This album bugged out a lot of people, particularly when it first came out, almost solely because of its unremitting message. But really if you ignore the lyrics, there’s a good record in here. Not great but good. And as the fear that Bob has totally lost his mind and will be doing nothing but singing Jesus songs for the rest of his life, this album’s stature has grown. Clearly, whether you agree or even care about what he’s singing about, he really means it. Personally I don’t care if the lyrics are about sins, salvation and Satan or if they’re about hoboes, immigrants and landlords. I’m only interested in the music. And musically, it’s a lot more consistent (though there are fewer stand-outs) than Street Legal. Although there aren’t any songs as good as the three good ones on that record, overall it’s much better. Clearly “New Pony” has re-inspired Bob to write more songs around a single riff. “Gotta Serve Somebody”, “Slow Train”, “Gonna Change My Way Of Thinking” and “When You Gonna Wake Up?” all follow this formula. They’re best songs on this album. The slower numbers, “Precious Angel”, “I Believe In You” and “When He Returns” are powerful, but not nearly as impressive. Also included is a whole new category for Dylan, Kid’s songs. Since the first songs most of us ever learn are Bible songs, it does make since. “Man Gave Names To All The Animals” is silly and fun (which is nice on such an otherwise heavy record). And “Do Right To Me Baby (Do Unto Others)”pulls the same trick as Street Legal's "We Better Talk This Over" adding an extra beat to every other measure (going from 4/4 to 5/4). It is one of the most musically complicated things Bob’s written since the jazz chords of “If Dogs Run Free” or the constantly shifting keys of “In Search Of Little Sadie”. Overall Slow Train Coming is a pretty good album, and despite being a fairly staunch atheist, I enjoy listening to it.