Neil young really isn't that much better musically than Dylan. I saw them both live last year, I was blown away with how good Dylan was at the organ. Of course Neil blew me away as well but he hasn't really progressed as a musician as much as Dylan. Neil youngs acoustic music is every bit as much as simple as bob Dylans. I might even give the edge to bob. Songs like "I was young when I left home" demonstrate a great fingerpicking ability that Bob possessed. That level of fingerpicking combined with singing at the same time surpasses anything that Neil did on a level of difficulty. Another example of great Dylan picking is on the track "buckets of rain". It's Neil's electric playing that gives him the edge on Dylan. But from my experience as a guitarist, the fingerpicking of Dylan is still more difficult than Neil's electric soloing. But it's the tone and style that makes Neil's electric guitar playing great, not the level of difficulty.
They're pretty musically equal in my opinion, being that they both have something different to offer.
On a side note, it's a popular belief that young can sing good and dylan can't. I completely disagree. It's Neil's falsetto that gives people this impression. When you listen to songs like buffalo Springfields "mr. Soul" you can clearly hear that Neil doesnt have a very good vocal ability other than his falsetto. I'll take the vocals of Dylan's "one more cup of coffee" over any vocal performance of Neil. Bobs voice was ever changing, Neil's is always the same.
|