He Took On a Legend and Reimagined Every Note — Dave Stewart’s ‘Dave Does Dylan’ Is Finally Here, and It’s Unlike Anything You Expected… click the link to read more

When an artist as iconic as Bob Dylan becomes the subject of a full tribute album, the stakes are high — too high for most. But not for Dave Stewart. Best known as one-half of the revolutionary pop duo Eurythmics, Stewart is no stranger to creative reinvention. And today, with the global release of Dave Does Dylan, he dares to step inside the mythos of America’s greatest living songwriter — not to mimic, but to translate, reinterpret, and reignite.

Released on all major streaming platforms, Dave Does Dylan is more than a cover album. It’s a kaleidoscopic love letter from one master to another — a multi-dimensional reworking of Dylan classics that doesn’t just echo their brilliance but casts them in an entirely new light.

From the first track, listeners are pulled into a sonic landscape far removed from the dusty folk stages of Greenwich Village. Stewart embraces a lush, cinematic production style that draws from gospel, synth-pop, delta blues, and even orchestral jazz. The result is both reverent and rebellious.

Take his version of “Like a Rolling Stone.” Where Dylan’s original snarled with youthful disillusionment, Stewart’s cover slows the tempo and transforms it into a mournful, reflective ballad. It feels like the same song told by a man decades older, looking back with the sting of lived experience. The organ swells. The guitar weeps. And Stewart’s voice, grittier than we’re used to, carries a new kind of ache.

One of the album’s most surprising highlights is “Subterranean Homesick Blues.” Rather than try to match Dylan’s staccato fury, Stewart layers in a funky backbeat and spoken-word sections, turning it into a kind of beat poetry jam session. It’s playful, trippy, and utterly alive.

“Blowin’ in the Wind” — a song so overplayed it’s nearly become wallpaper — is reborn here as an ambient gospel meditation. Stewart brings in a haunting female choir, layered synth pads, and distant echoing guitars. The effect is chilling, almost spiritual, as if the answer really is blowin’ out there, just beyond reach.

And then there’s “Tangled Up in Blue,” which Stewart twists into a jazz-inflected duet, featuring a smoky guest vocal from a yet-to-be-revealed female singer rumored to be an icon in her own right. The interplay is seductive, complex, and rich with tension — just like the song’s elusive narrative.

But Dave Does Dylan isn’t only about musical interpretation. It’s about emotional context. Stewart doesn’t just sing Dylan’s words — he inhabits them. He finds the emotional center of each lyric, even the ones buried in poetic abstraction, and drags it to the surface. His arrangements aren’t always faithful, but they’re always honest.

The production, done in Stewart’s Nashville studio, is immaculate. Yet it never feels overproduced. Analog textures and vintage gear lend warmth and intimacy. Real instruments dominate the soundscape: Hammond organs, slide guitars, dusty pianos, and thick upright bass lines. Stewart respects Dylan’s roots even while he bends the branches.

It’s clear this isn’t just a musical exercise — it’s personal. Stewart has long spoken of Dylan as a major influence. In recent interviews, he revealed that the project was born during a late-night listening session in 2020, when the world was still and uncertain. “I started hearing Dylan’s lyrics in a new way,” he said. “I heard vulnerability. I heard questions. I heard myself in them.”

There’s also a visual component. The album is accompanied by a series of surrealist music videos, each one directed by a different artist and inspired by specific Dylan eras. The “Mr. Tambourine Man” video, for instance, is a dreamlike blend of carnival imagery and noir silhouettes — more David Lynch than 1960s folk festival.

So far, early reviews have been glowing. Critics are praising Stewart’s ability to avoid the common traps of tribute albums: imitation and excess. Instead, Dave Does Dylan achieves something rare — it honors Dylan without being haunted by him.

Some fans, of course, will balk. Dylan purists may resist the reworkings. But Dylan himself is no stranger to reinterpretation. He’s rewritten his own songs live for decades, never settling, always shifting. One suspects he would approve of Stewart’s approach — fearless, restless, and unafraid to color outside the lines.

As the album closes with a stripped-down version of “Forever Young,” just Stewart and a guitar in what sounds like a bare room, the emotional weight lands. It doesn’t feel like a performance anymore. It feels like a prayer.

In an age of nostalgia and algorithm-driven playlists, Dave Does Dylan reminds us what artistic tribute should look like: not mimicry, but reinvention; not worship, but dialogue. Stewart doesn’t try to be Dylan — he talks with him, across decades, genres, and styles.

And in doing so, he creates not only a homage to one of music’s greatest legends, but a statement of his own. This isn’t just Dylan seen through Stewart’s eyes. It’s Dylan seen through time — scarred, reshaped, but still burning with a question mark at the end of every line.

So go ahead. Listen closely. There’s something blowin’ in this wind too — and it might just surprise you.