New Bob Dylan's bootleg release puts you in a position of a fly on the wall in the period when he was recording his key albums, the trilogy Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited, Blonde On Blonde.
The sixties of the past century were explorative years. Many artists were in their most creative zones but no one could compare with Dylan’s ideas dispersed in every direction. In 1991, when he released the first collection of his The Bootleg Series, it was an unusual move: while continuing to do whatever he wants, loves and desires, he started dragging his alternative past of unreleased recordings along the way. However, the treasure house had to become empty at some point so it comes as no surprise that The Cutting Edge 1965-1966:The Bootleg Series Vol.12 went in a different direction. Dylan has offered us the fragments and showcased the creative process of making some of the most important songs in the history of rock n roll.
Release comes in three versions: two-piece that serves as the scattered best of, six album edition that is the most representative one and, at last, multiciplity of records. If you have enough money, you can buy a colossal release with incredible 18 discs of everything Dylan has ever recorded during the magical years of 1965 and 1966.
First thing you will notice is that Dylan also makes mistakes. He is not a machine who just comes to the studio, shows the band what he had come up with and record the final version of the song right away. No matter how much freakish he is, he is never impatient. Dylan is able to put a lot of effort in order to explore many possibilities before he finds what he wants. For example, one whole disc is dedicated solely to the song Like a Rolling Stone. You will hear it so many times, it will make you think like you are in some kind of audio soap opera.
Contrary to previous bootleg releases, this one will not make you wonder whether the original versions are truly better because these alternative demo versions are raw and serve like an interesting storytelling more than an audio pleasure. If we are looking from the right perspective, The Cutting Edge is a lovely document of maturing process of one of the most important musician in the universe. It just depends If you are interested to find out how beef jerky is made.
