Bob Dylan Blood on the Tracks

[remphish1]

i am a very casual Bob Dylan fan. I have seen him in concert a few times but don't really own many of his albums. I found Blood on the Tracks in the used record bin for $3. I bought it and played it. I am going through a bit of a tough time now and side two hit me like a ton of bricks...The lyrics are incedible on this album....

[Moss]

Easily my favorite Dylan. Full of anger, heartache, and pain. I could see that one hitting you hard.

[anthony]

BotT is by far his best record - and this is coming from a huge Dylan fan. On most days, BotT is my favorite LP by anyone ever. Just perfect.

 

EDIT: I would suggest to any Dylan fan to track down the New York version of BotT. Worth it for Idiot Wind alone.

[Shakespeare In The Alley]

BOTT is probably 3rd or 4th Dylan for me.

 

But it's obviously fantastic.

 

And the NY version of Idiot Wind is on Bootleg Series 1-3, for the record. It's a totally different beast from the album version. I can't choose one.

[dark]

Probably my 2nd favorite Dylan album ....lyrically his best

[The High Heat]

I went from casual Dylan fan to intense with this album.

[parisisstale]

ditto

[Fritz]

Blood On The Tracks is a phenomenal record.

 

What is somewhat more devastating is the accompanying bootleg, Blood On The Tapes. 'Up To Me' is probably one of Dylan's most heart wrenching (unreleased) songs.

 

http://www.bobsboots...CDs/cd-b27.html

 

And if you need to hear some more devastating versions of some BoTT songs look no further than the live album 'Hard Rain'.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBDDiIp7yfM&feature=player_detailpage

[Wild Frank]

'Up To Me' is probably one of Dylan's most heart wrenching (unreleased) songs.

 

 

'Up to Me' has one of my all-time favourite Dylan lines:

"I was just too stubborn to ever be governed by enforced insanity"

 

The words are amazing but the way he sings them is total genius.

 

I would have BOTT at number two, just behind Highway 61.

 

And I'll second the Shout for the 'Hard Rain' live album which is a much under-appreciated Dylan record which contains some really angry reditions of Blood on the Tracks tracks.

 

 

[Shug]

And I'll second the Shout for the 'Hard Rain' live album which is a much under-appreciated Dylan record which contains some really angry reditions of Blood on the Tracks tracks.

 

Yes, yes, YES!!!! Hard Rain, even with the sketchy sound quality (that high-pitched squeal going through much of it) captures such an impassioned performance, it definitely ranks for me as some of the best Dylan ever. I love that record, such a great track list and magnificently played.

 

I agree about the greatness of Blood On The Tracks (most Dylan fans do, really) but I disagree about the alternate versions of songs like Idiot Wind being super great, to me they lack the passion of the ones that were originally released. I want to hear Dylan screaming and spitting the words with vitrol like he's trying to raise his voice over a howling maelstrom. Before The Flood is pretty damn brilliant in this same way, too.

[LouieB]

I like the alternate tracks and the unreleased songs. Up to Me appeared on the Biograph comp. Hard Rain is one of the better live Dylan official releases actually, although I remember some of the material from the TV show being even better.

 

LouieB

[The High Heat]

I would have BOTT at number two, just behind Highway 61.

Same for me.

[Shug]

Getting a bit broader than the original topic, I know, but my rankings for Dylan's studio albums are:

 

1. Highway 61 Revisited

2. Blood On The Tracks

3. Time Out Of Mind

4. Blonde On Blonde

5. Bringing It All Back Home

6. Infidels

 

for live records, I love Hard Rain and Before The Flood, as already stated

[Shakespeare In The Alley]

Infidels top 6 but not Desire? Geez.

[Shug]

Might be surprising to some, but yeah, I like Infidels better than Desire. The combo of Sly and Robbie rhythm section, Mick Taylor and Mark Knopfler on guitars and several of Dylan's best songs (Jokerman, Don't Fall Apart On Me, I and I, Sweetheart Like You) since, well, Blood On The Tracks, IMO, is the reason why. But Desire would be #7 (Isis and Oh, Sister being my faves) and then #8 would be Slow Train Coming. I really like that one, too, as much as some may hate it. I'm not as big a fan of Dylan's pre-electric stuff, just an opinion.

[LouieB]

Wrong thread wrong time...

 

I don't know how anyone could pick Infidels (which sounds like it was recorded ins someone's basement)or Desire ( which is really uneven) over Another Side or John Wesley Harding, but that is just me. Having said that, Jokerman is a great song.as are "some" of the songs on Desire. It is a tribute to Dylan's genuis that we even are arguing over this stuff.

 

LouieB

[Sir Stewart]

i am a very casual Bob Dylan fan. I have seen him in concert a few times but don't really own many of his albums. I found Blood on the Tracks in the used record bin for $3. I bought it and played it. I am going through a bit of a tough time now and side two hit me like a ton of bricks...The lyrics are incedible on this album....

 

A tough time is the perfect time to have Blood On The Tracks in your corner. Good luck and I'm glad to hear you found something to help the pain.

[anthony]

1. Blood on the Tracks

2. Highway 61

3. Bringing it All Back Home

4. The Freewheellin''

5. Desire

6. John Wesley Harding

7. Nashville Skyline

8. Blonde on Blonde

9. Another Side of

10. Planet Waves

[Shakespeare In The Alley]

Blonde

Desire

Tracks

Home

61

Harding

New Morning

Freewheeling

Planet Waves

Nashville

 

thats as much as I can do off the top of my head.

[twoshedsjackson]

BotT is by far his best record - and this is coming from a huge Dylan fan. On most days, BotT is my favorite LP by anyone ever. Just perfect.

 

EDIT: I would suggest to any Dylan fan to track down the New York version of BotT. Worth it for Idiot Wind alone.

 

This. The New York sessions are a must-have. It's like a whole different album.

[choo-choo-charlie]

Highway 61, Blood on the Tracks and Another Side of Bob Dylan are the three I can always hear in their entirety no problem, every time.

[Plumplechook]

The album that turned me on to Bob Dylan. Will never forget the day was at a friend's place late one night and I heard this for the first time. Every one of those words rang true for sure.

 

I probably rate Highway 61 a bit higher, but even after all these years Blood on the Tracks has a emotional resonance for me that is unmatched by any other record.

[lost highway]

What's amazing about Blood on the Tracks is how truly horrible the harmonica solos are on 'Jack of Hearts' and how the song is so good it doesn't even matter. And, for the record I love Dylan's harmonica style.

[IRememberDBoon]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMWLjgPTR_c

[Bart]

Blood On The Tracks is a phenomenal record.

 

What is somewhat more devastating is the accompanying bootleg, Blood On The Tapes. 'Up To Me' is probably one of Dylan's most heart wrenching (unreleased) songs.

 

 

I've always loved this song too. The verse that floors me is:

 

I met somebody face to face, I had to remove my hat.

She's everything I need and love but I can't be swayed by that.

It frightens me, the awful truth, of how sweet life can be.

But she ain't gonna make a move,

I guess it must be up to me.

 

 

Poor tortured Bob! He met someone who is EVERYTHING he needs and loves, yet he still can't be swayed by it/her. And he's frightened by the "awful truth" of how sweet life can be! How do you come up with a line like that?!?!? He's terrified by the prospect of being happy and in love! Burtal. Brilliant, and brutal.