sleepy jack

"Another Side of Bob Dylan (1964)"


I don't hear this album getting discussed much and I'm assuming it must be because it came out the same year and probably gets compared to The Times They Are A-Changing (and loses). That must be the reason I don't hear it get talked about much because there's nothing wrong with the material itself.

The album opens with a much happier Dylan (he laughs =O), much different from the one then we saw on his last album. It's interesting really the contrast between this and Times. While Times was bleak and very political this albums much more fun and lighthearteded, though not all the time it has it's more depressing notes, It Ain't Me Babe for instance. .This album is considered to be the last strictly acoustic Dylan album and it's definitely a good note to end on it. Dylan sounds energetic and appears to be having a lot of fun, there's even a honky tonk piano thrown in here.

Favorite Lyric: "My friends from the prison, they ask unto me / 'How good, how good does it feel to be free?' / And I answer them most mysteriously / 'Are birds free from the chains of the skyway?'"
Favorite Songs: Chimes of Freedom, My Back Pages, I Shall Be Free No. 10, It Ain't Me Babe, To Ramona

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sleepy jack

The Times They Are A-Changin'


Around this time Dylan was growing tired of being folk's posterboy and the voice of his generation. In the Dylan Chronicles he wrote about how he was experimenting with a variety of ways to get his fans off his back, whether it was stylistically or religiously Dylan was determined to shake his audience because it was getting so ridiculous that his house was being broken into at times and all he really wanted was some privacy.

Dylan would write many of his classic songs over the next few albums, some of which include: Mr. Tambourine Man, Maggie's Farm, Like a Rolling Stone, Ballad of a Thin Man, Desolation Row, Visions of Johanna and others. His live sets were riddled with controversy, while the first half was well accepted acoustic folk songs the second would be loud and electric and often not well received.

Dylan never left his folk roots over the next few albums even though he experimented upon it and expanded on it and when you look at the products of this experimenting (Blonde on Blonde, Highway 61 Revisited) you can't help but be thankful for it.

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sleepy jack

"Bringing It All Back Home (1965)"


The music on here goes from folk, to blues, to rock and to something that was just Dylan. The rambling beat influenced poetry seems to fly by in only a few minutes when at times it's actually several minutes long, your attention never strays. Giving your attention to Dylan on songs like Bob Dylan's 115th dream is more a pleasure than something tedious.

Now while this is considered Bob Dylan's first electric album there's still some acoustic songs and he still held a love for it, though not so much his protest songs. He talks about it in the Dylan chronicles quite a bit. Some of his best acoustic material is on this album, most noted is Mr. Tambourine Man. This album would mark the start of something beautiful, that something was the beginning of the sound you'd see on Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde.

Dylan's lyrics prove to be getting better and better, though more and more off the wall. Part of that can probably be owed to LSD, which no doubt effected (and improved) his writing process. Songs like Gates of Eden are completely off the wall lyrically.

Favorite Lyric: "The wind howls like a hammer / The night blows cold and rainy / My love she's like some raven / At my window with a broken wing."
Favorite Songs: Gates of Eden, She Belongs To Me, Subterranean Homesick Blues, Love Minus Zero/No Limit, Outlaw Blues, Bob Dylan's 115th Dream, It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)



"Highway 61 Revisited (1965)"


What to say about Highway 61 Revisited, he took what he did with the last album and kicked it up a notch. This is easily in my top 3 favorite Dylan albums of all time and it's plenty of peoples number 1. It's considered his best and it's easy to say why. Every track is strong and the opening snare hit to Like a Rolling Stone is infamous. This album is when Dylan mastered his own sound, not say he did it perfect here, but he came close.

The rambling poetry over loud and energetic music, ranging from slow and bluesy to fast and rocky. Highway 61 Revisited proves to be a trip, both fun and sad. The lyrics are as bizarre as they are powerful on this album. Sometimes they're downright they're awful but in a very comical manner and all the biblical references are amusing. I really don't have much to say on this other than it's an essential Dylan album to own and if you don't already have it then get it. There's a reason its held in such high regard.

Favorite Lyric: "Cinderella, she seems so easy / "It takes one to know one," she smiles / And puts her hands in her back pockets, better Davis style / And in comes Romeo, he's moaning "you Belong to Me I Believe" / And someone says," You're in the wrong place, my friend you better leave" / And the only sound that's left after the ambulances go / Is Cinderella sweeping up on Desolation Row."
Favorite Songs: Tombstone Blues, Ballad of a Thin Man, Highway 61 Revisited, Desolation Row, Like a Rolling Stone



"Blonde on Blonde (1966)"


This was my favorite Bob Dylan album for a really long time but Monday when I was just listening to random tracks in his discography I realized my favorite had switched places with my second favorite. I will keep which album that is quiet for now. That being said, Blonde on Blonde was my favorite album for a really long time and I prefer it over Highway 61 Revisited.

Blonde on Blonde shows Dylan returning to his folk roots, not completely he kept a variety of backing instruments giving it a much more full sound and there's a definite blues influence going on there. He also still keeps the five minute plus songs of rambling poetry and I'm very glad he did. Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands is easily one of my favorite songs by him ever.

Favorite Lyric: "Inside the museums, Infinity goes up on trial / Voices echo this is what salvation must be like after a while / But Mona Lisa musta had the highway blues / You can tell by the way she smiles / See the primitive wallflower freeze / When the jelly-faced women all sneeze / Hear the one with the mustache say, "Jeeze I can't find my knees" / Oh, jewels and binoculars hang from the head of the mule / But these visions of Johanna, they make it all seem so cruel."
Favorite Songs: Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands, Visions of Johanna, I Want You, Just Like a Woman, Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again

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mr. goth glam

Pretty good.

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boo boo

Dylan is good. I mean he's a brilliant lyricist. But honestly I was never that into his actual music. Good reviews though.

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It's only knock n' knowall, but I like it

http://www.last.fm/user/kingboobs

sleepy jack

The Country I Come From


After a motorcycle accident which would give Dylan a much needed break from the world he returned to music world and to his roots. Blonde on Blonde showed much more folkyness than the more upbeat and rockin' Highway 61 Revisited but it couldn't be called a full return. With John Wesley Harding and albums following Dylan showed a return to his roots and showed a more country side to his music, even re-recording Girl From the North County with Johnny Cash and spending time in Nashville.

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sleepy jack

"John Wesley Harding (1967)"


This album marked a return to his older albums except it showed a much more experienced songwriter. Using a variety of instruments to give it a much more full sound and doing more than just folk Dylan crafted a much more interesting and versatile album than he did in his earlier days. Yet none of the tracks seem as heavy hitting as songs like Masters of War and it wouldn't be right to call this album a folk album either. Songs like I'll Be Your Baby Tonight are without a doubt country songs. John Wesley Harding shows Dylan returning to his roots, only to stray from them again. Which isn't a bad thing, who would want to hear Freewheelin five more times?

Favorite Lyric: "I dreamed I saw St. Augustine, alive with fiery breath / And I dreamed I was amongst the ones that put him out to death / Oh, I awoke in anger, so alone and terrified / I put my fingers against the glass and bowed my head and cried."
Favorite Songs: I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine, All Along The Watchtower, The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest, I Am a Lonesome Hobo, John Wesley Harding



"Nashville Skyline (1969)"


This is where Dylan goes full on country. Trading in his usually nasally vocals for a country croon, he took what he did on John Wesley Harding and expanded and built upon it. Now Dylan does some great stuff here, the re-recording of Girl From the North Country with Johnny Cash is beautiful but at times this album is pretty mediocre country stuff.

The good obviously outweighs the bad on this release, but the bad drags it down. Songs like Country Pie are boring not only lyrically but musically it's pretty typical country stuff. However Dylan does do country beautifully here on tracks like Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You, which thank god make up the majority of the album.

Favorite Lyric: "Whatever colors you have in your mind / I'll show them to you and you'll see them shine."
Favorite Songs: Girl From the North Country (with Johnny Cash), Lay Lady Lay, Tell Me That It Isn't True, I Threw It All Away, Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You

Girl From the North Country with Johnny Cash

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dog

has anyone heard the basement tapes?, the album he did with 'the band'? is it any good?, i imagine it being great, but i cant find it anywhere

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http://theraffinkids.bandcamp.com/

music^

billyjerome

Excellent.

The Basement Tapes

And depending on how interested you are...

A Tree With Roots

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rconkling

I love the Basement Tapes-- I would have loved to have seen Dylan and The Band live-- The best musicians ever.