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

[BimboBob]

Having listened to the soundtrack for my customary three times I have come to this conclusion...

Dire, turgid, bereft of any ideas, this is all I hate about music. Girl sings in kooky voice, man strums a bit sounding forlorn, it's been done before and after far better than this pile of stinking do-dahs. I can't stand Sheeran either but at least his lyrics sort of resonate now and then.

Where's the excitement? The structure? Why is it sung so damn breathlessly? I wanted to sit in a dark corner after torturing myself with this unholy arse of an album and weep.

This is the damning bit, I'd rather listen to Adele banging on about her shit life whilst selling millions of albums then this awful album. If someone gave it to me I'd break it into tiny pieces in front of them.

I also tried the film. Fuck me, dull as ditch water with about as much star quality as one of my shits. I lasted 20 minutes. My missus watched the whole thing and liked it. And some of the songs. Make of that what you will.

A big fat 0/10. Never darken my door again.

Suicidal thoughts over after I spent an enjoyable few hours in the pub and stuck a Talk Talk album on when I got in.

 

[GoatersLeftShin]

Apologies, but I've been very busy with work and I've struggled to keep up with some of the albums. If I've missed anyones nomination out I can only apologise! :(

Well, I'd not heard of the film before and I'd never heard of anyone on the soundtrack so I came to this with completely no idea on what to expect. The first song was nice and I quite enjoyed it... and the same for the next and the next! Sometimes it's just nice to listen to well written, well played, well sung songs that have a nice melody.

Did any of it particularly stand out? I didn't think so, but sometimes it's nice to have an album that doesn't 'demand' you listen to it. I could easily put this on when I'm working and enjoy it as background music but I'd also be more than happy to listen to it with headphones on in the garden.

Reading the above though, it might sound like I'm dismissing it as 'nice background music'. However, I hope this doesn't come across as a criticism because it's certainly not. It's a nice, comforting album I thought. I really enjoyed it and I'll definitely be playing this one again - in fact, it will be ideal for tomorrow mornings work!

Thanks for nominating it @RobMCFC I really enjoyed it!

8/10

 

[RobMCFC]

Having listened to the soundtrack for my customary three times I have come to this conclusion...

Dire, turgid, bereft of any ideas, this is all I hate about music. Girl sings in kooky voice, man strums a bit sounding forlorn, it's been done before and after far better than this pile of stinking do-dahs. I can't stand Sheeran either but at least his lyrics sort of resonate now and then.

Where's the excitement? The structure? Why is it sung so damn breathlessly? I wanted to sit in a dark corner after torturing myself with this unholy arse of an album and weep.

This is the damning bit, I'd rather listen to Adele banging on about her shit life whilst selling millions of albums then this awful album. If someone gave it to me I'd break it into tiny pieces in front of them.

I also tried the film. Fuck me, dull as ditch water with about as much star quality as one of my shits. I lasted 20 minutes. My missus watched the whole thing and liked it. And some of the songs. Make of that what you will.

A big fat 0/10. Never darken my door again.

Suicidal thoughts over after I spent an enjoyable few hours in the pub and stuck a Talk Talk album on when I got in.

Rounded up to 1 - see the rules on page #1.

Apologies, but I've been very busy with work and I've struggled to keep up with some of the albums. If I've missed anyones nomination out I can only apologise! :(

Well, I'd not heard of the film before and I'd never heard of anyone on the soundtrack so I came to this with completely no idea on what to expect. The first song was nice and I quite enjoyed it... and the same for the next and the next! Sometimes it's just nice to listen to well written, well played, well sung songs that have a nice melody.

Did any of it particularly stand out? I didn't think so, but sometimes it's nice to have an album that doesn't 'demand' you listen to it. I could easily put this on when I'm working and enjoy it as background music but I'd also be more than happy to listen to it with headphones on in the garden.

Reading the above though, it might sound like I'm dismissing it as 'nice background music'. However, I hope this doesn't come across as a criticism because it's certainly not. It's a nice, comforting album I thought. I really enjoyed it and I'll definitely be playing this one again - in fact, it will be ideal for tomorrow mornings work!

Thanks for nominating it @RobMCFC I really enjoyed it!

8/10

Just to be clear, this was @BlueHammer85 's nomination.

 

[BlueHammer85]

Having listened to the soundtrack for my customary three times I have come to this conclusion...

Dire, turgid, bereft of any ideas, this is all I hate about music. Girl sings in kooky voice, man strums a bit sounding forlorn, it's been done before and after far better than this pile of stinking do-dahs. I can't stand Sheeran either but at least his lyrics sort of resonate now and then.

Where's the excitement? The structure? Why is it sung so damn breathlessly? I wanted to sit in a dark corner after torturing myself with this unholy arse of an album and weep.

This is the damning bit, I'd rather listen to Adele banging on about her shit life whilst selling millions of albums then this awful album. If someone gave it to me I'd break it into tiny pieces in front of them.

I also tried the film. Fuck me, dull as ditch water with about as much star quality as one of my shits. I lasted 20 minutes. My missus watched the whole thing and liked it. And some of the songs. Make of that what you will.

A big fat 0/10. Never darken my door again.

Suicidal thoughts over after I spent an enjoyable few hours in the pub and stuck a Talk Talk album on when I got in.

Some of that is fair criticism but If you really think this is a zero. Then Music isn’t for you.

 

[BimboBob]

Some of that is fair criticism but If you really think this is a zero. Then Music isn’t for you.

It's dull. A kooky breathless voice woman and a man on a guitar. I'm a hoover repair guy and I'm going to sing a song about it...nope, fuck off. I imagine they probably have talent but I really, really, really hate this sort of music. Really.

And of course music is for me. You love Oasis, I can't stand them. You went to see David Gray, I'd rather have my testicles stamped on, repeatedly.You'll probably hate my next choice, everyone will probably hate it if I'm honest, but that's music for you.

It's a 0/1 out of 10 for the same reason that foggy hated the DM album. That was his thoughts about it. And this review was mine.

Imagine if we were all the same.

 

[Mancitydoogle]

First impressions it sounds a lot like Damien Rice both in vocal style and melody.

‘O’ was the album of the day when I met my current wife.

We listened to it all the time, though strangely she really doesn’t like this.

‘Falling Slowly’ and ‘Lies’ are really nice songs,unfortunately I don’t like many female vocalists so Marketa’s tracks don’t appeal to me.

I find the album drags a bit and I’ve not yet had time to watch the film

which I think would probably improve on the listening experience.



6/10

 

[mancity1]

It's dull. A kooky breathless voice woman and a man on a guitar. I'm a hoover repair guy and I'm going to sing a song about it...nope, fuck off. I imagine they probably have talent but I really, really, really hate this sort of music. Really.

And of course music is for me. You love Oasis, I can't stand them. You went to see David Gray, I'd rather have my testicles stamped on, repeatedly.You'll probably hate my next choice, everyone will probably hate it if I'm honest, but that's music for you.

It's a 0/1 out of 10 for the same reason that foggy hated the DM album. That was his thoughts about it. And this review was mine.

Imagine if we were all the same.

That's what makes music so engrossing as you can loathe and love the very same thing that musicians are espousing to bring out of their world and into ours.

I have to respect the fact you are prepared to honestly air your views on this album and why.

Good on you.

Having listened to it once I will give it a 6/10 , not my favourite music but a few of the songs were easy on my ear and I enjoyed them.

 

[bennyboy]

Liked half the songs but none are great.
Some terrible stuff as well.
Nothing special vocal wise and as the album went on the more interest I lost.
The Spotify version had 2 Van Morrisons songs on at the end - And the Healing Has Become and Into the Mystic.Nothing came close to them on this record.5/10

 

[RobMCFC]

Once (OST) – Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova

Not and album or film that I’m familiar with, and after a couple of listens, I’m afraid to say that I don’t think I’m missing much.

The much talked about “Falling Slowly” is an average song at best and I’m gobsmacked it won the Oscar for Best Original Song. Second track “If You Want me” is much better with a nice acoustic guitar played to given it a Spanish/Mexican lilt.

“When Your Mind’s Made Up”, “Fallen From The Sky” and “Trying to Pull Myself Away” are not bad but “Lies” and a lot of the this album drag like a tractor pulling an anchor through a field of mud.

Although “Gold” starts slow, it builds up with some nice violin as the track progresses and finishes with a bit of dynamic strumming. It’s one of the better songs here, but I note that it was performed by a totally different band (Interference).

Whilst I wouldn’t go as far as @BimboBob, I can certainly see where he’s coming from. He’s right that the two Van Morrison songs are better than what has come before, and I found a lot of this album just washed over me with very little to pull me back in. The simple love’s bad, boy/girl dynamic doesn’t do much for me, I’m afraid. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to listen to music with simple or even banal lyrics, but it’s generally upbeat rock where it’s the guitars, keyboard or voice are the selling point. If it’s going to be one sad song after the other, it’d better be an interesting story. There are plenty of good acoustic singer/songwriters out there with much better lyrics and a much better ear for melody than on show here, and there are also plenty of better male/female duos out there too.

Maybe, as @BlueHammer85 said, this might work better with the film, but the soundtrack hasn’t done a great job of selling it to me. A bit of a tangent, but two examples of soundtracks that work for me are Rocky IV for its sheer energy and exuberance and Disney’s Coco that features two or three songs that are so good they stand up on their own merits away from the film (which is equally impressive).

A disappointing 5/10 for Once.

 

[FogBlueInSanFran]

This isn't my cup of tea, but since I think tea is kind of awful unless I have the flu (Ted Lasso is right) maybe what I should say is that it's not really my brand of whiskey.

I can handle an iteration or two of "All The Way Down" on a record, but there are too many iterations of it here. When music goes quiet, for it to work well there needs to be a particularly compelling element -- lyric, voice or instrument. Screaming one's pain (periodically out of tune), semi-banal lyrics, and rudimentary chords aren't going to cut it often, and they don't here. The combination is particularly atrocious on such songs as "Say It To Me Now" and -- especially -- "Leave", which I think is effectively unlistenable. It works better on the big hit "Falling Slowly" because it's not only painful, it's actually pretty. But ALL the best songs here actually have an instrumental backbone ("Trying To Pull Myself Away", clearly my favo(u)rite thing on the record) or don't involve Glen Hansard as directly ("Gold" by Interference). There are just far too few. Few enough that although I've never been a big Van Morrison fan, his closers come as a bit of a welcome relief.

Incidentally, someone will have to explain the difference between folk and indie folk to me. I suspect that indie folk involves folkies who have listened to a lot of Radiohead. Am I right?

Though the best songs are 6s, overall it's a 3/10 because there are just too many not-best songs. Sorry Hammer :(.

Edit: just reading the review by @RobMCFC and noting we both used the word "banal" for the lyrics. Not a good sign.