American Songwriter argues that Bob Dylan’s 1990 album Under The Red Sky was an unsuccessful but intriguing follow-up to the commercial and critical revival he had begun with the Traveling Wilburys and Oh Mercy. The record matters because it showed that an unusually star-studded supporting cast could not compensate for Dylan’s lack of direction, before he later rebuilt his creative momentum.

The album featured musicians including George Harrison, Elton John, Slash, Stevie Ray Vaughan, David Crosby and Bruce Hornsby, with Don Was producing. Dylan later said he had arrived in the studio disillusioned and without material while also completing a second Traveling Wilburys album; Was later suggested he had pushed Dylan towards familiar 1960s styles. After the album, Dylan recorded folk and blues covers before returning to acclaimed original work with 1997’s Time Out Of Mind.