Rough and Rowdy Ways

Rough and Rowdy Ways is Bob Dylan's 39th studio album and his first collection of original material since 2012's Tempest. Recorded at Sound City Studios in early 2020, the album marks a return to his own songwriting after a trilogy of standards albums. The record is characterized by its expansive, literary lyrics and a sonic palette that blends skeletal folk, roadhouse blues, and atmospheric ballads. It features a high-profile cast of contributors including Fiona Apple and Benmont Tench, though the core sound remains centered on Dylan's touring band. The album's centerpiece is the 17-minute 'Murder Most Foul,' a sprawling meditation on the JFK assassination and the subsequent shift in American culture. Critically, the album was a triumph, receiving some of the highest marks of Dylan's career and being hailed as a definitive late-period statement on mortality, history, and the power of song.