Jump to content

you ever seen a ghost?

Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Content Count

    801

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Posts posted by you ever seen a ghost?

    The Official Bob Dylan Thread

    in Someone Else's Song

    Posted

    Glad i could help.....

     

    this guy doesn't really know what he is talking about, but hey, ....its all good....

     

    Regarding the creepy and subversive Modern Times, I think I need to go back and listen to the songs again (even though a couple years ago I listened over and over...) to explain this further, but taking established songs and elaborating on themes set out by someone else (Memphis Minnie, Muddy Waters, Merle Haggard, etc.) and then putting a somewhat post modern spin on them by mixing in politics, free associated couplets, sly dirty old man asides, and talking about not being able to go back somewhere because he killed someone added up to some somewhat disorienting and disquieting listening. Even the invoking of one of Charlie Chaplin's greatest triumph's, about modern times that are no longer modern, is somewhat subversive. Reviewing the words of Modern Times reminded me just how interesting some of the turn of phrases Dylan used that he doesn't seem to use to as great effect on this new one. See here for the words...most of them blow the new album out of hte water...

     

    LouieB

     

    the disorienting and disquieting part is a good thing! i love MT...especially lyrically. i think the new album is great (not as good as the previous two, but great all the same). it isn't nearly as dense lyrically. some of the lyrics definitely sneak up on you, but overall, it is pared down.

     

    -justin

    The Official Bob Dylan Thread

    in Someone Else's Song

    Posted

    Wow, okay. I understand your enthusiasm for it and I kinda like it better than Time Out of Mind in some ways particularly his use of pre WWII song styles, and yes it has a few really good numbers, High Water, Mississippi, Po Boy, but to say it is the equal of Highway 61, well that would take some convincing, since Highway 61 is probably one of the 5 greatest rock albums ever. Love and Theft isn't even in the top five greatest Dylan albums. (Highway 61, Blonde on Blonde, Bringing It All Back Home and then Blood on the Tracks, Another Side, John Wesley Harding, Freewheelin, or a couple others would round out the top five depending on one's taste.) And even Bob Dylan doesn't believe he is the greatest blues singer ever (wouldn't that be Blind Willie McTell?? and he isn't stealing Muddy Waters material and inflections lately for nothing.) Maybe you need to spend some time listening to some of the greatest blues singers ever, who were and continue to be his influences.

     

    Don't get me wrong, I have been a Dylan fan since long before you were born so my enthusiasm for him is plenty strong, but come on....let's get real. Love and Theft may outlive some of his late 70s and 1980s albums, but it will never replace the really great stuff recorded during Dylan's earlier periods.

     

    LouieB

     

    i consider myself well versed in the blues. mostly, i prefer the early, acoustic stuff (Johnson, Skip James, Blind Lemon, etc.), but i know plenty of the Chicago stuff as well: Muddy, Howlin' Wolf, etc. i really do believe that Bob is a fantastic blues singer. a true great. some of the little twists and turns, phrasing and subtle inflections on his latter-day stuff just slayyys. obviously, the ravaged voice suits the material quite well.

     

    -justin

    The Official Bob Dylan Thread

    in Someone Else's Song

    Posted

    "Love & Theft" is an out and out masterpiece. so, comparing it to this other 5-star records, it then comes down to personal taste. is it as good as Highway 61 Revisited? certainly. it's just different is all. abstract Americana impressionism at first...years later, we find the lyrics are nicked from sources as disparate as Henry Timrod, Confessions of a Yakuza, WC Fields and a travel guide on New Orleans. the band is shit hot and Dylan's proves himself to be one of the greatest blues singers ever, black or white. the subtle inflections in his voice are everywhere and he's in full-on prophet mode. 8 years later, it sounds even better.

     

     

    -justin

    Bob, Neil etc......still relevant in 2009?

    in Someone Else's Song

    Posted

    And, fwiw, not even Bob Dylan in his "prime" could have written a song like Not Dark Yet. I think Dylan, in some ways, is as good as if not better than he's ever been. (in some ways).

     

    this all the way. "Love & Theft" is my favorite record of all time. i fully believe that Dylan's latter-day work stands right besides any of his 60s of 70s albums. "Floater (Too Much To Ask)," "Nettie Moore," "Sugar Baby"....nothing short of stunning in every aspect.

     

    -justin

    Beatles remasters are here!

    in Someone Else's Song

    Posted

    i was looking at a discounted CD price of $10 (because you are dealing in bulk) X 14 albums, so in the neighborhood of $140-$150? that wouldn't be so bad.

     

    also, can someone please explain (without debating), why mono is preferable? is it only preferable on some albums?

     

    -justin

×
×
  • Create New...