Bob Dylan, grizzled veteran of hundreds of tour dates and dozens of albums, has little to prove. The former Robert Zimmerman, now 65 and sporting more wrinkles than a reunion episode of the Golden Girls, could easily spend his days on the beach, sipping cocktails and strumming a ukulele.

Instead, his Bobness has produced Modern Times, his first album in five years, and a worthy successor to 2001's Love and Theft. The album's 10 lengthy tunes (songs regularly pass the five-minute mark) tell of impending doom, cold-blooded revenge and luscious ladies.

Lots of luscious ladies, in fact.

In the first song of the album, "Thunder on the Mountain," Dylan mentions R&B songstress Alicia Keys, and you get the impression that's he's not obsessed with her musical talents. "I was thinkin''bout Alicia Keys, couldn't keep from crying / When she was born in Hell's Kitchen, I was living down the line / I'm wondering where in the world Alicia Keys could be," he croaks.

But that's just the beginning. Modern Times is crammed full of ladies who have done Dylan wrong, ladies who Dylan has done wrong, and ladies Dylan just wants to treat right. "When the Deal Goes Down" and "Beyond the Horizon" are rapturous, romantic ditties, featuring that most unlikely of sounds - Bob Dylan crooning.

Who knows who these women are, or if they even exist. But they provide great fodder for songwriting that takes blues clichés, turns them inside out and slathers on the attitude.

"I'm flat out spent, this woman she been drivin' me to tears," Dylan sings on the Muddy Waters rewrite "Rollin' and Tumblin'.""This woman so crazy, I swear I ain't gonna touch another one for years."

Putting aside the ladies for a second, though, Modern Timesfeatures truly arresting songwriting. "Workingman's Blues #2,""Nettie Moore" and "Ain't Talkin'" each stand aside Dylan's greatest songs, and his unique vocals add layers upon his already veiled lyrics. (As mentioned, doom and revenge figure prominently.)

The musical accompaniment is provided by Dylan's touring band. You might not recognize their names, but the five road warriors match their leader's every musical thought. When he wants blues, they deliver. When he wants '30s-style standards, they step up. Dylan eggs them on with keyboards and harmonica, concocting a fresh yet old-timey musical vision.

In "Ain't Talkin," the album's epic, nine-minute closing number, the band backs away, and you listen to Dylan ragged and alone. His ladies have deserted him, and all he can do is wander a garden late at night and the ponder the inevitable.

"The sufferin' is unending,"he rasps. "Every nook and cranny has its tears / I'm not playing, I'm not pretending / I'm not nursin' any superfluous fears."

That, perhaps, is the ultimate achievement of Modern Times. Its creator can stare into the abyss and return to write about it. Dylan has no illusions about the temporary nature of life and its many pitfalls. Even if he were relaxing on a beach, he seems to say, the suffering still would not end.

But the luscious ladies probably help.

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By CLAY McCUISTION

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