Slow Train Coming marks one of the most beguiling turns in Bob Dylan's career, as he embraced born-again Christianity after experiencing divine intervention at a tour stop in
Tucson, Arizona. While Dylan's strict, non-ironic religious conversion alienated much of
his longtime fanbase Slow Train Coming shows that his newfound convictions weren't so
much a reinvention of his identity as a new prism through which Dylan continues to
examine his lifelong themes. "I Believe In You" describes overwhelming romantic love
even if it was written as a devotional hymn. By the same token, "Slow Train" describes
the looming terror of the modern world with as much detail and frustration as "A Hard
Rain's A Gonna Fall." Producer Jerry Wexler brings a bluesy, moody feel to the album,
aided by Mark Knopfler's guitar and Barry Beckett's keyboards. Despite the album's
overtly Christian leanings, Slow Train Coming succeeds on a balance of accessibility (the
Jackson Browne soundalike "Precious Angel") and vulnerability ("When He Returns,"
which features some of the most emotionally naked singing of Dylan's career).