CASEY PHILLIPS: I never thought I’d say this about Bob Dylan, but I really dig the vocals in “Together Through Life,” and for the most part, the songwriting didn’t blow my mind. In the interest of full disclosure, I freely admit that my exposure to his music is from his early career (“Highway 61 Revisited” and “Blonde on Blonde”). As a result, I can’t really compare this, Dylan’s 33rd album, to any of the celebrated, later-career works like 2006’s Grammy Award-winning critical darling, “Modern Times.”

What I can say is that I liked the album a lot, even though the songs seem to circle around love lost, attained or pined for. There’s just not a ton of variety here, except the album closer, “It’s All Good,” which comes a little closer to the social commentary I would have expected.

BARRY COURTER: It’s hard to know to what extent Dylan knows, or cares, that his lyrics will be analyzed and picked apart by fans and critics looking for the hidden secrets of the universe, but one thing he has proven over the years, it’s that he will do what he wants to do.

It’s also hard to know what he intended to accomplish with this album, or any of them for that matter, because he’s loathe to explain himself. That said, “Together Through Life” is a good to very good piece of work, if not a Dylan masterpiece.

CASEY: Even though the songwriting didn’t twist my mind in knots, the album sounds phenomenal. Dylan’s band is a stellar lineup including former Heartbreaker guitarist Michael Campbell, Los Lobos multi-instrumentalist David Hidalgo (here on accordion) and long-time Dylan collaborator Tony Garnier on bass.

By and large, the songs are blues numbers that provide plenty of opportunities for Campbell to rip through with an soulful electric howl, and Hidalgo’s shimmering squeeze box adds a pleasant twist to the mix.

In an interesting change-up, only one song, “This Dream of You,” was a Dylan solo effort. Most were co-written with Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter or, in the case of “(Hell Is) My Wife’s Hometown” (a personal favorite), co-credited to Willie Dixon.

BARRY: “My Wife’s Hometown” is very funny and for me, sets the tone of the album. That’s not to say this is a comedy album. It’s a serious Dylan CD, with great playing, but it’s not overwrought with social commentary or agenda. It’s sounds like Dylan having fun playing the blues, and doing it his way.

CASEY: Agreed. An older Dylan’s 10,000-cigarette rasp is perfectly suited to this type of music as he growls through songs like the album opener, “Beyond Here Lies Nothin’,” and the rolling blues of “Shake Shake Mama.” The album’s shining star, however, is “I Feel a Change Comin’ On,” a late-album track about finding love in the twilight of life. Thanks to how the band is layered atop the vocals, it ends up having a nice Otis Redding feel to it.

BARRY: There are so many expectations that come with a new Dylan CD, and unlike a lot of legends, he continues to raise and shift those expectations. “Modern Times” is a great record, though a different record than this one. Dylan rarely repeats himself. “Together Through Life” is a very good record that is a fun listen.

CASEY: About the highest compliment I can pay to “Together Through Life,” is that it makes me want to dig into the last few pages of the Dylan catalog. I like the way his vocals have gained a studied coarseness in the last 40 years, and I think this album is an excellent time for those who wrote him off as just a songwriter early in his career to give his singing a second listen.

E-mail Casey Phillips at cphillips@timesfreepress.com or Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com.