Studio Album · No. 20
Empire Burlesque Songwriting Credits by Bob Dylan
Holds writing credit on 10 of 10 tracks
Authorship Breakdown 10 / 10 documented
Scored across the 10 tracks with documented writers, by whether Bob Dylan carries a lyricist or composer credit.
Share of the 10 tracks where a band member is credited, by role.
By the Numbers
Bob Dylan wrote all ten tracks on Empire Burlesque himself; the Wikipedia track listing credits every song to Dylan alone, including the single Tight Connection to My Heart. Dylan handled production but brought the recordings to Arthur Baker, who mixed the album and gave it its mid-1980s sound. Dylan said he recorded material in many places and Baker made it sound like a record.
Released June 8, 1985, Empire Burlesque was recorded over an unusually extended period from July 1984 through March 1985, with Dylan self-producing the core sessions before enlisting Arthur Baker, known for his work with New Order and Afrika Bambaataa, to handle final mixing. Session musicians included members of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (Mike Campbell, Benmont Tench, Howie Epstein) as well as the reggae rhythm section Sly and Robbie, resulting in an eclectic but stylistically inconsistent album. Dylan wrote all original tracks, and the album's embrace of 1980s synthesizers and drum machines represented the most overt concession to contemporary commercial production values in his catalog to that point. It peaked at No. 33 in the US and No. 11 in the UK; Robert Christgau called it his best album since Blood on the Tracks, though the production approach has remained its most criticized element.