Shot of Love - Aftermath

Aftermath

A number of critics had already turned on Dylan for the evangelism of his last two albums, but the reception for Shot of Love was particularly harsh. Despite lavishing praise on "Every Grain Of Sand," Paul Nelson of Rolling Stone savaged the rest of the album. Nick Kent of New Musical Express called it "Dylan's worst album to date." Despite heavy touring in Europe and North America (in which all but two songs were performed), sales of Shot of Love were below CBS's expectations. Still, in an interview taken in 1983, Dylan would describe Shot of Love as a personal favorite.

Religion still held a strong place in Dylan's work, but as 1981 came to a close, his religious songs gave way to more secular material. During concerts in the summer of 1981, he covered Dave Mason's "We Just Disagree" and Dion's "Abraham, Martin & John". Some fans took the latter as a veiled ode to John Lennon, who was shot and killed the preceding winter. Clinton Heylin notes, "Dylan was audibly coming to the end of this particular road."

1982 then began with personal tragedy when Dylan's close and longtime friend Howard Alk was found dead at Rundown Studios on New Year's Day. His death was ruled a suicide. As Heylin reports, "recent months had seen the deaths of guitarist Michael Bloomfield and fellow Christian musician Keith Green", all of whom worked with Dylan, but Alk's death marked the end of an era. Dylan would soon dissolve his standing band, and he would not tour again until 1984. Sometime after June 1982, Dylan closed down Rundown Studios.

Shot of Love was the last album issued under a contract signed with CBS in 1978, but despite the decline in his commercial standing, Dylan was re-signed to another contract (a five-year, five-album deal) in July 1982.

Much of 1982 was relatively quiet in terms of musical activity. An album of duets was recorded with his lover Clydie King at Gold Star Studios, but it would remain unreleased. At the time Dylan explained, "it doesn't fall into any category that knows how to deal with."

However, the stage was set for his next album. Unlike his work on Shot of Love, his next batch of songs would not be auditioned on stage. As Dylan completed his new songs in private, much time would be spent in Minneapolis catching up with his eldest, 16-year-old son, Jesse; this involved frequenting performances of New Wave and punk acts like The Clash, Elvis Costello, Squeeze, and X.