Produced by , it features (formerly of the ) on lead guitar, Ian McLagen (formerly of the ) on keyboards, and a guest appearance from . The performances on Real Live were recorded in support of his successful album. While Infidels was hailed as a "return to musical form" (as described by Kurt Loder in ), critical reception for Real Live was generally mixed.
Released in December to capitalize on the Christmas shopping season, Real Live still sold in disappointing numbers, reaching a then-career low of #115 in the US and #54 in the UK.
In his review for , Loder writes, "Although cynics may find that Dylan's trademark wheeze is verging on self-parody by this point, his singing is truly spirited throughout. The band he assembled for the tour generally serves him well, if without inspiration.
..Dylanologists will savor the heavily revised, third-person lyrics for 'Tangled Up in Blue' (although they scuttle the original song's compelling intimacy), and some fans may get a giggle out of the rhythm riff – lifted from ' 'I Believe to My Soul' – that graces 'Ballad of a Thin Man.
' But 'Highway 61 Revisited' and 'Tombstone Blues' suffer from formless arrangements, and the band simply can't replicate the reggae groove called for on 'I and I'...
If [Dylan's] rag-and-roll approach to rock is dated, that's essentially a cosmetic problem. One continues to hope that he'll someday assemble a full-time band he really believes in..
.a band that will enable him to reassert his brilliance in the modern rock marketplace."
All songs by Bob Dylan.
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