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Why it matters
His first secular album after three gospel records, Infidels was co-produced with Mark Knopfler and built on the reggae rhythm section of Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare. Its songs mix politics, scripture and romance, and it was seen as a return to strong songwriting, though Dylan left some of the best material from the sessions unreleased.
After three religious albums, Dylan went to the Power Station in New York in 1983 with Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits as co-producer. The band was a strong one: Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare on drums and bass, Mick Taylor and Knopfler on guitars. The result is clean and spacious, with a gentle reggae lilt under several songs and sharp guitar lines throughout. The writing ranges widely, from the shifting, dreamlike "Jokerman" to the blunt politics of "Union Sundown" and "Neighborhood Bully" and the plea of "Don't Fall Apart on Me Tonight". Knopfler left to tour before the mixing was done, and Dylan finished the record himself, reworking vocals and cutting songs. Reviewers welcomed it as a return, but fans later learned what had been dropped, above all "Blind Willie McTell", which surfaced years afterward on The Bootleg Series and is now widely seen as one of his greatest songs.
Track list · 8 songs
A shape-shifting figure drifts through a landscape of biblical and political images, admired and doubted at once.
faith
Its page ›Mankind's urge to conquer and destroy is held up against a woman who sees it clearly.
protest
Its page ›A warning that evil rarely announces itself and may arrive looking like a gentle, trustworthy peacemaker.
faith · war
Its page ›Everyday goods are made abroad while workers at home lose their jobs to corporate greed.
America · protest
Its page ›A restless man walks out at dawn, weighing his own guilt against a stern, unseen judge.
faith
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Where its songs lead
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