The Official Bob Dylan Thread

[Gobias Industries]

I mean I do, I won't deny that. But when was the last time mccartney made a great record?

 

2008, the Fireman record was pretty good.

2005, Chaos and Creation in the Backyard was good (it's a grower, though)

 

then you can kinda travel backwards but really McCartney is not like some Satan incarnate because he works a different tack than the rest of the Beatles. Also I think the Beatles thing is a crap-ton of luggage on him, if he weren't a Beatle everyone would have a lot of manlove for the guy.

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

I may be destroying what little credibility I have here, but I really like the new Dylan. The music is post-modern for sure. Dylan is in a place beyond time and normal musical genres.

 

And I also really like the new U2...the new Bruce is a bit meh, but it definitely has its moments.

[Sir Stewart]

[quote name='Crow Daddy Magnus

[Moss]

I've been meaning to resurrect that thread to see what folks are thinking now that it's been out awhile - I like it a lot. Like a companion to October for some reason.

 

To make this post legit in this thread:

 

I love the new U2, I still think it's the best thing since Achtung.

 

I would love to hear a Dylan/McCartney collaboration. Macca needs somebody that is not afraid to push him on things. Seemed like Elvis had that ability to push him a bit. The Fireman stuff was stellar so having someone like Dylan that could provide a little acerbic wit to his sublime melodies would work out great. He needs that Lennon type cynical side for balance.

[jc4prez]

2008, the Fireman record was pretty good.

2005, Chaos and Creation in the Backyard was good (it's a grower, though)

 

then you can kinda travel backwards but really McCartney is not like some Satan incarnate because he works a different tack than the rest of the Beatles. Also I think the Beatles thing is a crap-ton of luggage on him, if he weren't a Beatle everyone would have a lot of manlove for the guy.

 

 

Meh, beatle or no beatle its just not that interesting, I like Ram and Band On The Run but not much else. I guess for a lot of people they will judge it by his old output, but to me thats silly. I know how much I've changed in my short life, he is not the guy who wrote those songs anymore(the beatles tunes that is). To expect that would be laughable.

 

As I was saying to a friend, I would listen to Love and Theft, Time Out of Mind and even together through life regardless of who released them. Modern Times on the other hand I found to be awful, not because this guy released blonde on blonde but because it was bad.

 

Its hard but I think a record needs be to judged for what it is, not who put it out. I can't think of how many mediocre albums get a ton of praise because the author was Bruce Springsteen or Neil Young for example. Its good for conversation to compare and contrast but that shouldn't deem the quality of the music.

[Gobias Industries]

Meh, beatle or no beatle its just not that interesting, I like Ram and Band On The Run but not much else. I guess for a lot of people they will judge it by his old output, but to me thats silly. I know how much I've changed in my short life, he is not the guy who wrote those songs anymore(the beatles tunes that is). To expect that would be laughable.

 

As I was saying to a friend, I would listen to Love and Theft, Time Out of Mind and even together through life regardless of who released them. Modern Times on the other hand I found to be awful, not because this guy released blonde on blonde but because it was bad.

 

Its hard but I think a record needs be to judged for what it is, not who put it out. I can't think of how many mediocre albums get a ton of praise because the author was Bruce Springsteen or Neil Young for example. Its good for conversation to compare and contrast but that shouldn't deem the quality of the music.

 

I suppose, but have you listened to either of those records? They're actually good. You could argue that because Macca had a foil in his producer (Nigel Godrich for Chaos, and Youth for Electric Arguments [the Fireman album]), those albums turned out a lot better, but the talent is obviously there.

 

But I suppose it's useless to argue this because at this juncture it's different strokes for different folks. I am still a sucker for a good pop song. You won't find a good pop song on the radio, though...

[calvino]

A very favorable review from All About Jazz. Also has the Ed Bradley interview that was brought up in a different Dylan thread.

 

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=32788

[LouieB]

I had a good time with Together Through Life tonight. Still haven't made it more than 6 songs in yet though.

Skip the first 8 songs and listen to numbers 9 and 10 instead. I was going to write extensively on this later, but actually this album is alike a mediocre dinner with an excellent dessert. The final two numbers, while maybe not the greatest thing Dylan has ever done, redeems the entire album. After slogging through some okay songs, some better than others (the others being Jolene and Shake Shake Mama) and some others that are passible and one that clearly he gives Willie Dixon credit for because he knows Willie's estate will sue his ass when others won't, and listening to a bunch of songs that are okay but not terribly convincing; we end up with I Feel a change Comin' On, which is actually quite moving and sincere. This is followed by Its All Good, which frankly is the best song on the album, harking back a bit to Highway 61 and dripping with some irony and a bit of bitterness that is also fairly convincing, not to mention it seems to cop a bit of attitude from Rodney Crowell's later works (including his excellent recent album Sex and Gasoline, for those who have not checked it out, do so and copping some Rodney is all good....) Finally on this last number the band actually gets something to do rather than trudge through chord changes and try and sound involved. On this final number the band members actually get to show some chops and some fire and it is really like a breath of fresh air (or maybe some creme caramel after a heavy and ordinary Mexican meal to conclude my metaphor.) (Worst line on the album....and worst metaphor imaginable Shake Shake Mama like a ship going out to sea...I mean what the fuck???)

 

Anyway, I listened to this thing about four times straight going and coming to Rosie's graduation (can you believe Tweedy's Gurl is THAT old??) and while it gets slightly better on repeated listenings, it has little to recomment it other than it is another Dylan album and that is enough for most people. Some asshole DJ on XRT was saying it sold 125,000 copies and was the number one album in the country. He kept saying he couldn't figure out who was buying it since clearly 20 years olds weren't. What he seems to miss is that some 20 year olds are buying this and certainly the boomers come out of the music buying closet to buy a new Dylan no matter what. Bad rapping Dylan is easy as is being a hipster DJ and his insistance that the album couldn't be appealing to anyone that young and that old people don't buy music anymore was just plain insulting. (Those of you in Chicagco may kjnow the guy I am talking about, I can't ever remember his name and frankly don't want to.)

 

Glad I can finally chime in on this having given it a fair listen rather than the streams on the internet which never do anything justice.

 

LouieB

[jc4prez]

Skip the first 8 songs and listen to numbers 9 and 10 instead. I was going to write extensively on this later, but actually this album is alike a mediocre dinner with an excellent dessert. The final two numbers, while maybe not the greatest thing Dylan has ever done, redeems the entire album. After slogging through some okay songs, some better than others (the others being Jolene and Shake Shake Mama) and some others that are passible and one that clearly he gives Willie Dixon credit for because he knows Willie's estate will sue his ass when others won't, and listening to a bunch of songs that are okay but not terribly convincing; we end up with I Feel a change Comin' On, which is actually quite moving and sincere. This is followed by Its All Good, which frankly is the best song on the album, harking back a bit to Highway 61 and dripping with some irony and a bit of bitterness that is also fairly convincing, not to mention it seems to cop a bit of attitude from Rodney Crowell's later works (including his excellent recent album Sex and Gasoline, for those who have not checked it out, do so and copping some Rodney is all good....) Finally on this last number the band actually gets something to do rather than trudge through chord changes and try and sound involved. On this final number the band members actually get to show some chops and some fire and it is really like a breath of fresh air (or maybe some creme caramel after a heavy and ordinary Mexican meal to conclude my metaphor.) (Worst line on the album....and worst metaphor imaginable Shake Shake Mama like a ship going out to sea...I mean what the fuck???)

 

Anyway, I listened to this thing about four times straight going and coming to Rosie's graduation (can you believe Tweedy's Gurl is THAT old??) and while it gets slightly better on repeated listenings, it has little to recomment it other than it is another Dylan album and that is enough for most people. Some asshole DJ on XRT was saying it sold 125,000 copies and was the number one album in the country. He kept saying he couldn't figure out who was buying it since clearly 20 years olds weren't. What he seems to miss is that some 20 year olds are buying this and certainly the boomers come out of the music buying closet to buy a new Dylan no matter what. Bad rapping Dylan is easy as is being a hipster DJ and his insistance that the album couldn't be appealing to anyone that young and that old people don't buy music anymore was just plain insulting. (Those of you in Chicagco may kjnow the guy I am talking about, I can't ever remember his name and frankly don't want to.)

 

Glad I can finally chime in on this having given it a fair listen rather than the streams on the internet which never do anything justice.

 

LouieB

 

 

Good review Louie but no love for "This Dream of You"?

 

Also what did you think in comparisson with Modern Times just out of curiosity.

[imsjry]

To me, the key to enjoying this album is the key to enjoying any Dylan album after "Blonde on Blonde"; don't expect another Blonde on Blonde and you might enjoy it. I love it and even if this wasn't Dylan singing this stuff I would still love it. It's warm, poignant, and funny all at the same time.

[LouieB]

Good review Louie but no love for "This Dream of You"?

 

Also what did you think in comparisson with Modern Times just out of curiosity.

This Dream of You is just okay too. it is neither the best or worst on the album to be sure.

 

I really liked Modern Times quite alot, more than this one actually, although I don't throw it on anymore. I liked the fact that many of the songs were obvious take offs on other songs. There is something also kind of creepy and subversive about the themes on Modern Times, whereas Together through Life is mostly pastiche. However I have to give Bobby credit for promoting some older song styles, so that if people starting listening to parlour songs again as a result of this album so be it. Those old weepers don't get played much anymore.

 

LouieB

[Sir Stewart]

Skip the first 8 songs and listen to numbers 9 and 10 instead. I was going to write extensively on this later, but actually this album is alike a mediocre dinner with an excellent dessert. The final two numbers, while maybe not the greatest thing Dylan has ever done, redeems the entire album. After slogging through some okay songs, some better than others (the others being Jolene and Shake Shake Mama) and some others that are passible and one that clearly he gives Willie Dixon credit for because he knows Willie's estate will sue his ass when others won't, and listening to a bunch of songs that are okay but not terribly convincing; we end up with I Feel a change Comin' On, which is actually quite moving and sincere. This is followed by Its All Good, which frankly is the best song on the album, harking back a bit to Highway 61 and dripping with some irony and a bit of bitterness that is also fairly convincing, not to mention it seems to cop a bit of attitude from Rodney Crowell's later works (including his excellent recent album Sex and Gasoline, for those who have not checked it out, do so and copping some Rodney is all good....) Finally on this last number the band actually gets something to do rather than trudge through chord changes and try and sound involved. On this final number the band members actually get to show some chops and some fire and it is really like a breath of fresh air (or maybe some creme caramel after a heavy and ordinary Mexican meal to conclude my metaphor.)

 

I did this and feel much the same way, Lou. Thanks for the suggestion. It's All Good is just fantastic.

[you ever seen a ghost?]

>There is something also kind of creepy and subversive about the themes on Modern Times,

 

please elaborate.

 

-justin

[calvino]

I did this and feel much the same way, Lou. Thanks for the suggestion. It's All Good is just fantastic.

 

Upon the first listen of the new one, those last two were the only ones that grabbed me. The album is growing on me, but still not up to par with his latest output. Still holding out to hear him play some of it live. I have tickets for the Sauget, IL baseball show. Hopefully he will play a few new ones.

[solace]

awesome video for Beyond Here Lives Nothin'

 

http://www.ifc.com/dylan/

[dmait]

The reviewer at allaboutjazz.com raves about the new record: http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=32788

 

>Let's put it out here right up front and not pussyfoot around: Together Through Life is one of the finest discs in singer/guitarist Bob Dylan's 40-plus album discography. It's up there with other benchmark Columbia releases like the groundbreaking Highway 61 Revisited (1965), Blonde On Blonde (1966), John Wesley Harding(1967), the underrated New Morning (1970), Blood On The Tracks (1975)

[mjpuczko]

wow. i like it but i'm not sure i'd go that far. i need to keep listening though. i'm starting to like it more & more.

[Gobias Industries]

awesome video for Beyond Here Lives Nothin'

 

http://www.ifc.com/dylan/

 

Call me confused.

[LouieB]

I did this and feel much the same way, Lou. Thanks for the suggestion. It's All Good is just fantastic.

Glad i could help.....

 

The reviewer at allaboutjazz.com raves about the new record: http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=32788

 

>Let's put it out here right up front and not pussyfoot around: Together Through Life is one of the finest discs in singer/guitarist Bob Dylan's 40-plus album discography. It's up there with other benchmark Columbia releases like the groundbreaking Highway 61 Revisited (1965), Blonde On Blonde (1966), John Wesley Harding(1967), the underrated New Morning (1970), Blood On The Tracks (1975)

[jc4prez]

Call me confused.

 

Color me offended.

[Wild Frank]

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

 

I agree with your comments. That review of the new record is way off the mark. I love Modern Times, alot more the Together Through Life. TTL is lyrically shoddy, certainly not the standard you would expect of Dylan. Dylan has produced simple lyrics in the past but they've not seemed so throwaway as this set. That said, its still a good album.

[LouieB]

I agree with your comments. That review of the new record is way off the mark. I love Modern Times, alot more the Together Through Life. TTL is lyrically shoddy, certainly not the standard you would expect of Dylan. Dylan has produced simple lyrics in the past but they've not seemed so throwaway as this set. That said, its still a good album.

Read some of my other comments and you may not agree. I think the most puzzling thing about this is that it was writen with Robert Hunter, not a slouch in the lyrics department. Maybe these too old guys just sat around smoking cigs and drinking beer and didn't really work that hard on it.

 

It is a good album, but not great by any stretch of the imagination. As always, your average musician would kill to put out an album this good, but Dylan ain't an average musician.

 

(Thank goodness the new Wilco album came out so we can stop talking about this one.... )

 

LouieB

[dmait]

>It is a good album, but not great by any stretch of the imagination. As always, your average musician would kill to put out an album this good, but Dylan ain't an average musician.

 

That's very well said and could probably (though won't) be the last word.

[you ever seen a ghost?]

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

[Sir Stewart]

awesome video for Beyond Here Lives Nothin'

 

http://www.ifc.com/dylan/

 

That is fucking great.