Expecting Rain

Snow getting worse here, but we've been luckier compared to Scotland, the N/E, East Anglia, Wales and the S/W. It will help anyone going to Zurich or Salzburg get used to the scenery!

Modern Times isn't my favourite album from the last 20 years but it's the easy winner from these three (imo)!

Bootleg Series 13 resurrected my interest in Slow Train, but now I only listen to the Bootleg Series 13 versions.

I love the late trilogy, and though MT is a shade below TOOM and L&T, it easily gets the nod here.

1. Modern Times
2. Slow Train (but only for the playing and production)
3. Fallen Angels (I like it, but it's my least favourite of the 'Sinatra' albums)

Modern Times!
Fallen Angels isnt close.
Slow Train Coming has some great tracks but just a tad one dimensional for me.

Ain't Talkin' is a top 15 song no doubt about it so I would say that pushes modern times over slow train

Fallen Angels was a American song book album too many for me (and I still haven't thought of buying Triplicate!). Should have l left all those left over tracks for a future Bootleg Series release imo.

You own Knocked out loaded dont you? thats far more embarassing than the last three records IMO, the last three records beat Empire Burlesque for me too.

God
Man
Angels

Slow train nobrainer

STC has a few highlights, MT has a few, the non-highlight bits of MT are more tolerable than STC. FA has none of the above, it's aural Ambien.

MT, the choice for moi.

Not sure that Fallen Angels truly belongs in this company. It's by far the weakest of the Sinatra discs even before it gets compared to some good Dylan originals.

I really like Modern Times. Nettie Moore, Someday Baby and Workingman's Blues are particular highlights.

Slow Train Coming has a power that Modern Times cannot match, however. The title track, Gotta Serve Somebody, When You Gonna Wake Up and When He Returns are wonderfully well performed. The lyrics are extremely skilful even if the message doesn't always resonate! And Man Gave Names is a great Children's song.

Slow Train Coming > Modern Times >>> Fallen Angels

As previously stated he should have stuck with Shadows In The Night - a great one off imo!

I don't think the lyrics on Slow Train Coming are 'skilful' in any meaningful way - many of the songs are basically lists, which are by far the easiest kind of song to write. He may have found some personal inspiration in God, but it didn't do much for his lyrical ability at this point, even the rhyming dictionary given to him by McGuinn would have been unnecessary to come up with most of the tripe on that album - not to say it can't be enjoyable; I do like 'God Gave Names....', but it is hardly one of his greatest songs. Given that, performance and production are all that's left, and they alone do not make a good record. The fact that is was one of his biggest sellers speaks volumes for the masses desire to consume mediocrity. Even Bob admitted he had tried to sweeten what he thought might be a bitter pill for his listeners to swallow - but the brow-beating 'Christian message' is, ultimately, not so much challenging as it is boring and outmoded.

Fallen Shadows - pah, not worth discussing in the same breath as........

Modern Times. Maybe not a masterpiece, and why should anybody expect one? Still, it's an album with some great and enduring songs, and here at least he is using writing techniques that go way beyond list-making and actually require skill and a depth of knowledge to create, and literary insight to fully appreciate, though like any popular music should it also works on a level of simple rhythmic enjoyment. Has to be the vinyl version though.