The Album Review Club - Week #147 - (page 1942) - Blonde On Blonde - Bob Dylan

[mrbelfry]

So you like it too but are more passively aggressive about it. A few backhanded compliments thrown in just in case Mr. Buchanan and the boys get too big headed about things.

You know I jest!

However between @mrbelfry and @threespires and maybe even @BimboBob Im starting to see where my own views on this album do lie or will ultimately lie.

I currently have this album on twice in a row, with my wife, through dinner and now relaxing in the garden room with the doors open and the sun shining and both of us are totally getting it.
The missus was the one who first got the comparison with Talk Talk. Once said though it’s undeniable. Mark Hollis has a much stronger voice but I disagree with this statement from revelry;
“Paul Buchanan is not the greatest vocalist but you believe in whatever emotion he is singing.”….. in one way only.
I’d reword it;
‘Paul Buchanan is not the greatest SINGER, but his vocals are perfect for whatever emotion he is trying to convey. ‘

There are people like that in all genres of music. People who you would not necessarily call the perfect singers, but they can hold a note. But more importantly their vocals perfectly suit their message.

I get the Talk Talk reference although I think this album has a bit to go yet to convince me it’s in the same bracket as, Colour Of Spring.

This will upset a few in here but the missus also heard tones of Radiohead in some of the songs. I get where she’s coming from but will refrain from pressing this point until I’ve had a few more detailed examinations of this album.

Great pick Sadds. I’m having no trouble motivating myself to play this. It’s taking me back to a time that I’m pretty sure Blue Nile got a lot of love this ride of the Irish Sea. I never gave them much attention but there are a couple of songs seem very familiar.
Definitely, The Downtown Lights got airtime over here.

I won’t score this yet. I have a feeling I’ll be playing this well into the weekend.
The acid test will be tomorrow and perhaps Saturday night, when the missus goes out with the girls and I have the house to myself, my music, and my wee dram, as they say in Scotland.

I definitely hear Radiohead in Lets Go Out Tonight and From A Late Night Train - maybe not lyrically but definitely ambiance - I only started posting in the thread when OK Computer came around and I've already mentioned them a couple of times so didn't want to become known as the Radiohead bore - looks like I'm developing a different reputation based on the last couple of replies you've made to me :)

I saw Hollis and Talk Talk come up a few times whilst reading about this album but I'm totally unfamiliar with them so will check them out. You're probably right to make the distinction between singer and vocalist

Enjoy the day to yourself

 

[mancity2012_eamo]

I definitely hear Radiohead in Lets Go Out Tonight and From A Late Night Train - maybe not lyrically but definitely ambiance - I only started posting in the thread when OK Computer came around and I've already mentioned them a couple of times so didn't want to become known as the Radiohead bore - looks like I'm developing a different reputation based on the last couple of replies you've made to me :)

I saw Hollis and Talk Talk come up a few times whilst reading about this album but I'm totally unfamiliar with them so will check them out. You're probably right to make the distinction between singer and vocalist

Enjoy the day to yourself

Mate, I was jesting.
Love reading your in-depth analyses (I think that’s plural).
You and a few others make me think.
Keep it up and don’t mind my sense of humour.

Edit: you should definitely give Colour of Spring a go, maybe after a Hats listen.

My initial thoughts without having played Talk Talk in years is that the instrumentation is much stronger or perhaps just much more to my own personal taste. Would be interesting to hear your take on it.

 

[threespires]

I'm enjoying the moment here, whilst at the same time recognising that any minute now some greasy haired git in cut off denim over their leathers is gonna crash the love-in and declare it a bag of shite.

And in fairness I wouldn't have it any other way :-)

 

[Saddleworth2]

Mate, I was jesting.
Love reading your in-depth analyses (I think that’s plural).
You and a few others make me think.
Keep it up and don’t mind my sense of humour.

Edit: you should definitely give Colour of Spring a go, maybe after a Hats listen.

My initial thoughts without having played Talk Talk in years is that the instrumentation is much stronger or perhaps just much more to my own personal taste. Would be interesting to hear your take on it.

TCOS Is a really good album but personally I think it has a completely different vibe to Hats and that is what attracts me most to that album.

 

[mancity2012_eamo]

I'm enjoying the moment here, whilst at the same time recognising that any minute now some greasy haired git in cut off denim over their leathers is gonna crash the love-in and declare it a bag of shite.

And in fairness I wouldn't have it any other way :-)

One man’s bag of shite is another man’s compost, from which flowers will bloom.

 

[mancity2012_eamo]

For what it’s worth, I gave the missus carte blanche for the next music pick as we are in a chill out mood.
She kept the Scottish theme going with Travis.
A mixed bag. Some very good, some,…. so-so.
These music threads are great for the journey they send you on.

 

[threespires]

Get Portishead to do a covers album and it’s close to a 10 but as iti s and because some of the songs do too much it’s a high 8.

I've gibbered too much already today but I can't let that really interesting observation go uncommented on.

At some point during the week I was going to make a point about a certain type of music or sensibility that Scottish bands excel at that the English don't or can't really do. The best I can described it as is a very specific type of melancholy, it's not the maudlin type and it's not wistful either; I was going to describe it as a kind of brutalist form of romanticism but not only is that tossy it's also not accurate. There's a kind of unflinching and unvarnished recognition of how things are but never a loss of hope or even self-pity, it's like something that's flinty but warm, a granite chin but not a hardened heart. The music even when it's quite lushly arranged retains a kind of spartan quality, the lyrics seemingly downbeat but simultaneously revealing a well of warmth and humanity; something I think this album does well.

Anyway I was also going to say that the only English band that I can think of that do the same thing is Portishead and that in fact they take it a step further into darker territory still but again without losing their humanity. They generate a type of cold brittleness that shouldn't on paper feel like it has any warmth at all but paradoxically is wonderfully human at the same time. As an example Roads could easily be one of the bleakest songs ever written but it's nothing of the sort, it's far from uplifting in a punch your hand in the air but it's beautifully cathartic and makes the fragility of the human condition a thing of beauty not in a voyeuristic way but in defiant and hopeful way. It's like a shard of ice that is warm to the touch; I've never been able to get my head round how they do it. Mind that's one for another day I think.

This pick has clearly set me off on one, you've got a lot to answer for Sadds.

 

[BimboBob]

Whilst I get the Talk Talk references by The Blue Nile's own admission they are nowhere near their level of musical ability. Mark's voice soars above Paul's although I would say they both convey emotion very, very well. They are closer on A Walk Across The Rooftops both in production and song composition.

Hats is a far different kettle of fish as it stinks of late 80's production. It's also more mellow than their previous offering with not a lot jumping out at me. I've listened to this 4 times now and I'm getting a big mid atlantic vibe. Every song bleeds into the next, washing over you which is fine for a few songs but a whole album? I'm not so sure.

There's also a continuation from the previous album. Easter Parade and Heatwave were a sign of things to come I think.

Do I score this now? It's a hard album to score because if I was just picking it on the basis of my favourite tune, Headlights On The Parade, then it would get a 7. I know, heady heights.

The trouble is I prefer the previous album. It's more edgy. Less safe. Not as much production. And that offering would only get a 7.

Hats gets a 6.

I'm going back to The Colour Of Spring. A much better album all round.

 

[threespires]

 

[mancity2012_eamo]

I've gibbered too much already today but I can't let that really interesting observation go uncommented on.

At some point during the week I was going to make a point about a certain type of music or sensibility that Scottish bands excel at that the English don't or can't really do. The best I can described it as is a very specific type of melancholy, it's not the maudlin type and it's not wistful either; I was going to describe it as a kind of brutalist form of romanticism but not only is that tossy it's also not accurate. There's a kind of unflinching and unvarnished recognition of how things are but never a loss of hope or even self-pity, it's like something that's flinty but warm, a granite chin but not a hardened heart. The music even when it's quite lushly arranged retains a kind of spartan quality, the lyrics seemingly downbeat but simultaneously revealing a well of warmth and humanity; something I think this album does well.

Anyway I was also going to say that the only English band that I can think of that do the same thing is Portishead and that in fact they take it a step further into darker territory still but again without losing their humanity. They generate a type of cold brittleness that shouldn't on paper feel like it has any warmth at all but paradoxically is wonderfully human at the same time. As an example Roads could easily be one of the bleakest songs ever written but it's nothing of the sort, it's far from uplifting in a punch your hand in the air but it's beautifully cathartic and makes the fragility of the human condition a thing of beauty not in a voyeuristic way but in defiant and hopeful way. It's like a shard of ice that is warm to the touch; I've never been able to get my head round how they do it. Mind that's one for another day I think.

This pick has clearly set me off on one, you've got a lot to answer for Sadds.

Great shout with Portishead. For some strange reason they came to my mind earlier too although I haven’t listened to them in decades either.
You are definitely hitting on something about what Scottish bands do well.
I’d be tempted to call it a Celtic undercurrent or melancholy but I’d probably my be wrong. I don’t get the same feel from Irish Celts. There is definitely the defiance, but hey we have that by the bucket load.
There is something about Irish frontmen and women that seems to make them gobby once they get any success.
The women especially. Maybe that’s why I like the exceptions like Lisa Hannigan and Imelda May, to date.
We may have closer to what you are talking about in the folk genre. Some fabulous historical tales to tell.
In general though in rock and pop their can be a tendency to preach.