Infidels

Infidels is singer-songwriter Bob Dylan’s 22nd studio album, released by Columbia Records in October 1983.

Produced by Mark Knopfler and Dylan himself, Infidels is seen as his return to secular music, following a conversion to Christianity and three evangelical, gospel records. Though he never publicly renounced his faith or abandoned religious imagery, Infidels gained much attention for its focus on more personal themes of love and loss, in addition to commentary on the environment and geopolitics.

The critical reaction was the strongest for Dylan in years, almost universally hailed for its songwriting and performances. The album also fared well commercially, reaching #20 in the US and going gold, and #9 in the UK. Still, many fans and critics were troubled by several songs inexplicably cut from the album just prior to mastering - primarily “Blind Willie McTell”, considered a career highlight by many critics, and not officially released until it appeared on The Bootleg Series Volume III eight years later.