He’s been putting out albums for nearly 40 years, so no wonder the tank sometimes runs dry. Not that perennial inventor Bob Dylan has ever cared about what anyone thinks of his music.

First, he pissed off folkies by plugging in, then deserted that sound for simple country-pie tunes. When some came to praise and some to bury those songs, he then wrote music in a unique heart-stained genre for Blood on the Tracks and Desire. And this was a mere dozen years into his recording career.

Despite a few dodgy moments on albums, the real trouble came with the wretched Street Legal in the late 1970s. This was followed by the Christian album Slow Train Coming, and then some gospel diarrhea, and then… well, more ups and downs. Every time the fire seemed out and he appeared to be meandering down Mick Jagger et al Has-Been Boulevard, Dylan detoured down a cool, unexplored alleyway, as with the delightful Love and Theft or Modern Times in recent years.

Well — ying, yang — it’s not surprising that Together Through Life sucks; you could have almost predicted it. With its overblown horns and schmaltzy love tunes, the album sounds like a near-miss with Neil Diamond (who was Dylan’s alleged inspiration for the wretched Budokan album just before the born-again bollocks) serving up leftover blues riffs from every bar band between here and Tuscaloosa.

This release is especially pathetic considering Dylan is backed up by The Heartbreakers’ Mike Campbell and Los Lobos’s Dave Hidalgo on some tracks. But alas, as ever, great players can’t save mediocre songs, although they can give them a little kick in the taco. Oh well — ying, yang. There’s always the next time around.