VA - Listen to Bob Dylan: A Tribute (2005)

Does the world need another Bob Dylan rendition? Is handing in your take on Dylan an artistic rite of passage? The answer to these 40-year-old questions is long gone and we must simply concern ourselves with the quality of the version(s) we're exposed to--are they respectful interpretations, paint-by-numbers remakes, or lazy cast-offs? Drive-Thru's unexpected, though top-notch, Listen to Bob Dylan collects 21 takes on a wide range of Dylan's work. Nothing seems hasty here, and when artists choose to rearrange they do so with skepticism-easing care. Anberlin's "Like a Rolling Stone" adds a new aggressive twist without thrashing it. Cerys Matthews's rendition of "I Believe in You" is in the dreamy spirit of Nico's now 30-year-old "I'll Keep it With Mine." Australia's great Kisschasy gives "She Belongs to Me" a perfect modern power-pop position--consider the song is older than any band member here--and Dave Melillo's "It Ain't Me Babe" assignment is as believable as any version of this song ever. The worst that can be said about this collection is that superstar Jason Mraz sounds uninspired and the Rock 'N' Roll Soldiers should have picked just about anything other than "Rainy Day Women."