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Post by Kapitan on Sept 25, 2020 12:17:23 GMT
Glad you enjoyed. As for your disagreements, obviously I disagree!
The live albums have actually been more of a slog than the studio ones, probably just because while I appreciate the unique arrangements, I'm just not a live albums guy and I've listened to so, so, so much Dylan lately... I just want to be done!
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Post by lonelysummer on Sept 26, 2020 5:39:59 GMT
I want to hear what you guys think of Before The Flood. If there's a consensus about that album, it's that the vocals are too "shouty"! Now where have I heard that before? "I long to reach for you, in the dead of NIIIIGGHHTTT!" "Everybody must get sto-honed!" "It sure ain't me babe!" "Mister Jo-Hones!" "You say you're sorry for tellin' me stories, you know I believe are TRUUUEEEE!" Even The Band's vocals on the album are sung that way. This ain't no folk rock, this is a hard rock album! It's too bad we'll probably never get a Bootleg Series from this tour. The shows earlier in the tour aren't so shouty, and the song selection more varied. There are some great live recordings from this tour of Forever Young, Something There Is About You, Wedding Song (sung at breakneck pace), As I Went Out One Morning, Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues....
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Post by Kapitan on Sept 26, 2020 12:31:22 GMT
It's far and away my favorite of the four live albums I've gotten through so far. I gave it a 7.9.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Sept 26, 2020 13:17:11 GMT
I want to hear what you guys think of Before The Flood. If there's a consensus about that album, it's that the vocals are too "shouty"! Now where have I heard that before? "I long to reach for you, in the dead of NIIIIGGHHTTT!" "Everybody must get sto-honed!" "It sure ain't me babe!" "Mister Jo-Hones!" "You say you're sorry for tellin' me stories, you know I believe are TRUUUEEEE!" Even The Band's vocals on the album are sung that way. This ain't no folk rock, this is a hard rock album! It's too bad we'll probably never get a Bootleg Series from this tour. The shows earlier in the tour aren't so shouty, and the song selection more varied. There are some great live recordings from this tour of Forever Young, Something There Is About You, Wedding Song (sung at breakneck pace), As I Went Out One Morning, Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues.... While I appreciate Dylan's different vocal styles throughout his career, the one he used for Before The Flood is a little off-putting. It's not that he just changed some of the arrangements, he does, as you put it, shout his way through many of the songs.
I guess someday there will be a bootleg series for this tour, but they could simply re-issue Before The Flood in an expanded form. The 2CD set clocks in at 92:38. That leaves a whopping 67 minutes of available space left! They could fit a lot of additional songs in there.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Sept 26, 2020 14:32:43 GMT
How about these three legendary voices getting together to sing Dylan:
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Post by B.E. on Sept 26, 2020 22:50:30 GMT
I want to hear what you guys think of Before The Flood. If there's a consensus about that album, it's that the vocals are too "shouty"! Now where have I heard that before? "I long to reach for you, in the dead of NIIIIGGHHTTT!" "Everybody must get sto-honed!" "It sure ain't me babe!" "Mister Jo-Hones!" "You say you're sorry for tellin' me stories, you know I believe are TRUUUEEEE!" Even The Band's vocals on the album are sung that way. This ain't no folk rock, this is a hard rock album! Great examples. I can hear them all in my head. I love it. Especially - "Mister Jo-Hones!". I understand where some fans are coming from, it can be exhausting if you're not in the mood. There's virtually zero finesse. But, fine, let it be what it is - a hard rock album! It's there when we're in the mood for it. It's a freakin' rock concert, anyway, not a poetry reading. Live 1975 is very well regarded among fans and Dylan and his band are going just as hard, if not harder in spots. The highlights for me are "Like A Rolling Stone", "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)", "Most Likely You Go Your Way", "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down", "Ballad Of A Thin Man", and "Knockin' On Heaven's Door". Toss in "Rainy Day Women", which transforms from a novelty tune to a rock song, and "Highway 61 Revisited". Those songs, and a few others, are a blast. Now, I'm not giving Bob an A+ for his vocals. Some were executed better than others. While the harmonica is fantastic, his lead on "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" had a few bumps. And, a few of the leads were downright over-the-top (IMO): "Just Like A Woman" and "Blowin' In The Wind". Some of the arrangements weren't to my liking, either. My biggest issue is the synth throughout the album. Not a fan. I'm also not too keen on some of the Band's songs. I've played around with a shortened playlist. The album could use a trim. A very high 6/10. It's too bad we'll probably never get a Bootleg Series from this tour. The shows earlier in the tour aren't so shouty, and the song selection more varied. There are some great live recordings from this tour of Forever Young, Something There Is About You, Wedding Song (sung at breakneck pace), As I Went Out One Morning, Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues.... Never heard the unofficial stuff. "Something There Is About You" and "Wedding Song" are of particular interest.
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Post by B.E. on Sept 26, 2020 22:51:14 GMT
I take it you're a fan of the album, lonelysummer?
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Post by lonelysummer on Sept 26, 2020 23:40:48 GMT
I do think it's a very strong album; only minor complaint is that ALL of the songs are played the same way - hard, fast and loud! I've always taken that to be Bob's response to playing in cold, large arenas to thousands of people. There is a chemistry that occurs when Bob plays with The Band, and that occurs here. 2 years later, when they back him up at The Last Waltz, it's the exact same sound - Bob screaming out "she acts like we never have met!" "I'd do anything in this God Almighty world! if you just let me follow you down!" It might not be a sound I'm always in the mood for, but when I am, it knocks me out. It was downright kind of Bob to give a side and a half of the double album over to the Band, considering that Rock of Ages was only a couple years before the list, and the song selection is mostly the same. From the tech standpoint, it's an excellent recording. One of the things that's always annoyed me about Hard Rain is the sound of the drums - they're so thin. It almost sounds like a bootleg. Before the Flood has none of those issues. This will always be the definitive version of "Most Likely You Go Your Way" for me. It's so full of rage and power! Ditto for "It's Alright Ma". We've got the Rolling Thunder "bootleg" from the first leg of the tour to compare with Hard Rain. Now I'd like a bootleg series set from the latter half of the 78 tour. Bob Dylan At Budokan is a nice sounding recording - in fact, in terms of audio fidelity, the best of his 70's live albums; but that group hadn't quite caught fire yet. I hope there are some professional recordings from the European shows, or the US leg of the tour.
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Post by B.E. on Sept 27, 2020 0:23:30 GMT
From the tech standpoint, it's an excellent recording. One of the things that's always annoyed me about Hard Rain is the sound of the drums - they're so thin. It almost sounds like a bootleg. Before the Flood has none of those issues. Spot-on observation. I've listened to Hard Rain a few times this summer and with each listen the drums standout more and more. It doesn't ruin the album for me at all, but it almost sounds like rimshots throughout! This will always be the definitive version of "Most Likely You Go Your Way" for me. It's so full of rage and power! Yeah, I love this version. I'm sold with the first "WRONG!" and "STRONG!" What a perfect way to kick off the album.
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Post by Kapitan on Sept 28, 2020 15:48:02 GMT
Updated final ratings to incorporate the live albums (found in italics). Fun exercise, but I admit I'm glad to be done. In hindsight, I wish I'd incorporated the live albums into the main listening experience, because this felt a bit like waiting to the end for the worst albums. Not that they're actually the worst--I rated several studio albums worse than most--but it felt really pointless to me to do this.
In the end, I'm still just not a "live albums guy." If the arrangements are the same, I'd rather have the studio albums. If they vary, I'd rather hear varied arrangements in the studio (as we've gotten with Dylan in things like alternative approaches to "Mississippi," "Dignity," or "Most of the Time," for example, through the bootleg series).
Bringing It All Back Home - 10 Blood On The Tracks - 10 Highway 61 Revisited - 10 Blonde On Blonde - 10
Love & Theft - 9.9 The Basement Tapes - 9.2 The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan - 9
Modern Times - 8.8 Desire 8.7 John Wesley Harding - 8.3 Oh Mercy - 8 Time Out Of Mind - 8
Before The Flood - 7.9 The Times They Are A-Changin’ - 7.8 Planet Waves - 7.7
Nashville Skyline - 7.2 Bob Dylan - 7 Together Through Life - 7 New Morning - 7 World Gone Wrong - 7
Good As I Been To You - 6.8 Tempest - 6.8 Slow Train Coming - 6.7 Another Side Of Bob Dylan - 6.7 Shadows In The Night - 6.7 Christmas In The Heart - 6.7 Rough and Rowdy Ways - 6.6 Unplugged - 6.8 Shot Of Love - 6.3 Saved - 6.3
Hard Rain - 5.9 Fallen Angels - 5.8 Infidels - 5.5 Bob Dylan at Budokan 5.3 Real Live - 5 Dylan & the Dead - 5 Triplicate - 5
Street Legal - 4.8 Knocked Out Loaded - 4.3 Under The Red Sky - 4.3 Empire Burlesque - 4.3 Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid - 4.1 Down in the Groove - 4.1 Dylan - 4.1
Self Portrait 3.9
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Post by B.E. on Sept 28, 2020 17:10:30 GMT
I'm curious about two things in particular:
1) I'm surprised Hard Rain landed where it did. How come it compared so unfavorably with Before The Flood, for instance?
2) Since it's my favorite album, I'm curious what it is about Another Side Of Bob Dylan that keeps you from rating it higher.
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Post by Kapitan on Sept 28, 2020 17:20:18 GMT
I'm curious about two things in particular: 1) I'm surprised Hard Rain landed where it did. How come it compared so unfavorably with Before The Flood, for instance? 2) Since it's my favorite album, I'm curious what it is about Another Side Of Bob Dylan that keeps you from rating it higher. My answers are not going to be very satisfying...
1) I'm not that big a fan of the Rolling Thunder band/sound, and if I wanted to listen, I'd go to the bootleg series. Though actually I don't think its score is especially unfavorable, really.
2) No reason whatsoever to give. I just don't really feel like listening to it much. It has some great songs, but most of those I'd rather listen to in other versions. But also, a 6.7 is a pretty good score in my book.
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Post by Kapitan on Oct 21, 2020 12:04:08 GMT
I just heard on our local public radio station that it was on this day in 1961 that Bob Dylan recorded his debut, self-titled album. They made the point that he recorded it entirely in that one day for a cost of $400.
Somebody is lying to me.
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Post by Kapitan on Oct 23, 2020 14:15:36 GMT
I hadn't been following this, but apparently the late (d. 2019) Minneapolis musician Tony Glover--a longtime friend of Bob Dylan's--has an unpublished, long 1971 interview that will be auctioned soon. The local music critic who focuses on legacy artists, Jon Bream, published this summary of the highlights:
And here is Rolling Stone's "story of the story" deep dive, published a couple days ago.
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Post by Kapitan on Oct 23, 2020 17:17:07 GMT
Hey, Bob--as I call my ol' pal now--and I think alike with literature! From the Rolling Stone story I linked above:
I LOVE that book, "The Slave"! And I have never in any way found Kerouac to be much of anything. As Truman Capote is said to have said of Kerouac's "On the Road," "that's not writing, it's typing."
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