Dylan

[Hatfield]

Blood on the Tracks is my all-time favorite Dylan album -- and more importantly, Doug's favorite Dylan album -- so I am really happy you liked it.

i come to rm for 3 things..liebzz album reviews, see what knee tunes posts and to check on lenny..the rest is fluff

hey doug

hey brian

I like blood on the tracks a lot

hands down my favorite of all time..i was 9 when it came out and my older brother had from day one..it registered some time after that..
anyway, it will always be number 1 and number 2 through whatever will change over time..

Well, let's hear what you've learned about it! From what I remember, he wasn't feeling very confident at this time and once he played a few demos for friends, they urged him to record. Am I right about that?

[doug rr]

Blood on the Tracks is my all-time favorite Dylan album -- and more importantly, Doug's favorite Dylan album -- so I am really happy you liked it.

i come to rm for 3 things..liebzz album reviews, see what knee tunes posts and to check on lenny..the rest is fluff

hey doug

hey brian

I like blood on the tracks a lot

hands down my favorite of all time..i was 9 when it came out and my older brother had from day one..it registered some time after that..
anyway, it will always be number 1 and number 2 through whatever will change over time..

Well, let's hear what you've learned about it! From what I remember, he wasn't feeling very confident at this time and once he played a few demos for friends, they urged him to record. Am I right about that?

i don't have the talent of writing about an album as KD and leibzz do...the album is just perfect from start to finish ..not many other albums if any can do that for me...I used to sit outside my brothers bedroom while he listened to it and other music growing up and stuff just clicks..much like when I was 5 or 6 and my mom and dad would have friends over for drinks and playing cards while all us kids sat downstairs with the door closed..i remember sitting at the door when 50s and 60s jazz played...it stuck like that

[LetMeSleep]

BotT and Desire are albums of my childhood. I can remember those albums (and Hard Rain) on repeat for long car trips. I used to sing along, knowing all the words at 3-4. These albums are a part of me.

[Higgs]

BotT and Desire are albums of my childhood. I can remember those albums (and Hard Rain) on repeat for long car trips. I used to sing along, knowing all the words at 3-4. These albums are a part of me.

This. And Infidels for me.

[liebzz]

The Basement Tapes - I am covering this twice, sort of, based on Super Mario Chalmers assistance between Blonde on Blonde and John Wesley Harding and then now at the release chronology. Even or maybe especially due to the expanded nature of this as 1 hour and 17 mins, this feels more like a b-side release than a proper album. But of course that doesn’t mean the material is lacking at all. There are tons of highlights here and I am glad that the meaning of the Band and Dylan isn’t just Dylan with different guys playing instruments but more of a collaborative feel - especially since Dylan isn’t lead vocals on all the tracks. They also toe the line perfectly between rock, Americana, and country in a loose fashion that just feels natural and like they were really enjoying being in this moment in Big Pink in the 60s.

As for favorites on this one, the first four songs: Odds and Ends, Orange Juice Blues, Million Dollar Bash, and Stazio Street Scandal are all pretty excellent. Lo and Behold!, Apple Suckling Tree, Please Mrs. Henry, Yea! Heavy and a Bottle or Bread (maybe my favorite on this listen), Ain’t No More Cane, You Ain’t Going Nowhere, Don’t Ya Tell Henry, Open the Door Homer, Long Distance Operator, and This Wheel’s On Fire were also highlights. This is a lot of songs to sort of name check, but there are 24 tracks so there’s that. It seem to run long at points but both started and ended really well.

[epilogue]

BotT and Desire are albums of my childhood. I can remember those albums (and Hard Rain) on repeat for long car trips. I used to sing along, knowing all the words at 3-4. These albums are a part of me.

CSN is that album for me. My dad was obsessed with that record. I can still put it on and sing every word. My parents hated Dylan's voice, so growing up I heard a lot of Dylan covers but zero Dylan albums. I had to find him on my own as I got older. Still, Desire and Blood On The Tracks are the ones I've kept from that journey. I love Dylan and I listen to a lot of his music still. But if I'm reaching for an album, it's one of those two.

[Wendy Carlos's Twin]

Desire and BOTT were the only two albums my father had grwoing up, so those were my gateway.

Then my best friend's aunt sent him a nice cassette dupe of Bootleg Series Vol. 1-3 - and that started the flood.

[liebzz]

Desire - the first and most prominent component that jumps out of this album from the jump is the use of the violin throughout - almost a musical thread to weave through each of the songs, which are generally much longer than recent albums. This ends up working to Dylan’s advantage because he has a whole lot to say on this album. The lyrics to Hurricane and Joey could fill a novel sized book alone, so to give these songs the musical space leaves them feeling less rushed and perfectly paced for their messages (Eddie Vedder/Pearl Jam could sometimes learn a lesson from this when all the words don’t necessarily fit in a 3:50 framework). What’s so great about this album, and really almost all of them to this point, is that Dylan knows how to serve the songs and isn’t afraid to lengthen, shorten, move them around so that they both fit in the greater narrative without compromising that single track. Three of the strongest songs on the album, Hurricane (of course - I think this is just so masterful and the injustice you feel during the song is profound), Joey, and also Black Diamond Bay, all break way past 7 minutes and none seem to drag at any point. They are joined by Isis and One More Cup of Coffee as my favorites from the album (so half the album in title and probabaly 2/3 in length). Oh, Sister and Sara were also highlights for me.

Ultimately, I think in 40-something years of hindsight, that thread of the violin also does something else that helps Desire and allows it to stand strong with the rest of his output: it provides a clean enough break from Blood on the Tracks so that it doesn’t feel like its follow up or sequel. I don’t think that there are many albums that can really follow that one, so to go with something fresh and different is so much the right choice here, even if it is as simple as a few touches that provide that break.

[Kevin Davis]

I'm really enjoying your reviews, liebzz.

I like Desire a lot -- my favorite tracks are probably "Isis," "Black Diamond Bay," and "Romance in Durango." "Hurricane" is amazing too, but I've probably burned myself out on it a bit. I'm not the biggest "Joey" fan -- the way the chorus is sung always makes me think of a baby kangaroo instead of a hardened thug, and I don't really buy the whole sob story angle the song sells.

[liebzz]

I could see that. For some reason both Mozambique and Romance in Durango didn’t hit me that hard. I appreciated the effort in both songs to really push and expand but I just wasn’t that into the finished product on those two songs.

[Kevin Davis]

"Mozambique" is definitely one of Desire's minor songs; I like it in the context of the album but don't often seek it out. "Romance in Durango" I think is one of the best songs on the album, but the studio cut is a little tentative -- the shape of the song comes across a lot better on some of the live versions, which appear on a few different releases that hopefully you find your way to someday.

[elliseamos]

I've been waiting to see what you'd make of Street Legal.

[LetMeSleep]

Scarlet Rivera is crucial to the sound of Desire but let’s not understate the massive influence of Howie Wyeth. This is one of my favourite drumming records. He pushes and pulls the tempo, matching Dylan’s rhythm, playing along with every syllable.

This album is pure Dylan. Unwavering in its execution. The run of Planet Waves through Slow Train Coming is amazing in the sidesteps and deviations, the focus he had for each project and that 15 albums in he was not repeating himself.

[liebzz]

Scarlet Rivera is crucial to the sound of Desire but let’s not understate the massive influence of Howie Wyeth. This is one of my favourite drumming records. He pushes and pulls the tempo, matching Dylan’s rhythm, playing along with every syllable.

This album is pure Dylan. Unwavering in its execution. The run of Planet Waves through Slow Train Coming is amazing in the sidesteps and deviations, the focus he had for each project and that 15 albums in he was not repeating himself.

So far I am definitely with you on that point.

[liebzz]

Hard Rain - the nice thing about listening to a live album peppered here and there is it serves as a nice little summary when you are flying through a whole album catalogue at warp speed. At least this one feels like that, whereas Before the Flood More felt like making sure I was hanging around the time period of his work with The Band a little more. That aside, for some reason this release feels split in half. The first half I wasn’t so crazy about. Dylan sounds like he’s just yelling out lyrics and the performance just seems to be missing something. Maggie’s Farm is an interesting interpretation but I would take the studio version any day of the week. Lay Lady Lay just kind of annoyed me when I love the album version. Everything seemed to turn around, however, from Shelter From the Storm through Idiot Wind. All four of those songs were performed really well- which may be due to Dylan’s voice sounding better to my ears, or perhaps the vocal delivery in those songs just sort of fit better, or his backing band is doing the songs more justice. Whatever it is, I was really into the second half but not the first as much. I watched the Scorsese Rolling Thunder Revue documentary recently, so I know there’s a ton of great material from that tour...maybe I just missed something in the first half.

As an aside, I watched No Direction Home last night and I am delighted to say that my impressions of Dylan from that film largely match my thoughts moving through those period albums in Dylan’s perspective - except that I still insist that first album is great.

[liebzz]

I've been waiting to see what you'd make of Street Legal.

This will be next though I am not sure if I will get to it today.

[Kevin Davis]

There are times when I think "Shelter From the Storm," "You're a Big Girl Now," and "Idiot Wind" from Hard Rain are the pinnacle of Dylan's entire career. Just incredible stuff.

[liebzz]

There are times when I think "Shelter From the Storm," "You're a Big Girl Now," and "Idiot Wind" from Hard Rain are the pinnacle of Dylan's entire career. Just incredible stuff.

I am glad we are on the same page on this. I was almost ready to write this live album off as meh, and then Shelter From the Storm came and I had a “wait a second” moment where I thought maybe I missed something...and then it stayed really good through the end and I thought maybe I was unfair to the first half.

[Kevin Davis]

I like all of Hard Rain but the second half is definitely stronger. I think with live Dylan it's natural that not all live variations will appeal to all tastes, and especially the more abrasive remakes like "Lay Lady Lay" and "I Threw It All Away," whose studio recordings are smooth as silk, I can understand why they wouldn't be everyone's bag. Personally, I like those (I pretty much like all things Rolling Thunder Revue), but I've never been able to warm to the lite-reggae versions of "Don't Think Twice It's All Right" and "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" that you'll soon encounter on Live at Budokan.

[elliseamos]

I've been waiting to see what you'd make of Street Legal.

This will be next though I am not sure if I will get to it today.

No rush. I'm just curious to see your thoughts.

Any plan to watch the Rolling Thunder Revue documentary? Or is this just album output?