 The album Down in the Groove in May 1988 sold even more unsuccessfully than his previous studio album . Michael Gray wrote : " The very title <unk> any idea that inspired work may lie within . Here was a further <unk> of the notion of a new Bob Dylan album as something significant . " The critical and commercial disappointment of that album was swiftly followed by the success of the Traveling Wilburys . Dylan co @-@ founded the band with George Harrison , Jeff <unk> , Roy <unk> , and Tom Petty , and in late 1988 their multi @-@ platinum Traveling Wilburys Vol . 1 reached three on the US album chart , featuring songs that were described as Dylan 's most accessible compositions in years . Despite <unk> 's death in December 1988 , the remaining four recorded a second album in May 1990 with the title Traveling Wilburys Vol . 3 . 
