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What is your favourite Bob Dylan album(s)?

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rousseau

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I like a good amount of his seventies output: Self Portrait, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, Blood on the Tracks, and Desire. If I was to choose only one of those four I'd go Desire.

I guess the 60's are where he made his mark, but I've never been too crazy about the albums from that decade. It's not that they're not good, they definitely are, but for whatever reason I gravitate towards those I listed anyway.
 
I'm one of those people that just doesn't get Dylan. I know it's almost a faux paux of sorts, and those that often claim musical sophistication in their tastes swear by him, but to me he sounds like a bag of cats being fed into a wood chipper. There are many I know that have great musical tastes and understanding of music, and they almost universally love Dylan. I've tried to listen to his stuff, but it just doesn't groove me; doesn't inspire. Perhaps you had to be a 60's kid to do so? I was a 70's kid, perhaps the disco permanently destroyed my musical appreciation. :p
 
braces_for_impact said:
I'm one of those people that just doesn't get Dylan. I know it's almost a faux paux of sorts, and those that often claim musical sophistication in their tastes swear by him, but to me he sounds like a bag of cats being fed into a wood chipper. There are many I know that have great musical tastes and understanding of music, and they almost universally love Dylan. I've tried to listen to his stuff, but it just doesn't groove me; doesn't inspire. Perhaps you had to be a 60's kid to do so? I was a 70's kid, perhaps the disco permanently destroyed my musical appreciation. :p
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Sincere question: how much of his music have you tried listening to? Individual songs? Full albums? Which albums? I ask because his catalogue and song-writing are incredibly diverse, so you might find that you don't like some of it, but there are other parts you do.

Thomas II said:
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The best song of his I know of to never make an album. As far as I can tell he wrote it early in his career and it was a bit too 'explicit'.
 
braces_for_impact said:
I'm one of those people that just doesn't get Dylan. I know it's almost a faux paux of sorts, and those that often claim musical sophistication in their tastes swear by him, but to me he sounds like a bag of cats being fed into a wood chipper. There are many I know that have great musical tastes and understanding of music, and they almost universally love Dylan. I've tried to listen to his stuff, but it just doesn't groove me; doesn't inspire. Perhaps you had to be a 60's kid to do so? I was a 70's kid, perhaps the disco permanently destroyed my musical appreciation. :p
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It's not about the music's technical sophistication, it's about the Zeitgeist it evokes; the idealism, the sweeping away of the old order and bright possibilities for the future.
 
Ah, when I clicked the thread, the title was cut off after the word Bob, so I think I was thinking it was about something else. But I can't remember what. I've never been a big music fan, so I never got into the "important" artists who peaked before the mid-90s. Bob Dylan goes into the same category as The Beatles-- the sound of his voice has killed any interest I might have had in his music, but I'm sure I've probably enjoyed other artists' covers of his work. Though the only one I can think of is "All Along the Watchtower"

seyorni said:
It's not about the music's technical sophistication, it's about the Zeitgeist it evokes; the idealism, the sweeping away of the old order and bright possibilities for the future.
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zeitgeist:the spirit of the time; general trend of thought or feeling characteristic of a particular period of time.

Is that what you mean? Would it follow that if you don't relate to a particular trend of thought or feeling, then music which evokes it would be less likely to resonate with you?

Can you identify any artists who evoke a different zeitgeist from the one you associate with Dylan? In particular, a more pessimistic zeitgeist? I'd like to test a hypothesis.

rousseau said:
The best song of his I know of to never make an album. As far as I can tell he wrote it early in his career and it was a bit too 'explicit'.
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What did you like about it? Is it the lyrics?
 
Unbeatable said:
Bob Dylan goes into the same category as The Beatles-- the sound of his voice has killed any interest I might have had in his music, but I'm sure I've probably enjoyed other artists' covers of his work. Though the only one I can think of is "All Along the Watchtower"
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It's true that PP&M did a more mellifluous version of The Times They are a Changing, the Byrds a more melodious My Back Pages and Joan Baez a prettier Forever Young, but Dylan was the original and the fact that so many others released interpretations can only be a tribute to him.


zeitgeist:the spirit of the time; general trend of thought or feeling characteristic of a particular period of time.

Is that what you mean? Would it follow that if you don't relate to a particular trend of thought or feeling, then music which evokes it would be less likely to resonate with you?
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Yep, that's what I mean.
Music is more that technical sophistication. People identify with and are inspired by the political or cultural ideals advocated more than musicological expertise.

Can you identify any artists who evoke a different zeitgeist from the one you associate with Dylan? In particular, a more pessimistic zeitgeist? I'd like to test a hypothesis.
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Blues always struck me as pretty depressing -- various artists.
 
seyorni said:
Blues always struck me as pretty depressing -- various artists.
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Somehow I forgot about such an obvious example as the blues. Possibly because I can't stand that genre. I guess that solves that conundrum-- pessimism is not a sufficient element in a zeitgeist for it to resonate with me. Maybe if it was more of a white middle class nihilistic sort of pessimism... or perhaps I'm just not sensitive to zeitgeists in general. Perhaps musical zeitgeists are too social for me to relate to.
 
Unbeatable said:
Ah, when I clicked the thread, the title was cut off after the word Bob, so I think I was thinking it was about something else. But I can't remember what. I've never been a big music fan, so I never got into the "important" artists who peaked before the mid-90s. Bob Dylan goes into the same category as The Beatles-- the sound of his voice has killed any interest I might have had in his music, but I'm sure I've probably enjoyed other artists' covers of his work. Though the only one I can think of is "All Along the Watchtower"


zeitgeist:the spirit of the time; general trend of thought or feeling characteristic of a particular period of time.

Is that what you mean? Would it follow that if you don't relate to a particular trend of thought or feeling, then music which evokes it would be less likely to resonate with you?

Can you identify any artists who evoke a different zeitgeist from the one you associate with Dylan? In particular, a more pessimistic zeitgeist? I'd like to test a hypothesis.

rousseau said:
The best song of his I know of to never make an album. As far as I can tell he wrote it early in his career and it was a bit too 'explicit'.
Click to expand...
What did you like about it? Is it the lyrics?
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Yea, lyrics.
 
Lyrics are important, and probably more poignant as they relate to the time they were written, still balance is important. If you have great lyrics, but your music sounds like Klingon opera, it's hard for me to want to listen. :)

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Pat Garrett and Billy, plus Blood On The Tracks. He has done so many good albums, but those two are fresh in my memory.
 
I'm much more into hard bop from '56-'65 and the Dead, these days, but I've been through times where I constantly listened to Dylan. There's tons of good stuff, there are mind-blazing one-shots like She's Your Lover Now and Abandoned Love... but the crown jewel, for me, is Blood on the Tracks. When I'm away from it long enough, and return to it, it's as good as ever. I stepped into a café one day and they were playing it on their sound system. I ended up staying for the last note of the last track because, even in that noisy café, listening to an album I had at home, it was irresistible.
 
One of my favourite songs of his is "Girl From The North Country"
 
What do you guys make of his latest stuff? I've not heard it myself.
 
People seem to like 'Time out of Mind', which in terms of his entire career could be considered 'latest' stuff even though it was released in 97. In terms of his last three I remember not hating 'Modern Times', but have never given the last couple a serious listen. At this point in his career the smokes have taken a bit too much of a toll.
 
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