Modern Times is the thirty-second studio album (as per list below) by , released on by . It is his third consecutive album to be met with widespread critical and fan acclaim. While it has been marketed as the third in a conceptual trilogy, beginning in 1997 with , Dylan himself has rebuffed that notion; in an interview with magazine, he stated that he "would think more of
" since 1976's , thus making Dylan, age 65, the oldest living person ever to have an album enter the Billboard charts at number one. Modern Times sold 192,000 copies in its first week of release in the States. It also reached #1 in , , Dylan album) in the U. S. and UK in conjunction with iTunes. As of November 23, it had sold 1. 71 million units worldwide. " " Critic Jody Rosen of the online magazine Slate concurred, calling Modern Times "a better album than Time Out of he called a "competition to see who can slather Bob Dylan's 32nd studio album with the most deranged praise known to man." He went on to call the record "unassuming" and "not one of those infrequent, unequivocally fantastic Dylan albums". , noting that "onstage Mr. Dylan’s touring band regularly supercharges his songs. But on Modern Times the musicians play as if they’re just feeling their way into the tunes." Greg Kot of echoed these sentiments, writing that "too often the band sounds as if it were learning the songs as it was recording them, and it tiptoes around them. The galvanizing surges of Dylan's stage shows are missing." Despite these criticisms, both Pareles and Kot were still supportive of Modern Times in their reviews. DeRogatis was particularly critical of the ballads, writing that "with the exception of the closing track 'Ain't Talkin',' one of the spookiest songs he's ever written, Dylan disappoints with... [his] inexplicable fondness The majority of reviews have been highly positive. According to , a site that tracks prominent critical opinion, Modern Times' approval rating hovers around 89%. Other versions of the album, such as "The Limited Edition" do not credit Dylan in this manner. The song most in question is "Rollin' and Tumblin'", an old original lyrics, some rock critics, such as Jim Fusilli of the , have found the lack of citation troubling. Joe Levy of claimed to have brought the issue up with Sony BMG, who shrugged it off as a non-issue. Levy himself has defended the move as part of a longstanding blues tradition of evolving songs, in which credit was rarely an issue. In turn, "Red Sails" sounds suspiciously similar to 1929's "From Now On" by Arthur Freed Nacio Herb Brown.
The album was recorded with Dylan's current touring band, including bassist , drummer George G Receli, guitarists Mike Hansen, Stu Kimball and Denny Freeman, plus multi-instrumentalist Donnie Herron. Dylan produced the effort under the name "Jack Frost.
Early rehearsals were held in late January and early February 2006 at the Bardavon 1869 Opera House in , New York. Days after the rehearsals, recording sessions were held in a recording studio where the album was taped in roughly three weeks.[ (1997) and
the album was first released in some European countries (including Germany and Ireland) on , in the UK on and premiered in the U.S. on on , a satellite radio service which already broadcasts a radio program hosted by Dylan.
In the month leading up to the album's release, official reviews began to surface. and both crowned it with five-stars, the highest rating given by both magazines. In Rolling Stone, critic Joe Levy called the record Dylan's "third straight masterwork.
found fault in the languid music.
Some versions of the album state "All songs written by Bob Dylan" which has stirred some debate.
In addition, three of the other songs take their choruses from other old blues songs; "Someday Baby" (see "
The title of the album is the same as one of 's most noted films,
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