Six Listen Dylan

  Stripped-down and basic.  This album is baffling and mysterious: what is that house in The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest?  Is it St Augustine of Hippo? Canterbury? or some weird fever-dream angel/demon? It's such a total turn away from Blonde on Blonde: as if that was as far out as he could go, and he needed to come nearer to shore or he'd be swept away. Dylan truly is an artist who does exactly what he wants to, regardless of what others will think.  It's a cliché, but only because it's true.  In the same way Bowie completely sidestepped punk and emerged unscathed, Dylan dodges 1967 psychedelia for what would later be known as Americana: rootsy folk/blues/country/rock.   I'm really enjoying him now we're past the Mt. Rushmore of Blonde on Blonde.  As is always the case, the albums either side of "classics" tend to be just as interesting, or for me even better.

  I get the impression that this is seen as being the greatest of all Dylan albums: the first double album in rock (I believe), the greatest artistic statement Bob ever made. I mean, I like it  But I think I like Highway 61 Revisited more. Rainy Day Women #12 & #35 used to be an irritation to me.  Now it seems more like a beleaguered pop star trying to make light of his predicament.   Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat - ridiculous, makes me laugh every time.  We all know Dylan is funny, right? Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands is a sustained, late-night meditation on love.  My favourite song on the album. As for the rest?  I like them, but not as much as those three. However, I've got the measure of this Dylan cove now. These albums change as the listener changes, and will mean different things as the years go by.  I'm looking forward to it, because I'm pretty sure I haven't really grokked Blonde on Blonde yet.  Perhaps never will.  And that's the idea, isn't it?

This is one of his great albums in the usual reckoning.  I can see why. But dare I say it?  Like a Rolling Stone goes on a bit. Unlike Desolation Row, which the more I listen to it, the more I want it never to end. I enjoy this album top to bottom.  Out-of-tune guitars still present! I will listen to this over and over and always get something new out of it, I'm sure. There is scope for a Dylan fancy dress party.  Einstein dressed as Robin Hood.  Dr Filth, and the nurse (a local loser) in charge of the cyanide hole and the "Have mercy on his soul" cards.  And so on!   I now expect and enjoy the wheezy harmonica throughout, it's all part of the song.  And he can really sing.   Why on earth haven't I given Dylan the time of day before?

  This starts with Subterranean Homesick Blues - possibly the first music video?  It's great, but there are a number of these jokey stream-of-consciousness songs which I can live without.  Maggie's Farm is OK, but is a bit too similar to SHB for my liking.  Outlaw Blues, On The Road Again, Bob Dylan's 115th Dream...they are all OK.  The love songs on side 1 are (shocking!) all...OK too. For me, this album is all about the second side.  Mr Tambourine Man...why did the Byrds miss half the verses out??  Dylan can build a world in a single song and he really does it here.  Hypnotic. Gates of Eden: austere, mysterious, wonderful. It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding): I seem to hold my breath during this song.  I knew this song already: think a friend from university put it on a tape compilation thirty years ago.  I am a slow learner!  Staggering. It's All Over Now, Baby Blue: what an ending to an album.  In a number of his "finger-pointing" songs he can be q

Recorded in one session it seems. So, if anything, even more rough and ready than the previous albums.  Rough and ready is clearly Dylan's MO.  More little flubs, slightly out-of-tune guitars.   I have really enjoyed totally solo Dylan.  The songs are sung with such conviction. And another of the stunning extended songs: Chimes Of Freedom is as relevant now as it was then  "...flashing for the refugees on the unarmed road of flight." Silly shaggy dog stories like I Shall Be Free No. 10 and Motorpsycho Nitemare started off annoying but quickly become fun listens in between the more serious songs. It's confirmed: I'm a fan.

In DeAgostini's opinion, we need to hear Dylan's eponymous (vocab point!) first album third.  Commercially it makes sense I suppose. There are no well-known original songs on here for them to push.  I definitely feel we are going backwards.  There are times when he seems to be trying too hard to get that gutbucket folk/blues voice, almost to the extent of shredding his larynx.  This may explain a lot in the future, of course.  Most of the songs on this album are Trad.  House of the Rising Sun, Man of Constant Sorrow. An awful lot about death for a twenty-year old.  He generally does them well. His acoustic guitar fair rattles along.  Delighted to still hear the odd flub and slightly out -of-tune guitars, though curiously fewer than on the next two albums.  Just two originals here, of which Talkin' New York is the better.  Many artists have a song on an album that proves to be the sign of things to come. Talkin' New York is very like what we will hear on TFBD