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

[mancity1]

In their early days I used to love NO gigs precisely because there was a contrast between the apparent precision of the music and elements of its instrumentation and the slightly chaotic on-stage delivery; they were often on the edge of keeping it together and when they didn't it didn't matter anyway. Haven't seen them for years because of the fear it would crap on lots of happy memories, perhaps I should reconsider.

I'm sure we've all been pleasantly surprised by 'accidentally' seeing artists who turned out to be great, but the two that stick out in my case were The Pet Shop Boys and Alanis Morrisette both of whom I had no desire to see, and both turned out to be brilliant live shows.

I had some reservations when they toured oz in 2016 given the years that had rolled on but if anything they were even tighter despite the lack of spontaneity compared to what I observed previously. Time can distort your perspective but I think in retrospect ( perhaps having the kids ( well both in their 30's but you know what I mean ) in the concert with me for the first time did the trick ) 2016 I enjoyed them the most as any of their set lists are top notch.

 

[BlueHammer85]

I've not heard all his 70s albums, but surely any period that features albums like Blood on the Tracks and Desire can't be considered that bad?

I stand corrected, was thinking of his 80's stuff - you are right BOTT and Desire both brilliant and also Hard Rain

 

[RobMCFC]

I stand corrected, was thinking of his 80's stuff - you are right BOTT and Desire both brilliant and also Hard Rain

But of course my favourite album of his is from the 80s - Oh Mercy. :)

Again, haven't listened to a lot of the others from the 80s.

Probably more accurate to say he had a rough period between the late 70s and most of the 80s.

 

[mancity2012_eamo]

More for a general discussion than regarding the bands mentioned, or ones like them, but why does a genre need to be time-capsuled, locked, or contained? Why does something coming later have to be a rip-off?

It seems to be only certain genres, like Punk, Metal and yes, Grunge that people seem so touchy and precious about. Like they can be the only 'true' representatives of a genre or era. Seems a bit self entitled to me.

You don't see Jazz contained to the prohibition, people still do jazz today. Or Folk to the Burns years (well before, obviously for both, just picking the most obvious ones), or rap etc. But someone taking influences from one or two genres popular amongst a much smaller group, and you get dismissive purism.

More a general observation than particularly aimed at you or what you said, and unrelated to the couple bands discussed. Which i wouldn't acrually disagree could easily be classed as a 'rip-off'. Just don't see what's so wrong in that, it is pretty common.

I’ll earmark this contribution for my next offering which I can’t nail down or define….. if I stick with my current selection.

 

[mancity2012_eamo]

I stand corrected, was thinking of his 80's stuff - you are right BOTT and Desire both brilliant and also Hard Rain

I quite liked Infidels.

 

[mancity2012_eamo]

First listen into the last few songs now.
Overall impression? Meh!

I’ll start by saying I am by no means a Dylan fan but quite like a considerable body of his work. Trouble is I like other people playing his catalogue better than him, usually.
Even the likes of Jimi Hendrix who hasn’t got a voice either. It’s not just the fact he lifts the songs with his guitar playing, I just genuinely prefer his overall passion and interpretations. Watchtower, obviously. It’s a masterpiece, but other songs too. Rolling Stone being the perfect example.

So back to this album.
It’s a mixed bag for me. I’m enjoying the second album better than the first. I’m enjoying the instrumentation and arrangements of the songs I don’t know more than the ones I do, in general, which says a lot I think.

One of the things I like about live albums generally, is the feel you get from the bands interaction with the crowd. The rapport.
Here we have an hour and three quarters with nothing between Bob and the audience.
There are some very nice individual song interpretations but this for me is a very long time to be listening to Dylan and it gets monotonous without a rapport.

2 more listens to go.

 

[Mancitydoogle]

First listen into the last few songs now.
Overall impression? Meh!

I’ll start by saying I am by no means a Dylan fan but quite like a considerable body of his work. Trouble is I like other people playing his catalogue better than him, usually.
Even the likes of Jimi Hendrix who hasn’t got a voice either. It’s not just the fact he lifts the songs with his guitar playing, I just genuinely prefer his overall passion and interpretations. Watchtower, obviously. It’s a masterpiece, but other songs too. Rolling Stone being the perfect example.

So back to this album.
It’s a mixed bag for me. I’m enjoying the second album better than the first. I’m enjoying the instrumentation and arrangements of the songs I don’t know more than the ones I do, in general, which says a lot I think.

One of the things I like about live albums generally, is the feel you get from the bands interaction with the crowd. The rapport.
Here we have an hour and three quarters with nothing between Bob and the audience.
There are some very nice individual song interpretations but this for me is a very long time to be listening to Dylan and it gets monotonous without a rapport.

2 more listens to go.

If you don’t know of him already,try listening to the late Jimmy Lafave he covers a lot of Dylan songs on his early albums.

 

[Gareth Barry Conlon]

My father in law saw Dylan live early 70's. It was the age where he had started playing electric guitar with a big backing band. My FIL says that he got masses of boos almost from the get go when he came out with an electric. People were shouting - get rid of the band Bob and similar stuff.

This album recorded in the late 70's is I guess where he ended up having given up the acoustic one man show stuff. And those wanting that had given up going along. Basically an iconic 60s songwriter who was playing shit live music from early 70s onwards.

 

[mancity2012_eamo]

If you don’t know of him already,try listening to the late Jimmy Lafave he covers a lot of Dylan songs on his early albums.

Never heard of him. Will give him a go.

 

[threespires]

Done a first pass, more enjoyable than I thought it would be tbh and I take KB's point about it's general accessibility.

What stands out initially is despite in my head not really having much of an interest in Dylan, as I'm going down it's very famous track-list, I'm thinking well it's missing many of my favourites: A hard rain is gonna fall, It ain't me babe, This wheel's on fire to name but three. Easy when you're not a big fan to forget how many fantastic songs he penned.

For reasons I'm not entirely sure of, I'm now turning this into some sort of lab experiment by comparing some of the songs on here to the originals and to a cover version I'm familiar with to see if any of the tracks on this album would make it onto a Dylan playlist.