Jakob Dylan and The Wallflowers in harmony

  • Jakob Dylan (center) and The Wallflowers are touring behind their new CD, 'Glad All Over' after a seven-year hiatus. The group performs Dec. 27 at Sands Bethlehem Event Center.
Jakob Dylan (center) and The Wallflowers are touring behind their new CD,… (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO )
December 20, 2012|By Alan Sculley, Special to The Morning Call

Jakob Dylan knows there are some who would prefer to hear that making a record was a struggle. Some believe conflict and tension makes for better music. Not Dylan.

"People like to hear that there were fights and they like to hear that it was hard and it was really stressful," the frontman of The Wallflowers says in a phone interview. "That doesn't make better music. I never bought that rap. That's just garbage. It can, but it doesn't have to be miserable. Why do people have to be miserable to make records? Does that make music any better? I've been doing it a long time. I don't know why people are going on about with that."

The new Wallflowers CD, "Glad All Over," seems to support Dylan's argument that harmony within a band makes for better albums.

It is arguably the best yet from The Wallflowers, as the band shows renewed energy and a willingness to introduce some fresh dimensions into its sound.

"Glad All Over" was done in less than a month, Dylan says.

"You can do it in less time and you can do it in more time. But that was a month that was used really efficiently. It was a lot of work and it was never laborious. It was a very positive month, and everybody was at a creative peak, at a high, and that's what you hope for each time."

For fans, this is welcome news considering the group had been on hiatus for nearly seven years, a period during which Dylan stepped out as a solo artist, releasing two CDs and touring behind both releases.

That hiatus followed a decade-long run in which the Wallflowers achieved considerable success, and enabled Dylan to establish his viability and own identity as a songwriter and band leader — not easy when your father happens to be Bob Dylan, one of the greatest songwriters of the rock era.

The Wallflowers debuted in 1992 with a self-titled CD that tanked and left the band looking for a new record deal. Eventually the group landed on Interscope, and with the 1996 CD "Bringing Down The Horse," it scored an emphatic breakthrough.

With hit songs like "One Headlight," "6th Avenue Heartache" and "Three Marlenas," "Bringing Down The Horse" sold 4 million copies and made Dylan a star in his own right.

After that, the group's fortunes leveled off. Its next two CDs, "Breach" (2000) and "Red Letter Days" (2003), failed to come close to the success of "Bringing Down The Horse."

There were also internal issues in the band that led to changes in guitarists and drummers. While the band made a solid fifth album, 2005's "Rebel, Sweetheart," Dylan knew it was time for a break.

"Certainly after the last record, we got a little complacent," he says. "Things felt a little stagnant within the group. So that's why it was necessary to do different things."

Dylan and other band members got busy enough to turn the break into an extended hiatus.

"I don't think we ever planned on it being seven years," Dylan says. "I don't know if we ever thought about how long it would be. We just thought we'd scatter and we'd get back together. Then people's schedules overlap and it gets harder and harder as people find other things to do to dedicate the time and clear the plate. So we were all patient. We were all kind of waiting for each other to figure things out and get some free time."

When The Wallflowers reconvened, it was with a somewhat different lineup. Original members Dylan, keyboardist Rami Jaffee and bassist Greg Richling were joined by guitarist Stuart Mathis and drummer Jack Irons, a former member of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Pearl Jam. There also was renewed energy and a bit different approach to making music.

Dylan continued to bring some songs in for "Glad All Over," but more than ever the other band members got involved in the creative process.

"I brought a handful of songs," Dylan says. "But that [collaborating] that was part of our intention, if we were going to do this.. We wanted to start at the ground floor. We didn't want me coming in with established songs that came with their own restrictions already, because that's what happens when you bring in a fully formed song. So the intention was, everybody wanted to be more involved. I wanted a little bit of relief in the writing process."

Some of the collaborative songs are ones that add new wrinkles to The Wallflowers' sound.

"Reboot the Mission" intentionally tips its hat to the Clash with its slinky beat and riffy rock sound. (Clash singer/guitarist Joe Strummer is saluted in the lyrics and Clash guitarist Mick Jones appears on the track.) "Have Mercy On Him Now" has a strong element of Motown in its sound, while "Misfits & Lovers" is a chunky and frisky rocker.

Other songs, such as "1st One In The Car," fall closer to the band's signature rootsy mid-tempo pop sound.

"I think there's an identity to those [collaborative] songs that is different than the other ones," Dylan says. "A song like 'Reboot The Mission,' I think you can probably imagine I didn't write that by myself."

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