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

[Coatigan]

It's definitely one of those albums that when your familiar with, mainly lyrically and just hearing it over and over would really stay with you - similar to my pick with David Gray (A Century Ends) think most gave it 1 listen and never a real chance - slower acoustic ones deffo require more time

Agree, on both albums. Some you just have to get to know before you can really appreciate them.

 

[journolud]

At one point of my first listen to this in the early hours this morning I was getting David Gray, which I scored fairly averagely but did give a few listens. Does seem to be more variety to the Josh Ritter but I'm not sure that I liked all of it. Too early to tell really.

 

[OB1]

Well done, Mr Doogle.

So Runs the World Away – Josh Ritter (2010)

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I’m probably setting myself up for a fall with my next selection. It’s an album that doesn’t have any obvious hooks: there’s no guitar solos, no fancy Hammond licks, no singalong choruses, and yet it’s one of my favourite albums released this century. I don’t think that it’s something that you can “get” in a single sitting, but hopefully, at least a few of you will hear enough to want to come back for a second listen.

That’s the way I felt when I first heard it. I knew on that first listen that I would love it after a few plays because it offers up so much to think about in the lyrics and invites repeat listens. It’s unlike most of the albums in my collection, but it was my first listen to Josh Ritter, and he is now the only 21st Century artist inside my top 15 (given that his debut was released in 1999, obviously the remainder of his work is post-2000).

The thing that makes his music so special, and this album in particular, is the lyrics. They unfold like some wonderful novel, or at least short story, and at least two of the tracks here will have you leaning into the speakers, wondering what the end of the story will bring. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that he’s in with a shout of being the best lyricist since Dylan. Stephen King seems to think so.

So Runs the World Away takes its title from Hamlet and is full of stories of exploration, discovery, travel, science and mathematics. As already noted, the “sonic palette” is unusual for a pop/rock record, driven along by woodwind, brass and strings as much as it is by acoustic guitars and drums. In common with a lot of my favourite albums, the music is wonderfully arranged, and Ritter is supported by a superb band that has played alongside him for some time.

So, to the highlights. After the opening soundbite of “Curtains”, the first six tracks proper are pretty much faultless. “Change of Time” is an unusual opener, stuffed to bursting with maritime references, "Battered hulls and broken hardships. Leviathan and Lonely." I’ll come back to the third track later, but there’s some great lyrics and arrangements on everything in this section. The dramatic percussion that opens “Rattling Locks” which is then carried along by moody organ as the protagonist is left "out here in the cold with a wet face a-rattling your locks" and culminating in the sprightly “Lark”, which manages to open with a reference to “the golden ratio”.

This is followed by three tracks that are all different from one another: the poppy “The Lantern”, the extraordinary martial beat of “The Remnant” (which Josh Ritter describes as a mean song) and the delicate “See How Man Was Made”. The album ends with another pretty, uplifting acoustic number, “Long Shadows.”

But for me, the two standout story songs are “The Curse” and “Another new World”.

Remarkably, “The Curse” recounts an unusual love story between an ancient mummy and the archaeologist who excavates him. It sounds bonkers but it’s an incredibly detailed and moving song with a beautiful arrangement. I don’t know what it means, and it’s unlikely to make your summer playlist, but I could listen to it many times without getting bored.

Perhaps the best song on the album is “Another New World” – the story of a doomed Arctic explorer who is prepared to risk the thing he loves most for “another new world at the top of the world”. The song unfolds against dramatic music and is probably the musical equivalent of watching “The Terror”. On first listen, you are dying to know how the story ends (but I won’t spoil it for you). A bit of background reading reveals that the name of the ship, the Annabel Lee, is taken from the Edgar Allan Poe poem of the same name. A brilliant song, perhaps unsurpassed in its “detailed long-form story” genre (certainly in my collection).

You get even more out of the album when you start searching for some of the influences behind the songs: whilst “Southern Pacifica” sounds like it should be about a ship, the “Red, white and blue” apparently refers to an American railroad company and “Roxy Anne” is a mountain in Oregon. “Folk Bloodbath” is a kind of cover song, featuring infamous murderers from older songs, with the main refrain based on a song by Mississippi John Hurt. Whilst “The Remnant” is about a manhunt, the original objective seems to melt away as the protagonists become nothing against the vastness of the universe and creation.

Hopefully some will enjoy this, but either way, I’m eager to hear your thoughts. It was recommended by a fellow City fan on a non-City forum, so I hope that by nominating here, I can give something back to other City (and West Ham) fans.

I gave the album a listen before actually reading your fine review, which persuaded me to give it a second listen, headphones on. Sadly the experience didn't improve.

The lyrics are decent but I didn't find them riveting and good lyrics alone will never be enough for me if something doesn't sound good to my ears. I found this almost irritatingly dull musically, the vocals are especially nondescript. I also thought the music lacked warmth.

The production is sharp and clear but to the point of being harsh.

That's not to say that it isn't all very professionally done; it's not a bad record at all but it doesn't do it for me.

So it's a curmudgeonly 5/10.

 

[RobMCFC]

I gave the album a listen before actually reading your fine review, which persuaded me to give it a second listen, headphones on. Sadly the experience didn't improve.

The lyrics are decent but I didn't find them riveting and good lyrics alone will never be enough for me if something doesn't sound good to my ears. I found this almost irritatingly dull musically, the vocals are especially nondescript. I also thought the music lacked warmth.

The production is sharp and clear but to the point of being harsh.

That's not to say that it isn't all very professionally done; it's not a bad record at all but it doesn't do it for me.

So it's a curmudgeonly 5/10.

No worries. Whilst the lyrics are definitely the main draw, I do love the music on this album. As noted, it’s certainly the oddball in my Top 20 albums, and I wouldn’t expect everybody to like it.

 

[OB1]

No worries. Whilst the lyrics are definitely the main draw, I do love the music on this album. As noted, it’s certainly the oddball in my Top 20 albums, and I wouldn’t expect everybody to like it.

No, it's a pity becuase I like the lyrical concepts.

 

[Coatigan]

Being honest, each song feels at least a good two minutes too long, the stretching out and repetition is quite hard to get through. Some really nice melodies, some great lyrics, but ultimately overdone. Both the qualities and the issues are somewhat typical of the Chanson genre, and it requires the mood and setting.

The only songs that to me feel like they get to where they set out are Change of time and Lantern. And even they linger there a bit.

Based on the three or four listens, a 4 is as high as I'd go. I do however fully recognise that it is one you need to get to know a bit, and on the promise with more time spent on it I can see ot being a 6 maybe even a 7. So I'll split the difference and give it a solid 5.

Will add a couple to the playlist and give the artist more air time though.

 

[southamptonblue]

Not overly my thing, get the David Gray comparisons, but prefer David Gray.
Would need to be in the mood to listen to it....but it's not too bad for me. As I've based all my scores on 5 being something that's OK and would happily listen to, it gets that exactly that...a 5.

 

[BlueHammer85]

Was hoping this would be right up my street but it was just a bit underwhelming overall - some lovely melody’s and lyrics - but they didn’t capture me like Dylan does.

‘Change Of Time’ is one of my all time favourite songs EVER - it’s such a beauty but I just couldn’t warm to the rest in the same way - The Curse and Lark are nice and I enjoyed Folk Bloodbath as it had a different tempo.

As I mentioned before, if I played this for weeks more and months it would really grow.

6/10

 

[Bill Walker]

I like this album. Best for a while imo.
This collection has so many "it reminds me off" moments but somehow comes across as nice and original. How does he do that ?
Southern Pacifica is The Stones "Wild Horses" kind of re written. The Curse is surely half Al Green half Paul Simon.
The Remnant sounds like John Lennon wrote it.....and sang it! etc.
I dont want to sound like I'm deriding this very nice album because I really like it. I've admit I've never heard of him before so thanks for the introduction Rob. Very nice listening.
Kind of wish he hadn't used the Shakespeare quote for the title, something original would've been better. But it's a better title than Let It Be.

I'd score it 7/10 (would go 7.5 if .5 were allowed)

 

[BlueHammer85]

I like this album. Best for a while imo.
This collection has so many "it reminds me off" moments but somehow comes across as nice and original. How does he do that ?
Southern Pacifica is The Stones "Wild Horses" kind of re written. The Curse is surely half Al Green half Paul Simon.
The Remnant sounds like John Lennon wrote it.....and sang it! etc.
I dont want to sound like I'm deriding this very nice album because I really like it. I've admit I've never heard of him before so thanks for the introduction Rob. Very nice listening.
Kind of wish he hadn't used the Shakespeare quote for the title, something original would've been better. But it's a better title than Let It Be.

I'd score it 7/10 (would go 7.5 if .5 were allowed)

I picked up Paul Simon for the Curse aswell