Description

Dutch pressing with printed innersleeve

Say what you want about Empire Burlesque — at the very least, it’s the most consistent record Bob Dylan has made since Blood On The Tracks, even if it isn’t quite as interesting as Desire. However, it is a better set of songs, all deriving from the same place and filled with subtle gems — the most obvious being Tight Connection To My Heart (Has Anybody Seen My Love), but also Emotionally Yours and Dark Eyes — proving that his powers are still there. The rest of the album may not be as graceful, but it’s still well-crafted songwriting that never fails to be interesting. The record’s biggest flaw is its state-of-the-art production; this is every bit as slick as Street Legal, but now sounds more focused and more of its time — thanks to a reliance on synthesizers and mildly sequenced beats — than it did upon its original release. All this makes Empire Burlesque seem more transient than it actually is, since — discounting the production — this is as good as Dylan gets in his latter days. The album entered the UK Charts on 22/06/1985 at No.11 and spent a total of six weeks appearing in Top 100 chart positions between June and July 1985.

Track list:
1. Tight Connection To My Heart (Has Anybody Seen My Love)
2. Seeing The Real You At Last
3. I’ll Remember You
4. Clean Cut Kid
5. Never Gonna Be The Same Again
6. Trust Yourself
7. Emotionally Yours
8. When The Night Comes Falling From The Sky
9. Somethings Burning, Baby
10. Dark Eyes