Modern Times is Bob Dylan\'s 32nd studio album, released on August 29, 2006 by Sony BMG.

The album was Dylan\'s third straight (following Time out of Mind and \"Love and Theft\") to be met with nearly universal praise from fans and critics. It continued its predecessors\' tendencies toward blues, rockabilly and pre-rock balladry, and was self-produced by Dylan under the pseudonym \"Jack Frost\". Along with the acclaim, the album sparked some debate over its uncredited use of choruses and arrangements from older songs, as well as many lyrical lines taken from the work of 19th century poet Henry Timrod.

Modern Times became the singer-songwriter\'s first #1 album in the U.S. since 1976\'s Desire. At age 65, Dylan became the oldest living person ever to have an album enter the Billboard charts at number one.[1]. It also reached #1 in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Denmark, Norway and Switzerland, debuted #2 in Germany, Austria and Sweden. It reached #3 in the UK and The Netherlands and has sold over 4 million copies worldwide. As with its two studio predecessors, the album\'s packaging features minimal credits and no lyric sheet.

Many of the album\'s songs have roots in well-known older compositions. In all cases, Dylan has at least given the songs new verse lyrics.

* \"Thunder on the Mountain\" has a second verse based on the song \"Ma Rainey\" by Memphis Minnie. Dylan cuts and shuffles Memphis Minnie\'s lyrics substituting Alicia Keys and Hell\'s Kitchen for Ma Rainey and her Georgia birthplace. The reference to Keys was listed by Rolling Stone as one of the ten weirdest shout outs in song. [9]

* \"Someday Baby\" is based on an old standard that can be traced back to \"Worried Life Blues\", recorded by Sleepy John Estes, and made famous in versions by Lightnin\' Hopkins and Muddy Waters. It is sometimes referred to as \"Trouble No More\", and often credited to Muddy Waters.

* \"Rollin\' and Tumblin\'\" is an old blues standard first recorded by, and possibly written by the bluesman Hambone Willie Newbern. An arrangement very similar to Dylan\'s but with different lyrics was a hit for Muddy Waters.

* \"When the Deal Goes Down\" is based on the melody of \"Where the Blue of the Night (Meets the Gold of the Day)\", a signature-song for Bing Crosby.

* \"Beyond the Horizon\" is based around the song \"Red Sails in the Sunset,\" written by Jimmy Kennedy and Hugh Williams in 1935 using its melody and basic structure.

* \"The Levee\'s Gonna Break\" is based on \"When the Levee Breaks\" by Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie. It has been previously adapted by rock acts such as Led Zeppelin. The song has also been in the public domain since 2004.

* \"Nettie Moore\" takes its title, and some of its chorus, from an old standard, though Dylan\'s melody and lyrics are otherwise unrecognizable .

* \"Ain\'t Talkin\'\" derives its chorus from the more up-tempo \"Highway of Regret\" by The Stanley Brothers. The lyrics of the first verse seem to be derived from the first verse of \"As I roved out\", a traditional Irish song, performed by, amongst others, Planxty. There are a number of songs that begin \"As I roved out\" and what follows is usually a flight of fancy or dream-like journey.

None of these previous incarnations or their authors are credited, though Dylan has casually acknowledged some of the uses - in a 2004 Newsweek online feature, Dylan mentioned that he was working on a song based on a Bing Crosby melody, now known to be \"When The Deal Goes Down\" ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Times_(Bob_Dylan_album) )

Tracks

01 - Thunder On The Mountain
02 - Spirit On The Water
03 - Rollin\' And Tumblin\'
04 - When The Deal Goes Down
05 - Someday Baby
06 - Workingman\'s Blues #2
07 - Beyond The Horizon
08 - Nettie Moore
09 - The Levee\'s Gonna Break
10 - Ain\'t Talkin\'<div class="clear-left">