Empire Burlesque
| Empire Burlesque | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by Bob Dylan | ||||
| Released | June 10, 1985 | |||
| Recorded | July 1984, December 1984 – March 1985 | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 46:24 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Producer | Bob Dylan | |||
| Bob Dylan chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| Robert Christgau | B+ |
| Entertainment Weekly | C+ |
| MusicHound |  |
| Rolling Stone | (favorable) |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | |
Empire Burlesque is the twenty-third studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on June 10, 1985 on Columbia Records. Self-produced, the album peaked at number thirty-three in the US and at number eleven in the UK.
Accompanied by multiple session musicians—including Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers members, Mike Campbell, Benmont Tench and Howie Epstein—the album features a distinct "80s style" aesthetic. Fans and critics continue to debate the album's merits, especially when compared to his 1960s and 1970s output.
Before embarking on a European tour in the summer of 1984, Dylan had spent a substantial amount of time recording demos of new songs in his Malibu home, accompanied at times by other musicians.
In rehearsals for the tour, Dylan attempted at least three of these new songs, and he occasionally found time to polish their lyrics during the tour.
When the tour was over, Dylan returned to New York and began work on his next studio album. As Clinton Heylin reports, Dylan recorded in sporadic sessions, as had become his norm, rather than "block-booking studio time" and recording in one concentrated period. The result was "an unprecedented expenditure of" time for recording a Dylan album, from July 1984 to March 1985.
To accommodate the casual nature of this process, Dylan chose to produce the sessions himself. Arthur Baker, who had previously worked with New Order and Afrika Bambaataa, was later recruited for these sessions, but much of the production work would actually be Dylan's.
One of his first decisions was to forgo the use of a stable set of musicians. Instead, Dylan recorded with an eclectic mix of studio professionals. An aborted session with Al Green's band was held at Intergalactic Studios on July 24, 1984. A session with Ronnie Wood (formerly of Faces and currently with The Rolling Stones), Anton Fig (best known as the drummer for David Letterman's house band), and John Paris was held at Delta Sound Studios on July 26.
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