Book 6 reframes a misunderstood period of Bob Dylan's career, including his conversion to Christianity, studio experimentation, and various collaborations.
In late 1979, Dylan began assembling a band for his upcoming concert and album Slow Train Coming. Over fourteen shows in sixteen days, Dylan and his new band debuted his new gospel sound. His backing singers opened the show, setting the tone, and although fans were aware of his new musical direction, it still came as a surprise when Dylan only performed his new gospel songs at each concert. Most controversially, Dylan preached from the stage.
The following year, Dylan composed songs for his next album, Saved, which continued Dylan's exploration of gospel-infused music with lyrics exploring religious themes. "Solid Rock" and the title track "Saved" were gospel rave-ups, whereas "Pressing On" and "What Can I Do for You?" were soulful ballads.
Dylan's 1983 album Infidels occupies a particular place in his discography, seen by many fans and critics as both a return to form and a missed opportunity, with outtakes that are as beloved as the album itself. Critics' reviews were mixed upon its release: Writing for The New York Times, Stephen Holden called Infidels "a disturbing artistic semirecovery by a rock legend who seemed in recent years to have lost his ability to engage the Zeitgeist, '' though he admitted that it "may be the best-sounding album Mr. Dylan has ever made." On the other hand, Christopher Connelly of Rolling Stone said it was the "best album since the searing Blood on the Tracks nine years ago." Coming at the tail end of Dylan's engagement with gospel music, Infidels continued his investigations of morality, albeit through less of a black-and-white lens. Here the focus is not just on the human condition, but on more personal themes of love and loss, as well as external ones, especially politics. On a handwritten draft for the album's credits, Dylan wrote a working title for his new album: "Surviving in a Ruthless World."
The 1980s marked a period of several collaborations between Dylan and other artists like Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and the Grateful Dead.
