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

[mancity2012_eamo]

Both Diamond Dave and Bobby Z are more vocalists than singers.

And there’s nothing wrong with that. Distinctive vocals are the trademarks of a lot of the most loved artists. If they add to the feel of what they sing, quite often no actual singer can top their original renditions of their classics.

 

[OB1]

I don't think Bowie was a great singer, and I'm a big fan.
Singing a difficult song like Heroes he struggled.

Again, he’s a great vocalist but the point I was making was about likening him to Brown and Ryder, who he is streets ahead of.

 

[mancity2012_eamo]

I don't think Bowie was a great singer, and I'm a big fan.
Singing a difficult song like Heroes he struggled.

Perfect illustration of the previous answer I gave to OB1.
The sheer passion and struggle in Bowie’s vocals and how he builds from calm to desperation cannot be surpassed in my opinion.
Superb song.

 

[Saddleworth2]

Roth sings better than Dylan.

I don’t have a problem with Dylan’s sing.

Both Diamond Dave and Bobby Z are more vocalists than singers.

That’s what I’m saying mate. If only he could sing like DLR, he might have had a career.

 

[Bill Walker]

Again, he’s a great vocalist but the point I was making was about likening him to Brown and Ryder, who he is streets ahead of.

Agreed he's way better than those two

 

[bennyboy]

Had enough.A low score which is a shame because there are a lot of very good songs on this pick but they just do not work on this live recording.
3/10.

 

[FogBlueInSanFran]

I don’t hate this. Somehow the way Dylan growl-speak-sings matched up against a full “orchestra” (or whatever you’d call this) and back-up chorus is at least an intriguing effect. Since I’ve never cared for his hooks, because he doesn’t really have many, this approach tries to insert a few, using any instrument the band found backstage. Which is, apparently, all of them. Somehow that sort of creates a Steely Dan effect in spots. Note I said “Sort of.” And “in spots.”

I can imagine purists will be appalled by this approach and by most accounts, here on this thread and at the time of of its release, they are/were. As I’m free of actually liking Dylan a lot, maybe I can be a bit more objective. Not many of his classic songs are improved by the treatment he provides here, though I liked this version of “Maggie’s Farm.” But I don’t think they are ruined either, other than “Mister Tambourine Man”, though it’s the Byrds’ version that’s ruined (and as others have pointed out is much better than the original). They’re just different — “Rolling Stone”, “Blowin’ In The Wind”, “Heaven’s Door” all still carry enough Dylan that they sound like Dylan. I will say I would have quite often preferred more guitar solos where the sax was (“I Shall Be Released” being a prime example).

I suppose were this one’s first encounter with Dylan’s music one might like or hate it. I’m glad we have the originals but they’re so engrained in our consciousness that listening to classics played this way doesn’t compute and sounds skewed or jarring. But that’s often the trouble with live records anyhow. I give the man points for trying something new and including a lot of his greats on here. It’s between a 5 and a 6. I’ll give it a pity 6 since I suspect the purists will moan the score down :).

 

[Bill Walker]

I suppose were this one’s first encounter with Dylan’s music one might like or hate it. I’m glad we have the originals but they’re so engrained in our consciences that listening to classics played this way doesn’t compute and sounds skewed or jarring. But that’s often the trouble with live records anyhow. I give the man points for trying something new and including a lot of his greats on here. It’s between a 5 and a 6. I’ll give it a pity 6 since I suspect the purists will moan the score down :).

The reason I don't like live albums..
I could actually score this without listening :)

The only live music I like is Jazz, done by professionals at the top of their tree. It's interesting to see what develops and what tangent they go off at. The mind then can transcend into wherever the improvisation would take you.
With pop/rock songs it's plain silly to improvise. I can attest to this having seen Bob live, it was horrible.

 

[FogBlueInSanFran]

The reason I don't like live albums..
I could actually score this without listening :)

The only live music I like is Jazz, done by professionals at the top of their tree. It's interesting to see what develops and what tangent they go off at. The mind then can transcend into wherever the improvisation would take you.
With pop/rock songs it's plain silly to improvise. I can attest to this having seen Bob live, it was horrible.

But then a band like Rush tries to very faithfully recreate each studio note precisely and gets slammed for being rigid and unable to “jam.”

The right solution, I think, is often covers. Hearing a great band do an off-the-cuff cover live can sometimes be a thrilling and exciting experience and is at least a new one. The other is acoustic — there’s a reason MTV’s Unplugged series was so popular and the Nirvana one was a stone cold A+ classic (helped by their covers and the fact that Cobain died shortly thereafter obviously).

I can take or leave live records; I guess for me it just depends on the band. The only live record I think I really listened to all the time was The Kinks’ “One For The Road”, but that was in the 80s and because I never had seen a compilation that had so many songs I like by them in one place. Now I can create my own list easily and for nothing so maybe that renders live albums much less relevant.

 

[Saddleworth2]

But then a band like Rush tries to very faithfully recreate each studio note precisely and gets slammed for being rigid and unable to “jam.”

The right solution, I think, is often covers. Hearing a great band do an off-the-cuff cover live can sometimes be a thrilling and exciting experience and is at least a new one. The other is acoustic — there’s a reason MTV’s Unplugged series was so popular and the Nirvana one was a stone cold A+ classic (helped by their covers and the fact that Cobain died shortly thereafter obviously).

I can take or leave live records; I guess for me it just depends on the band. The only live record I think I really listened to all the time was The Kinks’ “One For The Road”, but that was in the 80s and because I never had seen a compilation that had so many songs I like by them in one place. Now I can create my own list easily and for nothing so maybe that renders live albums much less relevant.

Yes in their pomp were a far more satisfying live band than studio imo. Such was their technical prowess. Much heavier and funkier live whilst staying absolutely true to the original songs.