 Shadows In the Night received favorable reviews , scoring 82 on the critical aggregator Metacritic , which indicates " universal acclaim " . Critics praised the restrained instrumental <unk> and Dylan 's singing , saying that the material had elicited his best vocal performances in recent years . Bill Prince in <unk> commented : " A performer who 's had to hear his influence in virtually every white pop recording made since he debuted his own self @-@ titled album back in 1962 imagines himself into the songs of his pre @-@ rock 'n'roll early youth . " In The Independent , Andy Gill wrote that the recordings " have a lingering , languid charm , which ... help to liberate the material from the <unk> <unk> of big @-@ band and cabaret mannerisms . " The album debuted at number one in the UK albums chart in its first week of release . 
