Dylan is battered and covered

Masked and Anonymous is the soundtrack to a film directed by former sitcom writer Larry Charles. Bob Dylan stars in the film as (what else) a former guiding light, singer-songwriter in a Civil War-torn, ambiguously diverse, future America. Without the benefit of viewing the film (which sounds like quite a spectacle as Dylan co-stars with the likes of John Goodman, Luke Wilson, Jeff Bridges and Penélope Cruz) it's hard to make claims for an associated success. What exists instead, is a collection of Dylan covers by world artists, gospel artists, the Grateful Dead and Dylan himself.\nFor these reasons, Masked and Anonymous (the album) will go down as a Dylan rarity in the annals, along with Self-Portrait and his appearance on "Dharma and Greg." The world covers are hard to listen to, as they confirm the worst suspicions of the world beat. The modern, Euro-trash sound infects everything from the Japanese cover of "My Back Pages" to the Italian rap of "Like a Rolling Stone." Even Los Lobos break out some cheesy conjunto accordion and The Grateful Dead sound, even for them, excessively boring.\nBut alas, there is a saving grace -- Dylan himself has four songs on the album, new versions of old songs. He breaks out his lively touring band once again to perform torching renditions of traditional songs "Dixie" and "Diamond Joe," and then they absolutely light a fire under "Down in the Flood" and "Cold Irons Bound." \nThe soundtrack and the movie are meant to explore Dylan's global reach. All it really proves is that nobody can do it any better.