Lisnaholic

^ "Idiot Wind" is one of my favourite tracks from one of my favourite albums, and as you say, the music is excellent too; "Buckets of Rain", for example, has some very delicate guitar work.
I saw Dylan twice in concert, but on both occassions he was so far away that if I shut one eye and raised my thumb, I could blot him out completely ! This was about the time that Street Legal came out, and it was very moving to see so many people in row after row quietly hanging on for every word that this one little guy sang.
So,yes, five rows away makes you a lucky guy !

^ Yes, "contemporary American folk" sounds about right. I`m no genre expert either, but I`d say that chronologically Dylan`s music has moved through these genres:-
First, folk, then folk rock, then just rock and recent albums, leading up to Tempest, have been Americana rock.

Well, Briks, I`d define those terms like this:-
Traditional folk was either recorded long ago or tries to follow closely the style of long ago.
Contemporary folk is music that has been composed in the last 50-odd years, and includes some folk elements without being restricted to the traditional sound.
Folk is an English word that dates back about 1000 years, I should think, and it was originally applied to English music. Then the definition expanded to include European music, and finally American too. Today, with people having access to music all over the world, we talk about International Folk, which usually means folk music that doesn`t come from English speaking countries.
Does that make sense ?

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"Am I enjoying this moment? I know of it and perhaps that is enough." - Sybille Bedford, 1953