Bob Dylan vs. Jessica Simpson

Bob Dylan interviews are rare. So rare, that when His Royal Bobness makes an innocuous comment about the dearth of great sounding records in the digital era his words get taken out of context and it causes a huge fuss online.

No matter.

Dylan interviews and Dylan controversy means a new Dylan album is on the horizon, and for us Dylan geeks that is an extremely good thing.

The latest from Rock's Poet Laureate arrives in stores Aug. 29. Another big release comes out that same Tuesday ... Jessica Simpson's "A Public Affair." Granted, there's probably not one soul in the whole wide world who will go into a record store Aug. 29 requesting copies of both discs. But, this coinciding release date begs the question: Which album will chart higher?

"Modern Times" is Dylan's first collection of new originals since "Love and Theft," which came out the same day of the World Trade Center tragedy and reached No. 5 on the Billboard 200. Simpson's last non-Christmas release, ""In This Skin," hit No. 2 on the same chart in 2004.

Because I'm crazy like that, I will go as far as to predict "Modern Times" will be Dylan's first No. 1 album since "Desire" topped the chart in 1976.

Click here to read an excerpt from the Dylan interview that will be in the upcoming issue of Rolling Stone.

As the hype grows around the new Dylan release, check for updates at the excellent fan site ExpectingRain.com

Dylan vs. Simpson: Who will come out on top?