Arriving after the twin peaks of Blood on the Tracks and Desire, Street Legal seemed like a disappointment upon its 1978 release, and it still seems a little subpar years after its release.
Perhaps that's because Bob Dylan was uncertain himself, not just writing a set of songs with no connecting themes, but replacing the sprawl of the Rolling Thunder Revue with a slick, professional big band, featuring a horn section and several backing vocalists.
The interesting thing about this is that the music and slick production don't jibe with the songs, which are as dense as anything Dylan had written since before his motorcycle accident.
So, Street Legal becomes an interesting dichotomy, filled with songs that deserve close attention but recorded in arrangements that discourage such listening.
As such, Street Legal is fascinating just for that reason -- in another setting, these are songs that would have been hailed as near-masterpieces, but covered in gloss, they seem strange.
Consequently, it's not surprising that there are factions of Dylanphiles that find this worth the time, while just as many consider it a missed opportunity.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Changing of the GuardsBob Dylan | Bob Dylan | Play | 07:04 | 16 MB | 51 MB |
| 2 | New PonyBob Dylan | Bob Dylan | Play | 04:40 | 10 MB | 31 MB |
| 3 | No Time to ThinkBob Dylan | Bob Dylan | Play | 08:23 | 19 MB | 56 MB |
| 4 | Baby Stop CryingBob Dylan | Bob Dylan | Play | 05:21 | 12 MB | 34 MB |
| 5 | Señor (Tales of Yankee Power)Bob Dylan | Bob Dylan | Play | 05:45 | 13 MB | 37 MB |
| 6 | True Love Tends to ForgetBob Dylan | Bob Dylan | Play | 04:16 | 9 MB | 28 MB |
| 7 | We Better Talk This OverBob Dylan | Bob Dylan | Play | 04:04 | 9 MB | 28 MB |
| 8 | Is Your Love In Vain | Bob Dylan | Play | 04:34 | 10 MB | 30 MB |
| 9 | Where Are You Tonight (Journey Through Dark Heat) | Bob Dylan | Play | 06:15 | 14 MB | 42 MB |
| 50 mins | 115 MB | |||||
| 50 mins | 340 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Howard Alk | Photography |
| 2 | Tim Bryant | Art Direction |
| 3 | Les D. Cooper | Engineer |
| 4 | George Corsillo | Design |
| 5 | Billy Cross | Guitar |
| 6 | Biff Dawes | Engineer |
| 7 | Carolyn Dennis | Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 8 | Don DeVito | Producer |
| 9 | Steve Douglas | Sax (Soprano), Sax (Tenor), Saxophone |
| 10 | Bob Dylan | Composer, Guitar, Guitar (Rhythm), Harmonica, Keyboards, Primary Artist, Vocals |
| 11 | Doug Field | Engineer |
| 12 | Bobbye Hall | Percussion |
| 13 | Jo Ann Harris | Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 14 | Stan Kalina | Mastering |
| 15 | Steve Madaio | Guest Artist, Trumpet |
| 16 | David Mansfield | Guitar, Mandolin, Violin |
| 17 | Dennis Mays | Engineer |
| 18 | Alan Pasqua | Keyboards |
| 19 | Jerry Scheff | Bass, Guitar (Bass) |
| 20 | Jim Seiter | Engineer |
| 21 | Steven Soles | Guitar, Guitar (Rhythm), Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 22 | Helena Springs | Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 23 | Ian Wallace | Drums |
| 24 | Billy Youdelman | Engineer |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |