Jump to content

Favorite album(s) by....


Recommended Posts

I generally prefer acoustic Dylan. But - Desire is probably the album I listen to the most.

 

edit: I would say that Desire is really acoustic record. I consider any record with no electric guitars to be acoustic.

Additionally...Desire kicks major ass.

I must say that Oh Mercy has really grown on me over the last two years. The Lanois production really fits that set of songs. +++

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • Replies 313
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Guest Gym Teacher Man
edit: I would say that Desire is really acoustic record. I consider any record with no electric guitars to be acoustic.

Additionally...Desire kicks major ass.

I must say that Oh Mercy has really grown on me over the last two years. The Lanois production really fits that set of songs. +++

 

I guess I'll be giving Desire a few good listenings soon. It's always been boring to me. Haven't tried it in quite some time though.

 

I also really enjoy Oh Mercy. It's not top-tier for me, but still a fucking great album. I loved Dylan's writings in Chronicles about the experience of recording that album.

Link to post
Share on other sites
I dont like Desire. Never have. Dont like the female vocals or the strings. I never listen to it.

 

To me, it is a picture perfect post card of 1976.

 

Born to Run, Desire...all about time and place.

Link to post
Share on other sites
To me, it is a picture perfect post card of 1976.

 

Born to Run, Desire...all about time and place.

I think that's key. While you can go back into artists' catalogs, there are experiences tied with the time of their release that gives currency -- whether esoteric or not -- over the direct judgment of the music itself.

Link to post
Share on other sites
Like Pearl Jam fans liking No Code the best .

 

That's interesting. I don't think I cared for it much when it first came out, but years down the line I came to like No Code the best and feel it's the best 'album' of their's.

 

I never got the last one or Binaural. The one in between was hit and miss for me.

Link to post
Share on other sites
I think that's key. While you can go back into artists' catalogs, there are experiences tied with the time of their release that gives currency -- whether esoteric or not -- over the direct judgment of the music itself.

 

 

Nothing exists in a vacuum. We all bring a set of baggage to the table. However, I do believe that quality is somewhat immutable. My 14-year old son is a prime example. He is exploring my cd/record collection and arriving at certain clear opinions that have nothing to do with the original expectations and baggage that these recordings had at the time of their release. He devoured Born to Run. Was he influenced by the fact that his dad (me) is a Bruce Tramp? Dunno. But one must assume that there some enduring quality to records/cds/albums that are perennially favorites.

 

Are his opinions devoid of the cultural baggage of an artist any more or less valid than mine rife with this baggage? And if his opinions are similar to mine?

 

MattZ doesn't like Desire...I do. I can see where he's coming from...the Ronee Blakely and Emmy Lou Harris backing/harmony vocals are pretty distinct and can be offputting. It's such a curveball that I love it.

 

It's an interesting world filled with all kinds of people with differing opinions.

Link to post
Share on other sites
Nothing exists in a vacuum. We all bring a set of baggage to the table. However, I do believe that quality is somewhat immutable. My 14-year old son is a prime example. He is exploring my cd/record collection and arriving at certain clear opinions that have nothing to do with the original expectations and baggage that these recordings had at the time of their release. He devoured Born to Run. Was he influenced by the fact that his dad (me) is a Bruce Tramp? Dunno. But one must assume that there some enduring quality to records/cds/albums that are perennially favorites.

 

Are his opinions devoid of the cultural baggage of an artist any more or less valid than mine rife with this baggage? And if his opinions are similar to mine?

 

MattZ doesn't like Desire...I do. I can see where he's coming from...the Ronee Blakely and Emmy Lou Harris backing/harmony vocals are pretty distinct and can be offputting. It's such a curveball that I love it.

 

It's an interesting world filled with all kinds of people with differing opinions.

Agreed, my point is, as quality is in the eye/ear of the beholder, each one of this who wades in far enough feels the pull of the depths of "quality" that's out there. Even if you tether yourself to one particular artist, there are waves of creativity, experimentation and emotion that buffet their work that while quality permeates, we look for what resuscitates us, and that's what we tie to experience, our own reflection on art and how we internalize it.

 

And, like meeting up on the shore, you gather with others and recount your experiences, learn from them, and get ready to get pulled under again.

 

As far as your son -- I have two kids 17 and 12 -- and the short answer is "yes." Your impact on his tastes are huge, as an offspring grows and embraces, then dispels and seeks his/her own influences. He couldn't have grown in a vacuum, and what he has assimilated from what you have listened to helps form his tastes, and he is all the better for it.

Link to post
Share on other sites
Nothing exists in a vacuum. We all bring a set of baggage to the table. However, I do believe that quality is somewhat immutable. My 14-year old son is a prime example. He is exploring my cd/record collection and arriving at certain clear opinions that have nothing to do with the original expectations and baggage that these recordings had at the time of their release. He devoured Born to Run. Was he influenced by the fact that his dad (me) is a Bruce Tramp? Dunno. But one must assume that there some enduring quality to records/cds/albums that are perennially favorites.

 

Are his opinions devoid of the cultural baggage of an artist any more or less valid than mine rife with this baggage? And if his opinions are similar to mine?

 

MattZ doesn't like Desire...I do. I can see where he's coming from...the Ronee Blakely and Emmy Lou Harris backing/harmony vocals are pretty distinct and can be offputting. It's such a curveball that I love it.

 

It's an interesting world filled with all kinds of people with differing opinions.

 

Exactly. It is very interesting. You do like Desire and I can see where you are coming from, too. I didnt mean to state my opinion as an absolute, just to respond to someone else wondering if they are the only person that didn't like Desire. I love Dylan to pieces, but I just never could get into Desire. I was born in 1975, so it is very possible that I can't relate to the time/place aspects of that album, and that if I could, I might feel differently.

Link to post
Share on other sites
One of the reasons Desire sounds the way it does is due to the fact it was pretty much done in one night. Emmy Lou Harris did not even know what was going on.

There's all sort of way to bottle "quality." For some it's catching a glowing firefly in a jar. For others, it's brewing the mixture before corking it up, others it's distilling, others it's smashing a variety of influences and fermenting the results.

 

I didnt mean to state my opinion as an absolute.

Nor did I. Anyone who attempts to deal in absolutes regarding tastes in art would need a jacket with extra long sleeves.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I very much like the female backing vocals and the strings on Desire and think it's a unique album in his catalog the way New Morning is with some of the lyrics and musical arrangements.

 

However, I've listened to it so much the past 25 years or so that I'm a little fried on it. I listened to it a few days ago on the way to work and had to ff through "Hurricane" and 1-2 others. OTOH, I also grasped a new appreciation for "Black Diamond Bay," so go figure.

Link to post
Share on other sites
I very much like the female backing vocals and the strings on Desire and think it's a unique album in his catalog the way New Morning is with some of the lyrics and musical arrangements.

 

That' EmmyLou Harris singing back up on the album. i always have to skip the chili pepper song. it's like nails on a chalkboard for me.

Link to post
Share on other sites
That' EmmyLou Harris singing back up on the album. i always have to skip the chili pepper song. it's like nails on a chalkboard for me.

Right, but I think Emmylou shares the vocals with another chick, though.

 

Great opening line on "Romance in Durango, " I think.

Link to post
Share on other sites
Right, but I think Emmylou shares the vocals with another chick, though.

 

Great opening line on "Romance in Durango, " I think.

 

 

Ronee Blakely...

Link to post
Share on other sites
>My 14-year old son is a prime example. He is exploring my cd/record collection

 

We're not too far away from a time when our kids will click through our mp3 collections, without LPs, cds, etc.

 

 

I was amazed to hear him shouting/singing along to LOnesome Day the other day as it blared from the iPod speaker set up he has in his bedroom. Then he followed that with Search and Destroy, Something by Avenged Sevenfold and Death or Glory. (Had to have a little talk about the last one with him...we don't need to be playing that one when Downtown is in the house :pirate )

Link to post
Share on other sites

I have to admit I love Desire - even I was late to the party. Didn't buy the record until I decade after I bought my first Dylan record.

 

... quick aside: I distinctly remember buying my first Dylan record(s) in 1990 +/-. I was at Target one day and they had his whole catalog on CD on sale for like 9 bucks. Picked up Hwy 61, Nashville Skyline & Bringing It All Back Home. Hooked ever since ...

 

Anyway, ... I think I like it becasue of the backing vocals - a new and fresh sound for Bob. There is a live recording of me and the wife at an Open Mic dueting on Oh, Sister. Sweet.

 

Isis is so good, and love Durango. To each his own, I suppose. I was just tarred and feathered in another thread for suggesting Day of the Locust was no good.

Link to post
Share on other sites
Sara must be one of the most straight forward personal songs that be ever put out there.

No kidding. Wasn't Bob and Sara split up at the time? I seem to recall a story that she was in the studio hanging out for some reason when that song was recorded. That must have been heavy.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...

×
×
  • Create New...