Solo performer: Bob Dylan (vocals, guitar, harmonica).

Includes liner notes by Bob Dylan.

WORLD GONE WRONG won the 1995 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album.

In the early-to-mid-'90s, Dylan took a break from recording original material, releasing two albums of traditional songs performed solo. When the first, GOOD AS I BEEN TO YOU, was released, detractors claimed Dylan was out of ideas and grasping at the straws of his folkie youth (TIME OUT OF MIND would eventually lay such claims squarely to rest). His next solo outing, WORLD GONE WRONG, made it clear that Dylan was simply exercising his power as a troubadour to find deep, timeless meaning in traditional material.

Two of the most affecting songs, "Blood In My Eyes" and the title track, were made "popular" by the Mississippi Sheiks, an early country blues group, and these easily rank among Dylan's finest '90s performances. On mournful tunes like "Delia," Dylan sounds like a grim spectre, materializing to whisper his tales compellingly to those who wander near. On the ragtag blues of "Ragged & Dirty," he exhibits enough passion and abandon to definitively scuttle any talk of him succumbing to the ravages of age.

Rolling Stone (12/23/93, p.156) - "...a fitting follow-up to last year's GOOD AS I BEEN TO YOU and another remarkably strong showing...."

Spin (1/94, p.76) - Highly Recommended - "...On WORLD GONE WRONG, [Dylan's] cranky larynx regains its ideal balance....Dylan's vocals float across melodies, his burred timbre gently chafing notes instead of shredding them..."

Entertainment Weekly (10/29/93, p.63) - Rating: A-

Q (12/93, p.109) - 3 Stars (out of 5) - "...WORLD GONE WRONG is as good as GOOD AS I'VE BEEN TO YOU. If he chose to, Bob Dylan could produce three or four such albums every month for the next hundred years..."

Uncut (p.120) - "[A] vivid and authentic evocation of the roots of Dylan's own music. With hindsight, it also played an essential part in the resurrection of his muse."

Dirty Linen (6-7/94, p.53) - "...singing traditional blues on acoustic guitar, with occasional harmonica, Dylan is in his element..."

Melody Maker (11/20/93, p.35) - "...WORLD GONE WRONG proves that a good song is timeless, universal and all those other worthy labels....It shows Dylan's musical coming round full circle..."

Musician (12/93, p.85) - "...IN WORLD GONE WRONG Dylan demonstrates that he can say more in someone else's song than most artists can say in their own...."

Village Voice (3/1/94, p.5) - Ranked #23 in the Village Voice's 1993 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll.

NME (Magazine) (12/4/93, p.27) - 7 (out of 10) - "...most of these ten tracks vibrate with a genuinely spooked vibe which has strong, organic links to Dylan's hobo youth....Dylan proves he can still turn in the best Dylan impersonation around...."