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Bob Dylan - 1987 09 23 - Helsinki (1987)

Track listing:
  1. Highway 61 Revisited 4:53
  2. Dead Man Dead Man
  3. Watching The River Flow
  4. Simple Twist Of Fate 4:53
  5. Maggie's Farm 3:46
  6. Stuck Inside Of Mobile 3:51
  7. Senor 5:22
  8. It's All Over Now Baby Blue 6:49
  9. Rainy Day Women
  10. Tangled Up In Blue
  11. I Shall Be Released 4:21
  12. Gotta Serve Somebody
  13. Desolation Row 7:50
  14. Blowing In The Wind 4:22
  15. Bonus-Mr Tambourine Man, R Mcguinn 2:31

Notes


I have a mixed review for this one. The Temples In Flames tour was September and October of 1987 in various European cities. There were 60 songs performed along the way with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. This set represents two thirds of the tour songs.
Good:
There are some great reworkings of a few tunes. A wide variety of material. The performances are energetic. Dylan's vocal performances, phrasing, timing, etc. are very nice. A few even outstanding. Disc 1 is a very sharp stereo audience recording.
Not so good:
One of the worst parts of this package is the lack of information. There are many (15 or so) venues represented here, but there is no info as to the venue of each song. There is no finesse what-so-ever in the editing of the songs. The audience clapping after each tune cuts off cold and abruptly. For a three CD set, the package is minimal and lame. Only the cover photo, and it is an unflattering one. To make it worse, the photo was reversed, which gives it a even goofier look. You can view the corrected photo HERE. And finally, while disc 1 is fantastic sound, the quality varies on the remaining discs. The star rating given is an average. There are some tracks that would command 8 stars ... there are a few that drop to 6, however. All in all, I enjoyed this tour, and likewise enjoy the CD. If you can accept the above conditions, it's a nice set with a few truly spell-binding moments.