Bob Dylan and The Band - Planet Waves (2015) 1974

Planet Waves is singer-songwriter Bob Dylan’s 14th studio album, released by Asylum Records (Island Records in the UK) in January 1974. Dylan is supported on the album by longtime collaborators The Band, with whom he embarked on a major reunion tour following its release (documented on the live album Before the Flood.) With a successful tour and a host of publicity, Planet Waves was a hit, enjoying a brief stay at #1 on the US Billboard charts – a first for the artist – and #7 in the UK. Critics were not negative, as they had been with some recent Bob Dylan albums (namely Self Portrait and Dylan), but still not enthusiastic for the album’s brand of laid-back roots rock.
The album was originally set to be titled Ceremonies Of The Horsemen, a reference to the song “Love Minus Zero/No Limit”, from the 1965 album Bringing It All Back Home; the release was delayed two weeks when Dylan decided to change the title at the last minute.

All Music Review

Reteaming with the Band, Bob Dylan winds up with an album that recalls New Morning more than The Basement Tapes, since Planet Waves is given to a relaxed intimate tone — all the more appropriate for a collection of modest songs about domestic life. As such, it may seem a little anticlimactic since it has none of the wildness of the best Dylan and Band music of the ’60s — just an approximation of the homespun rusticness. Considering that the record was knocked out in the course of three days, its unassuming nature shouldn’t be a surprise, and sometimes it’s as much a flaw as a virtue, since there are several cuts that float into the ether. Still, it is a virtue in places, as there are moments — “On a Night Like This,” “Something There Is About You,” the lovely “Forever Young” — where it just gels, almost making the diffuse nature of the rest of the record acceptable.