Blonde on Blonde – Bob Dylan
Quite often in these reviews, I’ll end up resorting to some critical comment where I explain why the current album isn’t bad but could have been better if the approach of another random artist had been followed. This week I can be fairer and go one better where I just stick to Bob Dylan’s work from other albums and other eras to explain my feelings towards Blonde on Blonde.
"Rainy Day Women #12 & 35" just doesn’t work for me. Lots of laughing and shouting like nobody is taking it seriously, and there’s nothing revelatory in either the music or the lyrics.
“Pledging My Time” is the sort of slow blues shuffle that plagues a lot of his acclaimed 21st-century albums.
"Visions of Johanna" is the first track that hits. Yes, it’s one of the longer offerings, but there’s a nice blend of words, music and melody.
"Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again", despite its length, is an engaging track, marrying some interesting lyrics with changes in tempo and a classic Al Kooper performance on the organ. The bass run after each chorus is also a good touch.
"One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)" has something approaching a chorus and a very nice organ backing, as does “Absolutely Sweet Marie”. "Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine" is a jaunty number, “Temporary Like Achilles” has a short but nice instrumental break.
On some of the songs, there are subtle instrumental textures that reward repeat plays; I’m thinking of the keyboards on “I Want You” and on the “Fourth Time Around” there’s some effective picked guitar running in the background. The main problem that I have with this album is that a lot of the songs have little or no break in tempo. It’s the same pace from beginning to end, noodling around a standard blues shuffle.
The thing that Dylan deserves credit for above all else is the lyrics. No simple rhyming couplets, empty platitudes or words that sound like they have been cribbed from a greetings card here. Maybe it all means something, maybe it’s all stream of consciousness, but these songs are examples of significant craft in the songwriting department.
The supporting musicians are good throughout without being showy. The Band’s Robbie Robertson and Rick Danko feature as does the man who gave us that sublime organ riff on “Like A Rolling Stone”, Al Kooper.
Ultimately, a few touches aside, there isn’t enough in the arrangements or the instruments to draw me in for repeated listens. For all the good in the lyrics, that’s not enough alone, and 72 minutes is too long for any album, let alone one that is stuffed with bog-standard, mid-paced blues shuffles that don’t move the needle nearly enough for me. I have tried to listen to this album before and it’s not hit me like other Dylan albums.
There are already several Bob Dylan albums that I can engage with and do reasonably regularly. His early albums contain songs that really make you sit up and listen: "Blowin' in the Wind", "Masters of War", "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall" and "Chimes of Freedom". From the year before the album under review there was "Subterranean Homesick Blues", "Maggie's Farm" and the towering "Like a Rolling Stone".
His two mid-70s albums Blood on the Tracks and Desire are chock full of songs that you are happy to listen to time and again, and the instruments jump out from these recordings. “Tangled Up In Blue” is one of my favourite songs, whilst “Hurricane” doesn’t feel a second too long despite it running for over 8 minutes. And from a personal perspective, the wonderful atmosphere conjured by Daniel Lanois and Malcolm Burn on Oh Mercy makes that my favourite Dylan album.
In comparison to these great Dylan albums, Blonde on Blonde feels too run-of-the-mill, like a car stuck in 3rd gear. Maybe it isn’t fair to judge an album based on the fact that the artist has done amazing things on other albums, but this is regularly held up as an example as one of Dylan’s best, and I’m afraid I just can’t hear it. There isn’t one song on it that approaches the greatness of the those mentioned above or the best tracks on the other albums that I’ve referenced. So, whilst I appreciate that it works for others, including plenty of respected music critics, for me it’s merely a 6/10.
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