Bob Dylan - World Gone Wrong

Bob Dylan's World Gone Wrong is a man alone with an acoustic guitar, a harmonica and a songbook of very old trouble, pressed here on 150 gram vinyl.

Released in 1993, it was his second straight album of traditional folk and blues songs after Good as I Been to You, and the darker of the pair. Dylan produced it himself, cutting the songs solo over a few days in the garage studio at his Malibu home. You can hear the room and his breathing between lines, and that closeness is the whole point.

The material leans toward rural blues and tragedy. Broke Down Engine reworks a Blind Willie McTell song with ragged, rolling fingerpicking, and Love Henry drags an old murder ballad into the half-light. Two Soldiers, which Dylan learned from Jerry Garcia, lands like a quiet blow, and Blood in My Eyes is sung with a weariness that makes every line feel lived in.

Dylan also wrote the liner notes himself, a playful, informative guide to where each song came from. The record went on to win the Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Album.

For anyone who loves the old, weird corners of American song as much as he does, this is a record for late nights, played loud enough to hear the strings buzz.