Shot of Love is the twenty-first studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on August 12, 1981, by Columbia Records.

[not verified in body] At the time of its release, Shot of Love received mixed reviews; Paul Nelson of Rolling Stone criticized the album, though he did single out the last track, "Every Grain of Sand", as a standout.

"Property of Jesus", "Yonder Comes Sin", and new arrangements of older material like "Ain't Gonna Go to Hell (For Anybody)" were composed during this time, as were "Caribbean Wind" and "The Groom's Still Waiting at the Altar", which "contrast[ed] his troubled sexual relations with the demands of a higher calling", according to Dylan biographer Clinton Heylin.

Then, sometime in mid-September, Dylan reassembled his standing band at Rundown Studios in Santa Monica, California, where they recorded a number of his new songs, including "Every Grain of Sand".

A rough recording of "Every Grain of Sand" dating from this period was eventually released on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991.

In March 1981, Dylan held more informal sessions at both Rundown and Studio 55, rehearsing some of his new compositions while auditioning a potential producer, Jimmy Iovine.

Numerous attempts at recording "Caribbean Wind" during the Iovine sessions proved disappointing, with Dylan growing increasingly pessimistic about the song's prospects.

The experience gave Dylan an enormous amount of satisfaction, as he would later reveal in subsequent interviews, but Blackwell did not return for further work, possibly because of health issues.

Chuck Plotkin, who had experience working with Bruce Springsteen, was eventually hired by Dylan on the suggestion of a friend, Debbie Gold.

Five sessions were scheduled for Plotkin's Clover Studio, beginning on April 27 and ending on May 1, and work proceeded on songs like "Property of Jesus", "Watered-Down Love", "Heart of Mine", "Lenny Bruce", "Dead Man, Dead Man", "In the Summertime", and "Every Grain of Sand", all of which received usable takes that were marked for the album.

An extensively rewritten and rearranged version of "Caribbean Wind" was also recorded at Clover, but once again, Dylan was disappointed with the results; it was ultimately set aside for an indefinite amount of time.

Unlike Dylan's previous studio album Saved, Shot of Love included more secular material as well as overtly religious and evangelistic songs.

Continuing the evangelism of Slow Train Coming and Saved, "Property of Jesus" is another one of Dylan's sharp put-down songs, this time aimed at non-believers who sneer at the Christian faithful.

Widely praised and heavily played on progressive radio, Riley called it "a generous return to slow-burning defiance that restores not only the lust to Dylan's heart, but the power to his voice."

Together with "Caribbean Wind" (an outtake discussed below), "The Groom's Still Waiting at the Altar" marked a dramatic change in lyrical direction, one Dylan would continue to follow in his next album, Infidels.

As Greil Marcus writes in Salon.com, it "is a textbook warning against the devil, if you listen as if you're reading; if you hear it, it's a poker game, and the singer's winning."

", and "dead man" that Dylan is addressing is himself, admitting his moral fallibility and mocking his own appearance "Satan's got you by the heel/There's a bird's nest in your hair."

Paul Nelson of Rolling Stone opined that "In the Summertime" has "a lovely feel to it, and Dylan's harmonica playing hangs in the air like the scent of mimosa."

In this song, Dylan puzzles over the dilemma of whether his disappointments, temptations, failings, and triumphs were due to his actions alone or ordained by God's delivering hand ("I've gone from rags to riches in the sorrows of the night/In the violence of a summer's dream/In the chill of a winter light" and "I hear the ancient footsteps like the motion of the sea/Sometimes I turn and there's someone there; sometimes it's only me").

It's "perhaps his most sublime work to date", writes Clinton Heylin, "the summation of a number of attempts to express what the promise of redemption meant to him personally.

"[This quote needs a citation] Tim Riley described "Every Grain of Sand" as "a prayer that inhabits the same intuitive zone as "Blowin' in the Wind" - you'd swear it was a hymn passed down through the ages."

Rock critic Milo Miles wrote, "This is the one Dylan song in ten years ... in which he examines a pop-culture paradox (that legendary stars in particular have to believe in ideals greater than themselves) more eloquently than any other performer has.

"[This quote needs a citation] When Bruce Springsteen inducted Dylan into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame on January 20, 1988, he would also cite "Every Grain of Sand" as an example of his best work.

Religion still held a strong place in Dylan's work, but as 1981 came to a close, his religious songs gave way to more secular material.

As Dylan completed his new songs in private, much time would be spent in Minneapolis catching up with his eldest, 16-year-old son, Jesse; this involved frequenting performances of new wave and punk acts like The Clash, Elvis Costello, Squeeze, and X.