mail: daniel_fjall@hotmail.com
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NOTE: As you probably notice, some of the reviews here are even worse than usual. That is because they are among the very first I wrote before really knowing what style or approach to use. Hopefully you forgive me for this, and I guarantee that I will rewrite them one of these days. Thanks.
bob dylan
Bob Dylan After some struggle, Dylan was finally allowed to record his debut album in 1962. The talent is present in every number, but the genius is not quite as obvious. Mainly because all songs (except two) are covers and Dylan’s songwriting is not available for judgment and examination. It’s not that Bob didn’t have any own, original material at the time, The Bootleg Series 1-3 includes more than enough songs for an album. Anyway, Dylan’s performances of old folk songs are mostly great. Especially “House of The Rising Sun” and “Fixin’ To Die” stands out as highpoints above “Baby Let Me Follow You Down” and Dylan’s original composition “Song To Woody”. Since this album is just Dylan with his guitar and harmonica it isn’t very diverse, even if the songs are delivered in different moods. Sadly, the music isn’t the most interesting thing here. It’s to hear Dylan paying tribute to his heroes and to get a glimpse of his roots. One thing that is noticeable and worth pointing out is how there is no sign of the bored, nonchalant and difficult personality of Bob that later would be reflected in his music. Here, the young Dylan sounds enthusiastic and excited, which is nice and refreshing. Bob Dylan is a good album, but I doubt I would have bothered with it very much if it wasn’t for Bob’s later work. However, I’m glad I got the chance to hear it.
The Freewheelin’ The genius of Bob Dylan is first evident here. This was the breakthrough, but not to the big audience. At least not until Peter, Paul & Mary covered the anthem "Blowin’ In The Wind". You’ve heard it before. There are some filler material here. There’s a lot of just talking over some guitar strumming and I really don’t feel like sitting through 3 minutes of non existing melody just to get a clever punch-line at the end. Those songs lose my interest pretty fast. However, the songs with melody and good guitar playing are excellent, and to this day still ranks as some of Bob’s best songs. "Girl From The North Country" steals its lyrics from the British folk song "Scarbourgh Fair", but so what? It’s beautiful. "Masters of War" is dark and filled with hate. "A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall" is about the danger of nuclear weapons, and "Don’t Think Twice" is about lost love. Probably about the girl on the album’s cover Suzie. The Freewheelin’ is a classic and so it would have been even if Dylan never made another album. The songs were popularized, not by Bob’s concerts or great record sales, but by other artists who took them to their hearts and a part of the folksinger-tradition.
The Times They Are A-Changin’ An album filled with protest songs, if you like that side of Bob you’re gonna love this one. Just Bob and his acoustic guitar. Some of the songs sounds half-finished or rushed. Probably because Bob felt that he had to live up to the image people around him had. Pay attention to "Boots of Spanish Leather". A song that steals both melody and chords from his own "Girl From The North Country". The lyrics are amazing, though. A stunning love song built up as the dialogue between two lovers that decides to part. This album finds Bob almost put in a special category. Something he would not allow in the future.
The Bootleg Series vol. 6: Live 1964 Yet another release from the Columbia archive. What makes this one interesting is that it was recorded when Dylan was still considered a folk-artist, but at the same time was about to break free from that rather narrow frame. He had already written the material for the somewhat radical Bringing It All Back Home, and performed the songs for an audience prior its release. Without a backing band Dylan cleverly and successfully mixes his recognized and very much appreciated songs from The Freewheelin’, The Times They Are A-Changin’ and Another Side with the new, yet unreleased songs. There is a certain contrast between the songs, but that is Dylan’s fortune. It can be tiresome to hear an artist with just one guitar as backup, but since the songs themselves are very diverse and Dylan is able to change his mood and attitude to what is appropriate for the particular song, he gets away with it in the end. Also Joan Baez is guesting on a couple of songs, adding some more diversity. Also, this set reveals Dylan as a great entertainer joking with the audience and having a ball on the stage. He probably still enjoys performing, but the whole atmosphere surrounding the gigs has changed. Here he asks the audience for help when forgetting the words, laughing and showing no signs of becoming the introverted person he appears to be these days. Obviously, the songwriting defines class and the performance is extremely sharp, but it is not like this album is free from problems. Despite how fine this show might be, there’s probably no song here that hasn’t been presented in a better version somewhere else, and whilst these solo performances are good, they fail to be as haunting and grabbing as they would be in the hands of the various bands Dylan would be working with on later albums and tours. Live 1964 surely is a powerful document, but it is also the least impressive of the Bootleg Series so far, especially with the Live 1975-album fresh in memory. Still, there is no doubt about this is a great recording by a great artist. Highly recommended, but get Live 1966 and 75 first.
Bringing It All Back Home This is where Bob, the provoker steps forward. He shocked his audience by actually using an electric band. However, we who are not so conservative can enjoy these songs just fine. Still, it seems like Bob wasn’t too sure about his band, considering that the second half of this album is purely acoustic. Guess he did that to not upset the folkers too much, but they’re far from traditional folk songs that could be found on his first three albums. The songs here have psychedelic, LSD-drenched lyrics and are far more abstract than, say, With God On Our Side. A good thing about that is that the songs can mean what you want them to. Anyway, if the folk fans were shocked here, they would be atrocious when he released the next album.
Highway 61 Revisited
Released: 1965 The classic with capital c! The first electric album from Bob, on Desolation Row is acoustic, and it’s fantastic. The lyrics are great, often the listener is free to interpret them self, just as those acoustic numbers on the previous album. The highlights are too many to mention, but even the self-critical Bob thinks of this as one of his best albums ever. But I’ll tell you the truth, not only is it one of Bob’s best albums, it’s one of the best albums of anyone. There are humor, desperation, love and down right rock & roll from the begging to the end. It’s art at its best, when it serves the performer and the individual in the audience, not the people as a crowd.
Blonde On Blonde Everybody must get stoned! The first song on the album was the first single and got banned by the radio station together with the Byrds’ “Eight Miles High”. Suppose the superiors at the stations didn’t understand the lyrics... Anyway, this is probably the first double album in rock and still it’s one of the few albums that is justified to be double. I have a theory, though. Think that Bob planned to do just an ordinary album, but then he came up with “Sad Eyed Lady of The Lowlands”. The best song on the album and also the longest with its 14 minutes. Back in the old vinyl days it had a complete side for itself. So what was Bobby suppose to do? Release an album lacking stuff such as “I Want You”, “Stuck Inside of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again”, “Visions of Johanna”? Or release the album with three sides, leaving the fourth blank? No, of course not. Let’s write some more songs to fill up the blank side! This is probably why there are fillers here. Now, the fillers still have their moments, great chord changes, clever lyrical line or just good vocal performance. The great songs are so fantastic that you don’t know what to do. The album is long, it might take some time to get into but it will be well worth the effort!
The Bootleg Series vol. 4: Live 1966 Remember those folk music-people being pissed off? Well, he decided to rub it in their faces and go on tour. So he got himself the loudest, dirtiest and noisy band he could found and hit the road. The first half of the show was acoustic so the audience was pretty pleased, then there was a break and the band came on. The audience was not so pleased. They got booed everywhere they played and the bassist actually left the band because he couldn’t take it. What normal person could? There’s a lot of energy here, especially in the electric set. Tell Me Momma, the new version of I Don’t Believe You and Like A Rolling Stone rocks so hard and sound so dirty it’s fascinating. When a gentleman in the audience have had enough he screams out “Judas!”, referring to how he feels that Bob has betrayed the folk tradition. Bob replies that the man is wrong and then turns to the band and says barely audible “Play fuckin’ loud!”. And so they do.
John Wesley Harding Ok, back to the acoustic! The thing is, that the year is 1968 now and what is on the charts now? Cream, Hendrix, Zeppelin... Dylan does it again and obey all natural laws and logic. Whereas any sane person would have continued to make electrified music, Bob starts strumming his acoustic guitar again. The album might not be a masterpiece from a productional view, but the songs are good and the most well-known is probably All Along The Watchtower. This album is interesting in a couple of ways, Bobby plays some of his best harmonica on record ever, his vocals are out standing throughout the album. The only thing I can complain about is the guitar that sometimes sounds a bit out of tune. But who cares when songs such as As I Went Out One Morning, Dear Landlord and already mentioned All Along The Watchtower hits you right between the eyes?
New Morning Since I didn’t get this one until recently, one of the first observations I made was that, yes, it is different from Dylan’s other stuff. But what I didn’t understand is why people got so confused when Love And Theft was released. They could as well be volume 1 and 2 to me. There are some attempts at loose, laid-back jazz. There are blues based stuff, as well as some more poppy songs. Personal favorites are without a doubt, If Not For You and the feel-good sing a long piece The Man In Me. Something rare for Dylan, indeed. Can you even imagine him singing “la la la”? Well, he does here and it’s great. New Morning has for some reason been forgotten. It wasn’t his best album, but certainly not his worst. It was released during a period when Dylan no longer created magic with everything he laid his hands on, but he was far from burned out. New Morning also suffered from being created just in the middle of two real, classic masterpieces: Blonde On Blonde and Blood On The Tracks. Don’t dismiss New Morning just because it isn’t mention as much as other Dylan albums. The well-known records are so good that the lesser ones still are well worth hearing.
Planet Waves Released: 1974 Rating: 5/10 Track listing: 1. On A Night Like This/ 2. Going Going Gone/ 3. Tough Mama/ 4. Hazel/ 5. Something There Is About You/ 6. Forever Young (version 1)/ 7. Forever Young (version 2)/ 8. Dirge/ 9. You Angel You/ 10. Never Say Goodbye/ 11. Wedding Song God, this is boring! You just wait for something to happen, something that going to lift to the song to another level, ‘cause the potential sure is there somewhere. But it never happens, and you slowly start to realize it. Of course there are good moments on the record, that can’t be denied. “Forever Young (version 1)” is as classic as any classic out there, “Hazel” is a nice ballad. “Dirge” could have been a masterpiece, but this dark song is a bit too monotonous and over long for it’s own good. It will draw your attention from the rest of the songs, but you also will lose interest soon. “Going, Going, Gone” is also one of those numbers, luckily it’s not that long but I prefer the version Bob released on his live album, At Budokan, four years later. Oh yeah, the band from the 1966 world tour is backing Bob here. The playing is sloppy, loose and makes you wonder how these guys even managed to get that job as a cover band in the Canadian bars.
Before The Flood (with the band) After some ten years Dylan teamed up with The Band for a tour again. He had worked with them before in various sessions, though. Planet Waves, the informal Basement Tapes are the most well known documents, as well as Dylans songwriting contributions to The Bands first album. Both acts were suffering from rumors of being washed up and the critics did not expect much from the big arena shows. However, opinions and expectations were swiftly changed as the tour went along. Apparently the shows were amazingly good, and managed to offer the audiences more than just nostalgia. The resulting album, however, is not as impressive. Sure, Dylan seems inspired throughout, but he shouts more than he sings, which can be a little frustrating. There should be some difference between ballads and rockers, right? Sometimes it sounds just perfect, though. The opening “Most Likely You Go Your Way And I’ll Go Mine” boarders to furiousness and Dylans solo performance of “It’s Alright, Ma (I’, Only Bleeding)” gains from Dylan spitting out the bitter and angry lyrics. The Bands performance is a tad clumsy, as most of the songs tend to turn out in some bluesy pub rock that isn’t always satisfying. On some of their own songs, they manage to pull together, though. “I Shall Be Released” is extremely affecting and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” reveals some of the magic the group was capable of. Otherwise it seems like they, just as Dylan, tries hard to sound like they are rocking, without actually doing it. It is hard to transfer a live performance into a good record, and I guess most of these tracks lost their energy when brought onto tape. Dylan’s “Like A Rolling Stone” somehow survives this problem and there are no signs of the singer being nostalgic or just performing it to please the crowd. Overall, Before The Flood is far from essential, and there is nothing suggesting these are the same people who upset a whole world back in 1966. It is enjoyable and none of the songs sounds bad or overbearingly annoying. On the other hand, very few of the songs burns with conviction or cocky attitude which made this combination so interesting all those years ago. Legend has it that it was during Before The Flood-tour people started holding up cigarette lighters in the dark.
Blood On The Tracks If you ever loved and lost, this album will get under your skin. The triangle-drama of Tangled Up In Blue, the one-night-stand in Simple Twist of Fate, the lover moving on to another man in You’re A Big Girl Now. Lots of highlights to be found. The only songs that really doesn’t do it for me is the overlong Lily Rosemary And The Jack of Hearts, but since when did you hear an album without a filler? That’s right never. This is one of the most personal records ever made and Bob have later said that he can’t understand how people could want to listen to something so painful. The answer is pretty simple, I guess. To have something to reflect their own feelings, to hear someone set words to a situation they can’t describe themselves. And Bob does it better than anyone else.
The Bootleg Series vol. 5: Live 1975 Bob went on the road with about 70 people. Every show was very loose and improvised with both standard and secret guests. You got Mick Ronson, Joan Baez among others, even Bruce Springsteen was asked to join Bob on the stage but declined since he wasn’t allowed to only use his regular backing band, The E-Street Band. You got people reading poetry and the shows had a very theatrical feeling to them. However, that’s not what you get here. This record is all about Bob (and honestly, so was the original shows too). His best performances from 4 shows of the tour, entitled The Rolling Thunder Revue, are being put together to this fantastic album. Whilst Bob in the early folk days had been a protest singer with humor and sarcasm, and during world tour with The Band in 1966 been provoking, ignorant and stubborn, here in 1975 he is on fire, inspired, aware and really believing in what he’s doing. The band’s set up is pretty much the same as on At Budokan, the personnel is a little different and it sounds nothing like the live album recorded 3 years later. This is what later would end up as Desire. Only here it sounds even better. The band is great and pull of great versions of Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You, Isis, A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall but the real highlights appears when Bob does solo performances with his acoustic guitar. Never has songs such as Love Minus Zero/No Limit, Simple Twist of Fate and Tangled Up In Blue sounded so close, naked and gentle.
Released in 2002 as a part of the Bootleg Series that originally was started to make Bob interesting to the critics and record buyers again. These days he doesn't have to prove anything. Time Out of Mind and Love And Theft surely shows that Bob is back. However, these are recordings that should have been released way back when. It's too good to have collected dust for nearly 30 years. This period of Bob's life has previously been documented with the live album Hard Rain. This is a much better buy, but you still need the other record too. It contains versions of Idiot Wind, Maggie's Farm, Stuck Inside Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again, Shelter From The Storm etc that you might want to hear. In fact, the only song available on both albums is Oh, Sister.
Desire Slightly weaker than its predecessor. Then again, a comparison might not be very fair, because the albums doesn’t sound the same at all. Here it’s a complete new sound-picture. Violins, keyboards, backing singers, accordions... The lyrics still is about lost love, but also questions the moral in our society. For this album Dylan got help with the lyrics from Jacques Levy. Strange that the great poet should choose to work with someone with the lyrics. And you know what? Most of the lyrics that Levy were involved in has some of the worst rhymes I’ve ever heard, but Bob delivers them so good it feels silly to complain. Still, the songs Bob wrote by himself for this album are easily standouts. Sara was written for his wife and the myth says that she came in the studio and Bob started to sing the song while she stood and just watched him and that’s the take that ended up on the album. The couple decided to give their marriage another try after that. True or false, it’s still a good song. Bob always had a passion for really long songs, (Desolation Row, Sad Eyed Lady of The Lowlands, Lily Rosemary And The Jack Of Hearts etc...) and here we get the eleven minutes long Joey. Most people are turned off because Dylan sides with a gangster, but can you really deny that the chorus is one of the best, most melodic he ever came up with. After a while Emmylou Harris on backing vocals brings the song to another level. Desire is yet another masterpiece from Dylan, and he would never achieve the same sound again. Come to think of it, I don’t think he ever had two records sounding the same.
Street Legal Bob still got loads of band members, but most of the musicians have been replaced by others and this album sounds nothing like Desire. The songs aren’t as good and lacking hooks. There are a few songs that really stands above the masses, though. I mean, when Bob sings “Sixteen years, sixteen years divided” in Changing of The Guards, can you honestly say that you’re not stuck? When he pleads his female friend to please stop crying you can really sense that he means it, and the dark mood on Senor is just great and Bob’s vocals are great, as on the rest of the album. Love In Vain has some good insecure lyrics and you need to hear it for yourself. Good stuff overall, even though it’s not over whelming all the way through.
At Budokan We have all heard the stories about how Dylan changes everything live, right? Well, here you are! Good pop numbers are changed into grand ballads, grand ballads are turned into up-tempo reggae, old acoustic folk stuff suddenly sounds as hard rock and some songs is pretty much genreless. The songs change their original rhythm, pace and even lyrics. Anyway, as the title suggests it was recorded in Japan and it was one of the first shows the band did together. It’s not falling apart or anything and certainly doesn’t sound out of tune but it would be tighter, harder and filled with confidence when it moved to Europe. Several bootleg records confirms this, but I guess we should be thankful that we have this little souvenir. It’s not only interesting, but also Bob’s in top form and seems quite at ease with the situation. This is a live album for those who complain about artists who just go out on the stage and reproduce the original studio recording.
Slow Train Coming Bob turned his back to his Jewish roots and embraced the Christian believes. Now, of course a few people raced an eyebrow or two but as this point it didn’t have any bad effect on his music. Probably thanks to Dire Straits-leader Mark Knopfler who was asked to play guitar on the album. His playing really amplifies the atmosphere and the music may be simple but it’s enjoyable. The album starts out great but it doesn’t last all the way through which prevents this album from getting a higher rating. It could have been a classic thanks to the music, as it is now it’s a classic because of Dylan’s personal changes. Just as George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass you can sit back and enjoy this album without being very religious.
Shot of Love Still a part of the Christian-period but not as bad as rumored, even if that not saying much. Despite weak songwriting and the heavily religious part, the band swings loose and moving with Dylan sounding pretty comfortable and inspired. Not inspired or particular emotional compared to his greatest work, but certainly an improvement over messy affairs such as Saved and Knocked Out Loaded. Sometimes Dylan seems to be more interested in preaching rather than being a musician, something George Harrison was able to avoid on All Things Must Pass, an album that is evidence of how successful religious music can be if treated right. That is probably why the looser and seemingly more lightweight numbers works best here. “Heart of Mine” and “Shot of Love” could probably be interpreted and analyzed into something deep and profound but on the surface remains two songs about confusion and conflicting feelings about love and relationships. The band puts on a nice bluesy rhythm on the former and a nearly reggae/disco-ish rhythm on the second. Perhaps not melodic very strong, but at least they’re going somewhere, unlike the slower, preachy ballads which lacks both melody and rhythm. “Lenny Bruce” and “In The Summertime” are songs with potential but fails to achieve anything but a press on the FFW-button, whilst “Dead Man, Dead Man” and “Trouble” has decent band performances, but Dylan himself sounds pretty awful and not at all as convincing as he wish he was. Question is if he even convince himself, as he would take a new approach on his next album, Infidels. Suddenly something happens, though. On the closing number, “Every Grain of Sand”, modesty and humbleness returns along with a beautiful melody and finally a singer whom seems grateful for what he’s got and stands amazed in front of the little things in this world. It offers more substance than arguable all the songs on the album together. Anyway, all songs are listenable, even though I don’t see why someone should want to listen to songs other than the opening two and the closing one. I do admit that “Watered-Down Love” is a personal favorite of mine, but probably won’t make any best of-compilation. All in all Shot of Love is far from rewarding, but it has a couple of golden moments that might be worth to sit through the rest.
Infidels Infidels is one of Dylan’s most discussed albums and it became even more talked about when the general public bought the Bootleg Series released some 10 years later. Sure, most everyone agreed that the album was pretty good but it could have been a lot better. Dylan left out terrific songs such as "Blind Willie McTell", "Foot of Pride" and "Lord Save My Child" from the album. Everyone said if they had been included at the expense of other songs, the album would have been Bob’s best since the golden era in the mid-60’s. Infidels also made people wonder if Bob had left the Christian path and set back to the Jewish one. Songs such as "I And I" certainly makes a good argument for that but according to Dylan and his band mates he never stopped being a Christian. The songs are most often good or great. "Jokerman" reminds of "Mr. Tambourine Man", but that could be because of the use of “Man” in the titles. Even though the lyrics paints a picture similar to the 1965-song. "License To Kill" is a warning to what the human is doing to Mother Nature and "Sweetheart Like You" is a nice, but sometimes a very conservative ballad. Infidels might also just be Bob’s most political album since The Times They Are A-Changin’. Knopfler once again plays guitar and started out as the producer of the album. He had to leave the work for a while and go touring Germany with Dire Straits and promised to be back and finish the record. Bob was impatient and thought he had spent time enough on the album and hired another engineer who, together with Bob, remixed it, rearranged it, and made changes in the lyrics. The people who have heard Knopfler’s version of the album all agree that his vision was clearly the better one. Good thing that the Bootleg Series was released. There are still a few cheese nuts yet to be released from these sessions and are fairly easy to find on bootlegs. I don’t want to encourage bootlegging, but in this case Bob was too ignorant for his own good!
Dylan & The Dead I’m one of those people who don’t think Dylan’s releases in the 80’s wasn’t as bad as people say. However, I do agree that it’s probably his least interesting period so far and this live album is even less interesting. In 1966 Dylan shocked the world by going electric, in 1975 he had some theatrical gypsy ideas, in 1978 he rearranged every number and no matter what people say about these tours and live albums, they were interesting and Bob seemed to enjoy what he was doing. Even Real Live from the mid 80’s had interesting stuff to offer, especially the complete rewrite of “Tangled Up In Blue”. When he teamed up with the Grateful Dead nothing in particular happens. So plain, so uninspired, so... boring. The idea itself seems interesting, I give them that, but it just doesn’t work. At least not at this point in their carriers. All songs starts a bit shaky, but are long enough for the band to get some steam, sadly the songs are also so long that there’s time enough to run out of the steam as well. And Dylan isn’t doing that much to help the band get their act together either. “All Along The Watchtower” is one of the most abused songs here. It’s done the Hendrix-style as Bob always prefers it live, which is quite alright. But endless scales played like heavy metal is really the wrong approach. I’ve never heard any player overplay like that. It just doesn’t fit. At least Hendrix was tasteful with his leads. One thing that does make this album worth listening to is the version of “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door”. The arrangement is very similar to the original studio version, with decent harmony vocals and even a nice atmosphere. The best thing is how Dylan has changed the melody of the lead vocals with great results. At first you might think he just got it wrong, but the you realize that it’s suppose to be that way and you get a little glimpse of his genius. Guitarist and Co-producer Jerry Garcia agrees with the bootleggers, there are better versions and recordings of the shows during the tour. In fact, a different version of the album was first presented, but Dylan rejected it, because he thought his vocals were too loud in the mix. Garcia says that’s nonsense and claims that Bob listened to the tapes on a really bad small and cheap radio which made it sound worse than it really was. I’m ready to believe Garcia is right and that there are better stuff out there. I mean, how hard can it be to make a better record than this?
Oh Mercy The critics and fans said that Dylan was back when he released this one after a couple of weak releases. And quite frankly, they were right. This album is good. "Political World", "Ring Them Bells", "Man In The Long Black Coat" and "Shooting Star" are a strong foundation for this album. Daniel Lanois was the producer and made Dylan sound both modern and classic old at the same time. The only really downer here is "Where Teardrops Fall", some kind of lightweight country ballad or something. No favorite of mine, but most of the other tracks are winners.
Good As I Been To You
Released: 1992 His voice is significant weather beaten and his guitar playing reveals some technical weakness as well as some impressive stuff. He mixes missed guitar notes with great moves, although the good part generally weighs over. There is no performance here that is particular weak, but there are a couple of highlights appearing in the middle of the album that are easy to spot. If you can bare his unpolished harmonica playing, you’ll definitely enjoy the blues classic “Sitting On Top of The World” (also recorded by Howlin’ Wolf and Cream among others), “Step It Up And Go” which is an exciting performance and Dylan clearly enjoy himself and “Hard Times” is a slow blues ballad which is bound to affect you. Once you’ve gotten used to his voice and sometimes sloppy guitar playing there’s nothing that’s stopping you from enjoy Good As I Been To You. A selection of songs which Bob Dylan undoubtly loves and is more than happy to perform. If you like it, you shouldn’t miss the sequel and twin-album World Gone Wrong released the following year.
World Gone Wrong
Released: 1993 The follow up to Good As I Been To You takes the concept even further. The songs are even more obscure and they are darker too. The lyrics often deals with unrequited love, love between dirty old men and young girls, hobos, extreme loneliness and socially unaccepted people living at rock bottom. If Good As I Been To You suffered from mood swings, mixing uplifting songs with sadder song, World Gone Wrong is, as the title suggest, depressing and cynical with not the slightest glimpse of hope to be found. Anyone with somewhat insight of Dylan’s personal life at the time knows that he was miserable. He had lost contact with his true friends and his personal hygiene was awful. He didn’t mind sleeping on sidewalks or shabby motels, even though he had houses and apartments all over the world. He was on the edge of losing it and you know that when he sings ‘all the friends I ever had are gone’ in “Delia” it’s honest and that Dylan lives the life this collection of songs tells us about. Since this is basically live takes of a one-man-performance it lacks diversity, which could make it a strenuous listen. Especially if you try to listen to it in it’s entirety. Still, the affection and obvious personal bounds to the songs makes it an interesting listen, as well as a very emotional one.
MTV Unplugged This was recorded for MTV over two nights. At first Bob just wanted to play old traditional folksongs, but neither MTV or his record company let him do it. There are some really disgusting things to be find here, but that’s not Bob’s fault. Blame MTV! For instance, you know those applause Bob gets every time he sings the title of the song? Didn’t really happen. Those cheers and whistling during "Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door"? Didn’t happen. It was looped. How do I know all this? Well, of course I have laid my hands on a copy of the recordings that slipped out to the bootleggers before MTV had a chance to edit it! So Mr. Starostin, Mr. Prindle and all other critics out there, remember that. It wasn’t the audience who couldn’t recognize the songs. It was MTV who laid their dirty hands on the recordings. However, despite MTV the performance is still very good and it sounds as if Bob is really having a good time, playing for the hip youngsters. Some other notes: listen to how Bob sings “business man drink my wine, and plough men dig my earth” in "All Along The Watchtower". Amazingly effective! Try to be patient when listening to "Like A Rolling Stone", when he starts singing the third chorus he sings it with so much emotion, power and feeling it makes my hair stand on end. It’s great. "Shooting Star" is better here than in the studio and so is "With God On Our Side". Still, I recommend you to try and find the bootleg (which probably is a 9/10 rather than this version’s 7/10) from the shows which includes songs such as "Absolutely Sweet Marie", "Don’t Think Twice", "I Want You", "My Back Pages", "Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You2, a short ballad version of "Like A Rolling Stone", "Hazel" and "Everything Is Broken". Think I forgot some songs, but you get the idea. They can easily release Bob Dylan MTV Unplugged Vol II anytime they feel like it and it would be just as good, if not better.
Time Out of Mind This rating is highly subjective, but since there is no such thing as objectiveness when it comes to music it doesn't matter that much. So here's why I rate it as high as I do: There were years when I had some problems. I was deeply depressed and never felt satisfied with myself. Neither appearance or mental capacity. My self confidence had indeed hit rock bottom and was digging its way deeper. What I thought was the love of my life wanted "just to be friends", school was boring and uninteresting. My parents never listened to me and I felt very out of place and misunderstood. The record collection seemed shallow and empty and my own musicianship was very amateurish. The general ideology in society and politics seemed too cold and not very human. Everything was shit and a teenager that felt ignored, pressure of always doing well and perhaps more grown up than he really was, was thinking about chicken out. Jump off a bridge, sleeping pills, a switchblade, jump in front of a train... there were many alternatives. However, what kind of problems might this cause? What about the five year old girl that would find the body while feeding the ducks in the sea? What about the parents that actually did care even though the didn't show it very well? There were many things to consider, after all, whatever decision I made would change my life. One day when I skipped school I walked into a record shop. I noticed that Bob Dylan had released another album. What did people see in that guy anyway? No melodies, terrible voice and a lousy guitarist. Not to mention that so-called harmonica playing? What was that all about? I had bought his MTV Unplugged-album and At Budokan the previous year and hated them both (they would grown on me, though). When I stood there with the new Dylan album in my hand I thought to myself "what the hell, why not?". When I got home I had a cup of coffee, locked the door to my door, turned down the lights and put the album on. Suddenly everything fell in place. I finally understood why people said that Dylan was the greatest artist ever. The lyrics of an old man found its way to the heart of a teenager. Insecure, scared, lonely and unloved. All that filled my mind and soul. It was amazing. When nobody understood, Bob did. When nobody listened, Bob sang exactly what I felt. When I was being ignored, I could always visit Bob. I guess for a while Bob Dylan and Time Out of Mind became my best friends. The vocals sounded so honest compared to all the cold people in the world. Finally someone who sang from the heart. The overall mood on the album was fantastic and fitted my lit down room perfectly. Organs and distant guitars. Echoing, warm bass lines and perfect drums. The best, was of course, Bob himself. His voice might not be the best in the business technically speaking, but you sure will have a hard time finding anyone that sounds more honest. That's what makes a good singer to me. When it sounds honest. I can also assure you that songs such as "Not Dark Yet", "Love Sick", "Standing In The Doorway" and "Tryin’ To Get To Heaven" will speak right to your heart even if your not in your teens and a suicidal case.
Love And Theft
Released: 2001 We all should have learned by now, say what you want to about Dylan, but he never does what he is expected to. Instead of continue to work on the dark, almost suicidal, atmosphere on Time Out of Mind, Dylan has learned to control his demons. This is Dylan taking a step forth by looking back. Real far back. Lots of blues, jazz and folk to be found. On Love And Theft, the band sounds relaxed and so does Bob. I think the reason for this probably is that Dylan chose to use his touring band to record the album. They know each other well, and know what they want to achieve. The fact that no producer has been credited is also pretty interesting, judging by the success Dylan had with his previous album. Daniel Lanois, who produced Time Out of Mind that was a hit both commercial and artistically, is suddenly gone and Bob is on his own. The huge difference between Love And Theft and Time Out of Mind is Bob himself, though. It's not the musicians or the producer. These things doesn't matter (well, of course they do, but the main focus is on Bob, right?). On Time Out of Mind ol' Bob was suicidal, old and his woman didn't love him. On Love And Theft, he is still old, his woman still doesn't love him. But Dylan is ok with that. He has learned to live with it and found some kind of happiness in his despair. This is evident in his vocals, the music on the album and of course in the lyrics as well ("But my heart is not weary, it's light and it's free./I got nothing but affection for those who've sailed with me."). The album might sound lightweight and simple at the first listen, but you keep on listening and you'll discover depths in these songs you won't anywhere else in today's music. "Sugar Baby", "Po' Boy", "Mississippi" and "Highwater" will probably be regarded as classics in the future.
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