Modern Times

Modern Times is Bob Dylan’s 32nd studio album, released on August 29, 2006 by Sony BMG.

The album was Dylan’s third straight (following Time Out of Mind and ”Love and Theft”) to be met with nearly universal praise from fans and critics. It continued its predecessors’ tendencies toward blues, rockabilly and pre-rock balladry, and was self-produced by Dylan under the pseudonym “Jack Frost”. Along with the acclaim, the album sparked some debate over its uncredited use of choruses and arrangements from older songs, as well as many lyrical lines taken from the work of 19th century poet Henry Timrod.

Modern Times became the singer-songwriter’s first #1 album in the U.S. since 1976’s Desire. At age 65, Dylan became the oldest living person at the time to have an album enter the Billboard charts at number one (Neil Diamond has since earned the title). It also reached #1 in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Denmark, Norway and Switzerland, debuted #2 in Germany, Austria and Sweden. It reached #3 in the UK and The Netherlands and has sold over 4 million copies worldwide. As with its two studio predecessors, the album’s packaging features minimal credits and no lyric sheet.