\n\nEver the spiritual nomad, the former Robert Zimmerman became a born-again Christian in the late '70s, a development strongly reflected in his work from that period. His second "Christian" album, SAVED celebrates the change just as emphatically as it's predecessor SLOW TRAIN COMING, with Dylan declaring proclaiming his faith in no uncertain terms on the title track. Even when he sings about the opposite sex on "Covenant Woman," it's a lady who has a "contract with God."\nBacked by some of the most soulful musicians he's ever recorded with, including Barry Beckett, Spooner Oldham and Jim Keltner, Dylan wrings an unprecedented degree of emotion from his tunes. He even sings the hell out of the old country-identified spiritual "A Satisfied Mind" to open the album. Closing things out, "Are You Ready" finds Dylan (backed by a gospel choir) exhorting the listener to accept Jesus, over a sinuous funk-gospel vamp.\n\n\n\nROLLING STONE REVIEW\nOf all Bob Dylan's public personae over the past nineteen years, none has more confounded his long-time admirers than his latest incarnation as a born-again Christian. Unveiling his new and obviously heartfelt beliefs on last year's Slow Train Coming, Dylan was a perfect caricature of a Bible-thumping convert, zealously proclaiming that "You either got faith or you got unbelief/And there ain't no neutral ground" and prophesying a day of judgment -- coming soon, of course -- "when men will beg God to kill them/And they won't be able to die."\n\nThough producers Jerry Wexler and Barry Beckett gave Dylan one of the cleanest sounds of his career--and Dire Straits' Mark Knopfler contributed the most lyrical electric guitar lines ever to grace a Dylan album--the result seemed curiously embalmed: a record bereft of the rhythmic exuberance that has always characterized this artist's best work. The songs themselves were graceless and chilly in their self-righteous certitude. Bob Dylan, whose search for modern moral connections once summed up an entire generation, had found the Answer: "Repent, for the end is near."\n\nThis ancient wheeze long ago failed the simple test of time, and the clunky fervor with which Dylan advanced it only made him sound ridiculous. Abandoning the greatest of human religious quests -- the intellectual pilgrimage toward personal transcendence -- Dylan settled for mere religion. His art, which arose out of human complexity and moral ambiguities, was drastically diminished. With a single leap of faith, he plummeted to the level of a spiritual pamphleteer. What made the Gospel According to Bob especially tough to take was his hook-line-and-sinker acceptance of the familiar fundamentalist litany, and his smugness in propounding it. Dylan hadn't simply found Jesus but seemed to imply that he had His home phone number as well.\n\n\n\nSaved is a much more aesthetically gratifying LP than its predecessor, particularly because of the hope (mostly musical, I admit) it offers that Dylan may eventually rise above the arid confines of Biblical literalism. Maybe he'll evolve, maybe he'll just walk away. Whichever the case, stagnation has never been his style, and after Saved, there seems precious little left to say about salvation through dogma.\n\nLyrics aside, Dylan's band is sharper and more spirited than I thought possible after its sluggish playing on Saturday Night Live last year. Dire Straits drummer Pick Withers, who performed a mostly metronomic function on Slow Train Coming, has been replaced by rock & roll veteran Jim Keltner, whose controlled yet emphatic cooking covers every base without calling undue attention to itself. As a lead guitarist. Fred Tackett still seems severely limited (either by God or the arrangements), but he's amiably efficient and probably preferable to the departed Knopfler, whose rampant tastiness was ultimately more a distraction than an asset. Spooner Oldham's and Terry Young's keyboards interweave easily throughout most of Saved's nine tunes. With Keltner and bassist Tim Drummond irreverently goosing things along, the group actually approaches flat-out rock & roll on two cuts: the careening gospel raveup, "Saved," and the unabashedly syncopated "Solid Rock," which boasts a sinuous barroom riff that the Allman Brothers would feel right down-home with.\n\nPerhaps the most likable aspect of Bob Dylan's genius has always been his ability to evoke the phantom strains of traditional American music, from country blues to gospel to good old rock & roll. At his most spectacularly effective (with the Band on The Basement Tapes, on the best parts of the Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid soundtrack) he seemed to conjure up the nation's historical heart with the strum of a few guitar chords. This gift -- utterly absent from Slow Train Coming, which affected a faceless R&B ambiance--is again in evidence on Saved, particularly in the bravely eccentric, almost disembodied reading that Dylan gives the folk classic, "Satisfied Mind." He lays out the song's stately melody like a winding pilgrim's path through the wailing, tent-show melismatics of his three backup singers, Clydie King, Regina Havis and Mona Lisa Young.\n\nSubtly gathering harmonic power behind Dylan's rough but finely felt vocal, "Saving Grace" is so persuasive on its ownterms that one can disregard the lyrical lapses ("There's only one road, and it leads to Calvary") and accept the track as a genuinely moving paean to some nonspecific Providence. In a similar manner, the serenely stoic "Pressing On" (in part, a melodic descendant of the Band's "The Weight") utilizes a gentle gospel piano and some inspired lead and backup singing to make a simple statement of spiritual commitment, with Dylan acknowledging both his past and present in the lines: "Shake the dust off of your feet?? Don't look back/Nothing can hold you down/Nothing that you lack." Such a generous observation may bode well for the future.\n\n"Covenant Woman" could have been one of Bob Dylan's most engaging love songs. A gospel-tinged ballad written in Dylan's mid-Sixties chordal style, it posits a God who "must have loved me oh so much/To send me someone as fine as you." There's an American Gothic earnestness to such a sentiment that's rather winning. Yet the song is sunk when Dylan explains that among his reasons for loving this woman is the fact that she's "got a contract with the Lord/Way up yonder, great will be her reward." He sounds like the kind of guy who counts the spiritual spoons behind her back, and it's more than a little irritating.\n\n"What Can I Do for You?" suffers from its flat-footed form of address (he's propositioning God, of course), but "In the Garden," which is also explicitly Biblical, is blessed with a lovely, billowing arrangement, and Dylan sings with stirring conviction. If nonbelievers could be converted by music alone, "In the Garden" would be the tune to do it.\n\n"Are You Ready" is as close as Dylan comes to R&B on this record. His harmonica playing harks back to Little Walter, and the slightly claustrophobic production recalls that of Ray Charles' "Lonely Avenue" (thanks, no doubt, to Jerry Wexler, who produced Charles in his heyday). "Are ya ready to meet Jesus?" the singer asks. "Are ya where ya oughta be?/Will He know ya when He sees ya?/Or will He say, 'Depart from me'?/Am I ready?" Interestingly, Dylan leaves that last question unanswered.\n\nThe only miracle worth talking about here is Bob Dylan's artistic triumph -- qualified though it may be--over his dogmatic theme. Musically, Saved may be Dylan's most encouraging album since Desire, yet it's nowhere near as good as it might have been were its star not hobbled by the received wisdom of his gospel-propagating cronies. Dylan doesn't stand much chance of becoming the white Andr

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