Surell

Maybe i don't listen more closely because what i've heard was too relentlessly cliche to give anything else a chance. But okay, i still think something like "Visions of Johanna" doesn't stack up to "Ambulance Blues" in musical songwriting, and he not only lifts the melody from an older folk player, but he sounds like Bob Dylan while he does it and still comes out victorious.

We can dog Neil's technicality all day but the fact is nobody sounds like him. You've cited "Leopard Skin whoopdi do" as an example of one of Dylan's best guitar moments, but i just don't see what the deal is- it sounds like a blues riff i could have found anywhere in 60's blues inspired rock/folk-rock. But how imitable is a solo/are solos found in songs like "Down By the River," "Cortez the Killer," or "Danger Bird"?

Yes, Dylan has some pretty interesting stuff/pretty melodies - "Rainy Day Women this and that" is a trip and a lot of fun, and "I Want You" has a lovely little melody in the chorus. I stick to my guns though; Neil seems so much more nonchalant and on a whim than Dylan, and maybe i sense more honesty in that.

PS: Maybe i'm just handing out pamphlets everyone already read and threw away, but Neil's dissonant solos are actually due to the fact that, during a good many of them, he holds the Whammy bar as he's soloing. If you watch live performances, you'll notice him doing it but only during the solos. I think it's an interesting idea, nothing Hendrix didn't already do i'm sure, but i think it's an interesting idea that really brings his style to it. I'm not sure how many other artists are accustomed to doing this, he's the only one with that particular sound during solos as far as i've heard. But i'm kinda ignorant too.

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