By Tom BTOE July 17, 2012 16:59

New Bob Dylan Album Set For September Release

A new Bob Dylan record is always a major event in the music world, but the announcement of Tempest, which will be his 35th studio album, is just that little bit more special because this year marks 50 years since the release of Bob Dylan, his first LP.

In 1962 Dylan was a 21 year old folkie making his name on the Greenwich Village circuit, and most of the tracks on his debut album were in fact cover versions or re-arrangements of traditional songs. Now 71, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most important songwriters that has ever lived, and quite rightly so. Some people write one great song in their life and achieve legend status. Some will make one or two great albums. If you make five or six great albums, the chances are you'll be spoken about as being up there with the all-time greats. Bob Dylan has released at least 15 albums that can truly be considered 'great', and well over 150 genuinely brilliant songs. If that isn't an incredible enough achievement, he still performs in the region of 180 live shows every year, and for the last 15 or so years has been in some of the best songwriting form of his life, with Time Out Of Mind, Love And Theft, Modern Times and Together Through Life (we'll pretend Christmas In The Heart never happened!) earning unanimous critical acclaim.

For now all we have is an album title, a release date, and the track listing. No doubt, Dylan nuts everywhere in the world will already be speculating what the title means, what the songs could be about, whether there is a hidden meaning in the cover... Most will pay little attention to these smaller details, but if you're not even a tiny little bit excited by the prospect of a new Bob Dylan album (did I mention that it was his 35th?!) then it really is time you gave his catalogue the full attention that it deserves. You've still got a couple of months until Tempest is released, so get cracking now!

The tracklisting is as follows:

1. Duquesne Whistle

2. Soon After Midnight

3. Narrow Way

4. Long and Wasted Years

5. Pay in Blood

6. Scarlet Town

7. Early Roman Kings

8. Tin Angel

9. Tempest

10. Roll On John