Almost five years after he released his last album, Bob Dylan returns to the charts with 2006’s highly anticipated Modern Times. Pinning Dylan down to one genre or era is an exercise in futility, but it is because of this elusiveness that we understand him as the center of the American musical canon: Dylan says he stands for no one, which may ironically mean he stands for everyone. The CD is a pastiche of country-shuffling, train-riding, foot-stomping music combined with the poetic folk ballads Dylan fans obsess over. The most “countryish” tune is the opener “Thunder on the Mountain,” on which he namedrops Alicia Keys before taking a turn down well-trodden blues grounds with covers of Muddy Waters’ “Rollin’ and Tumblin'” and “Someday Baby” and closing with strong poesies from “Nettie Moore” and “Ain’t Talkin’.” While his voice is as rough as ever, the album lacks the poetic force that makes Dylan matter to most people. On a scale of one to great, Modern Times may only be considered a “good” Dylan album. Still, a good Dylan album is better than almost all other music out there right now, leaving most fans wondering whether yet another revival is on the horizon. Grade: B

— Michael Healy, Muse Staff