tasty but rather superfluous Full Force vocal harmonies. Dylan's version of John Hiatt's song "The Usual," the one bright spot on the otherwise dismal Hearts of Fire soundtrack album, was dropped from an earlier version of Groove and replaced by another Dylan number from Hearts of Fire, the bluesy shuffle "Had a Dream About You, Baby."

So aside from driving Dylanologists bananas – what is the Voice of a Generation up to? – what was the point of all the shuffling and delay? Down in the Groove is just as confusing, frustrating and intermittently fab now as it was in earlier incarnations. It begins and ends with strong covers, opening with Wilbert Harrison's "Let's Stick Together" (a good, raucous rocker with stuttering tremolo guitars and an aggressive Dylan vocal) and closing with the Stanley Brothers' apocalyptic country hymn "Rank Strangers to Me" (a simple, heartfelt guitar-vocal performance with fusionesque glissando bass). But in between, it zigs and zags all over the place, one minute heading in a promising direction, like the striking, understated spirituality of "Death Is Not the End," the next turning up a blind alley, like the anonymous garage boogie of "Sally Sue Brown," which features ex-Pistol Steve Jones on guitar and former Clash bassist Paul Simonon, although to no special punk-rock effect.

The most annoying thing about Down in the Groove is that unlike Dylan's last LP, Knocked Out Loaded, which was a bona fide mess, there is real possibility amid the chaos. "Silvio," one of two numbers on the album co-written by Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, actually sounds more like Dylan fronting the Dead than the credits let on (Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir and Brent Mydland contribute background vocals). The song's bright, rhythmic bounce and earthy folk-rock sound – sort of "Subterranean Homesick Blues" meets American Beauty – makes you wonder what might have happened if Dylan and the Dead had followed up their '87 stadium tour with some serious studio work together. The best of Groove's half a dozen cover versions also suggest that Dylan could indeed have a nifty Pin-Ups record in him if he put his mind to it. There is no mistaking the emotional vocal investment in his country-gospel treatment of the traditional folk song "Shenandoah" or the eerie morbidity of his delivery in "Ninety