Bob Dylan Shot of Love

As the '70s ended and the '80s began, Bob Dylan responded to the changing of the decades with a three album trilogy - Slow Train Coming (1979), Saved (1980) and Shot of Love (1981) - of spirit-filled songs of praise, worship and devotion. These songs were as deeply personal and packed with poetics as any Dylan had ever written, but the force of conviction and power of faith evident in these performances baffled segments of Dylan's fanbase (just as his "going electric" had alienated folk purists in 1965). Shot of Love was his last release in the 'Born Again' trilogy before returning to secular music on 1983's Infidels and the music is as loose and rock-based here as any of the three. Featuring production from Bumps Blackwell and Chuck Plotkin, the earnest collection is famous for its transitional closer "Every Grain of Sand" which Bono once described as the point where, "Dylan stops wailing against the world, turns on himself and is brought to his knees."