49 replies to this topic

[bobsatwork]

holy crap is Tell-Tale Signs another great record. all of his bootleg releases have been essential. where do i go from here? p.s. ~ i've already got all the other albums he's released. i've always just kind of held off from the above records for some reason. p.p.s. ~ actually, i don't have either Time out of Mind or Modern Times anymore. i had them once but they didn't do much for me. i should probably take them out of the library again at some point. Bootleg Volume 8 is amazing to me.

[Sid Hartha]

I'm torn with this.

You need to get either John Wesley Harding or New Morning - two albums that I came late to as well. Both are filled with incredible songs. Both are somewhat flawed by neglectful production - which is a bit off-putting at first - but that becomes a plus with repeated listens.

p.p.s. ~ Time out of Mind deserves a retrial. I've been listening to that one lately on the iPod. Darklands, Trying To Get To Heaven, Standing In The Doorway rank among his best songs.

[velocity]

I voted for JWH because it's the only one on your list I'm familiar with. He still sings melodies on it, that's a plus. A friend loved Time Out of Mind when he was going through a divorce. That's all I know.

[Pavement Ist Rad]

Love the production on John Wesley Harding. Everything is very cleanly separated. The way to do a stripped down recording correctly.

Killer bass playing on there. "As I Went Out One Morning," damn.

Quality album.

[RadioHitchcock]

I went with New Morning.

Most people would say avoid Self Portrait, I think. But I still enjoy it. It's got the definitive version of "Quinn The Eskimo" and most of the covers aren't bad like "Gotta Travel On" and there are a couple of good instrumentals. Shouldn't be the next purchase, but don't avoid it entirely either. I'm down to the crap discs to fill out my collection as well.

[Waylon]

I voted for Self Portrait.

[maxexactly]

I think I'd go with John Wesley Harding.

[Rob Gordon]

It's the obvious leader, JWH

[M_Rots]

I say you need about half of these: JWH is excellent - the last great record he did int he '60s. But I voted for Street Legal, an album many fans are less than enamored of, simply b/c "Where Are You Tonight (Journey Through Dark Heat)" is one of Dylan's more underrated epic songs, and eminently worth hearing.

[davidortiz]

1. pat garrett and billy the kid] 2. john wesley harding 3. new morning

[stignasty]

1. pat garrett and billy the kid]
2. john wesley harding
3. new morning

Hard to argue with a guy nicknamed David Ortiz and who has a Dylan avatar. Hard but not impossible. John Wesley Harding is the right answer.

[bobsatwork]

are any of his records so weak i should avoid them?

[birdistheword]

John Wesley Harding. It's a no-brainer, his last great album before the 'amnesia' (as Dylan called it) set in. Not a single duff track.

Self Portrait is considered one of his worst. It's far more interesting listening to people's explanations for it than the album itself. Long story short, some people theorize it was Dylan's way of lowering expectations. Dylan claimed this in the '80s, but I think it's revisionism given the recollections of people working with Dylan when Self Portrait hit the streets. Mostly boring, mediocre stuff, lots of covers, lots of strings, lots of weak singing...having said that, "Copper Kettle" is actually a nice, lush cover, and "Wigwam" has its charms as background music (it was used in The Royal Tenenbaums).

New Morning is lightweight stuff. Not bad, but not great. There's a handful of excellent performances on there, but there's also three, maybe four songs that are horrible. I'd get it, but save it for later.

Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid good soundtrack to a great Western (the "Turner preview cut," that is). But it's a soundtrack, meaning most of it's instrumentals. There's really just two songs. One of them's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door."

I used to hate Planet Waves, but I like it now. Nothing earth shattering, but the performances and the singing are pretty strong. Dylan wrote many of the songs fairly quick just to have enough for the album...it shows, BUT there are good songs. Some lightweight pleasantries, true, and the lyrics are occasionally pedestrian, but I really like "Tough Mama," "Dirge" and "Going, Going, Gone" among others.

Street Legal has its defenders...about half the songs have something to recommend, but the overall production is horrendous and often cheesy, and "No Time to Think" is arguably the worst music he's ever made. An acquired taste and even then I'd skip a bunch of tracks. This is also the first album where Dylan's singing really heads south....for the first time, we really get to hear that nasal bleating stand-up comedians associate with Dylan. For some reason, he sticks with the higher registers, doesn't enunciate well, and that off-key whining effect begins to bleed into his phrasing.

Hate At Budokan. I'm tempted to call it his absolute worst, and he's released a lot of horrible crap. I've given this a try several times but I will NEVER buy this. Yeah, so Dylan's trying to do something different with his old songs, but this isn't the Band or the Rolling Thunder Revue, these are horrible ideas. I think Dylan was consciously trying to do something like Elvis' shows just before he died (hence the Vegas-like sound), but the results speak for themselves. TERRIBLE.

Slow Train Coming sounds absolutely gorgeous, one of the best productions ever to grace a Dylan LP, and the melodies are very pretty. Unfortunately, the lyrics are rarely more than callow rants, and Dylan's singing is occasionally awful.

Saved is one of his worst, yet "Pressing On" is one of the few GOOD songs released from this period.

Shot of Love is horrendous. "Groom's Still Waiting at the Altar" is a ferocious rocker, but it was originally a B-side - they added it on later LP and CD pressings. "Every Grain of Sand" is gorgeous, but I hate the rest. Some drippy songs, some angry crackpot rants, and not a fan of the overall production.

Often called one of Dylan's "lost masterpieces," I really like the sound on Infidels. Yeah, it's very polished and pop, but I like it. Like mixing the best elements of a Dire Straits record over a Sly & Robbie rhythm track, topped off with Mick Taylor's guitar fills. Don't like "Neighborhood Bully," "License to Kill" or "Union Sundown" (there's at least 5 outtakes that are much better), but I really like the rest of the cuts.

Real Live has an excellent live rendition of "Tangled Up in Blue" (a favorite song on that tour). The rest is disposable.

Empire Burlesque sucks. Yeah, "Tight Connection" has its charms, but it was much better as "Something's Got a Hold of My Heart" (the version Sony has YET to release...it's on the first volume of The Genuine Bootleg Series. Great guitar fills courtesy of Mick Taylor). "Dark Eyes" is a very nice track, but I can do without the rest.

I love the sessions cut for Oh Mercy...I just don't love the finished product. Hate "When Teardrops Fall" and "Disease of Conceit," and never cared much for "Political World." All three could've been replaced by better, EXCELLENT songs finished at those sessions. The rest of the LP is very good. Overall, a missed opportunity, but okay as is.

Good As I Been To You and World Gone Wrong often get lumped together, but listen to them side-by-side and World Gone Wrong is clearly the better album, IMHO. Lo-fi yes, but the performances, especially the singing, are much better. Good As I Been To You sounds more like the nasal bleating that so many have parodied. On World Gone Wrong, Dylan settles down a bit in his voice, gives more thought to the phrasing (not to mention enunciation) and sounds more like the haunted, scarred voice you hear on Time Out of Mind.

MTV Unplugged is all right. Not great but just fine...it's notable for Dylan's first official unveiling of "Dignity," and the crowd absolutely loves it. On the DVD it gets a huge ovation.

[Pavement Ist Rad]

Two people so far in this thread dismissing Nashville Skyline.

Probably my favorite Dylan album.

[Ned Braden]

Two people so far in this thread dismissing Nashville Skyline.

Probably my favorite Dylan album.

No shit. Second. Dylan's last great record in the '60s? Fucking this one.
I really really need to get on that JWH. I have unfortunately never heard it.

[Ѡ҈҉Ѡ҈҉Ѡ҈҉Ѡ҈҉Ѡ҈҉Ѡ҈҉Ѡ҈҉Ѡ҈҉Ѡ҈҉Ѡ]

listen to three tracks of john wesley harding, deleted it off my computer, all in ten minutes, i love the internet

[Pookie]

Nice summation of some of Dylan's albums, bird. Like other people, I think John Wesley Harding is the best of the albums you listed, bob.

I confess I am not Dylan's biggest fan, though I like seven or eight of his records, most of which bob apparantly has. I am not a fan of most of the stuff listed in the poll. I guess I'll write about a few of Bob's releases in the eighites. I like Infidels a little less than bird: the drumming is horribly boring--it's like the drummer Sly Dunbar is whacking a pillow with a stick. Dylan relies too heavily on cliches too: "What's a sweetheart like you doin' in a dump like this?" and "Don't Fall Apart on Me Tonight." Still, "Jokerman" is very good and overall, it's decent. The one album in Dylan's catalog that I think is underrated is Shot of Love, which bird calls "horrendous." "Every Grain of Sand" is my pick for his best song of the eighties. "In the Summertime" is pretty great as well. "Property of Jesus" and "Groom's Still Waiting at the Altar" are good too. It won't blind you with its brilliance, but like Infidels, it has its charms.

Slightly better than these two, though not totally good, is Oh Mercy. "Everything is Broken," "Man in the Long Black Coat," "Most of the Time," and "Shooting Star" (minus a bad middle eight on the latter) are good tracks. It could have been better because I don't like some of the songs, like "Disease of Conceit" and "What Was It You Wanted," to name two, but I think it's worth owning.

[M_Rots]

I say you need about half of these: JWH is excellent - the last great record he did int he '60s. But I voted for Street Legal, an album many fans are less than enamored of, simply b/c "Where Are You Tonight (Journey Through Dark Heat)" is one of Dylan's more underrated epic songs, and eminently worth hearing.

Really, it's easier to not recommend. I would avoid, for the time being, Self Portrait, New Morning, Planet Waves and Pat Garret and Bily the Kid. Between all these, there's maybe one fairly long Cd's worth of good stuff.

Saved is Dylan at his most humorless and strident. Shot of Love is marginally better. Slow Train is by far the best of the gospel records. Produced by Jerry Wexler at Muscle Shoals, it's a great soul album, esp. "Gotta Serve Somebody and "Precious Angel."

At Budokan vies with Real Live for worst Dylan live record. The best live document from this period is Hard Rain, culled from the Southern leg of the Rolling Thunder Revue, and featuring a shrieking, ringing, Mick Ronson-dominated "Shelter From the Storm." Has to be heard to be believed.

Infidels is a nearly perfect record, although the bootlegged, original version is supposedly about 100 times better. Empire Burlesque has a lot of great songs, but they're underserved by Arthur Baker's tinny, synth-dominated production. A very '80s record, in the worst sense. Good As I Been to You is maybe half covers - a real mixed bag. Some of it, especially "Rank Strangers" and "90 Miles An Hour Down a Dead End Street" make it worth the price of admission.

Finally, Oh Mercy! and World Gone Wrong are as close to perfect as Dylan got in this period. Oh Mercy! has that Daniel Lanois, sonorous-yet-swampy, atmospheric vibe, and the songs are consistently strong. World Gone Wrong is the better of the two traditional folk albums. "Two Soldiers" is heartbreaking, even though his voice is about shot.

Avoid at all costs Under the Red Sky, seek out Greatest Hits Vol III, and definitel get Mtv Unplugged - he sounds more engaged and "on" than he had in a while.

That third volume of the Greatest Hits is a pretty good way to hear the beter stuff from many of the records I advise against. Eventually, however, you may find yourself getting all of them. Even Dylan's worst records have a few tracks that make them interesting, if not essential.

[Mitchell]

John Wesley Harding a five star record imo.

It is coming in May 2009.

[M_Rots]

John Wesley Harding a five star record imo.

Don't disagree with that at all. When I first heard it as a kid, I didn't get it. 15 years or so later, I really, really got it.