I like the analysis style. Looking forward to rankings of future decades! Here’s how I would rank his 60s work: S - Blonde on Blonde, Highway 61 Revisited, Bringing It All Back Home A - John Wesley Harding, Nashville Skyline, Freewheelin’ B - C - Another Side, Bob Dylan, Times They Are A Changin’
I absolutely love highway 61 revisited and his many songs but his other albums are not my cup of tea. And more than that I love prime Dylan himself. I am 18 and I am so happy to discover Dylan when I was 16. I am still finding out Dylan any advise for me?
Great question! If you love Highway 61, I’d say spend some time with Bringing It All Back Home and Blonde On Blonde, the other two great surrealist albums of that era. Then, check out Blood On The Tracks, and if you’re still having fun, visit Love And Theft for something wildly different.
Tier lists don’t interest me much, especially if they ain’t mine. So I have a question about the Freewheelin sessions. The fingerstyle guitar pattern for Don’t Think Twice. It’s iconic, unorthodox and very difficult to play. Did Dylan play this or was a session player doing that? I’ve never heard Dylan play that pattern live. He tends to strum and/or flat-pick it. It’s sort of in that same urban music myth category as the You Really Got Me (Kinks) studio version and whether Dave Davies played the solo or session man Jim Page did it. I heard Dave Von Ronk may have done the Dylan recording.
@@GoneButNotGone It’s a good question, and I believe it’s Dylan, for a couple reasons. Dylan was a decent but not perfect fingerpicker, and this pattern has just enough prettiness and irregularity to sound like him. Also, it’s very well-coordinated with the vocal part, and as a singer/songwriter, I know that’s very hard to do when playing with an accompanist, even a very good one.
@ A well reasoned answer, which I share. I think it’s him playing precisely because it’s so unusual. Sometimes guitar players find a groove in a moment and just nail it, and sometimes they simply can’t replicate it again. Dylan was a much better guitarist than he’s often given credit for. He absorbed styles of the day like a sponge. Not sure if he has perfect pitch but the way he learned so quickly suggests he may have it. In one interview (maybe the Scorcese documentary), he talked about his ability to listen to a record once, maybe twice, then being able to play it from memory. I love that first album with the covers, because it’s the first one I really heard and it still has a raw energy and earnestness.
Slow Train Coming is a great album, Saved has almost nothing worth listening to on it and “Every Grain of Sand” single handedly carries the entire last album, that’s how I see them 😂 the live albums from this time are pretty good tho
Dear landlord Please don't put a price on my soul My burden is heavy My dreams are beyond control When that steamboat whistle blows I'm going to give you all I got to give And I do hope you receive it well Depending on the way you feel that you live Dear landlord Please heed these words that I speak I know you've suffered much But in this you are not so unique All of us, at times we might work too hard To have it too fast and too much And anyone can fill his life up With things he can see but he just cannot touch Dear landlord Please don't dismiss my case I'm not about to argue I'm not about to move to no other place Now, each of us has his own special gift And you know this was meant to be true And if you don't underestimate me I won't underestimate you
I’d probably keep everyone in S but move freewheelin up there as well. Then move The Times they are a changin, John Wesley Harding, and Nashville Skyline to A and keep the debut in C. But still a great tier list!
For those wanting to learn about Dylan, you should point them in the direction of the new book, "You Don't Need a Weatherman: Bob Dylan for Beginners". I'd love to know what you think of it
My ranking for the sixties and the top 5 below are also my top 5 Bob Dylan albums. For albums after the sixties, the ones I enjoy most are Blood on the Tracks, Love and Theft, Oh Mercy, Desire, Time Out of Mind and Modern Times. 1. Blonde on Blonde just barely 2. Highway 61 Revisited These top two are super close to me. When I was younger Highway 61 was my favorite now I would give a slight edge to Blonde on Blonde but they have always been number 1 or 2 for all his albums. I like Blonde on Blonde a bit better because of the greater vulnerability and sophistication in the range of expression and arrangements and the sense of greater immediacy and intimacy in delivery. For songs you said you weren't impressed with, I like Pledging My Time, Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands a lot, but would say Temporary Like Achilles is the weakest link, though I still kind of like it. I add Please Crawl out My Window to Blonde on Blonde and Positively 4th Street to Highway 61 since it makes for an even more engaging listening experiences and since they were recorded at the same time as these releases. 3. Bringing It All Back Home- this one has always been number 3 4. Another Side of Bob Dylan 5. The Basement Tapes 6. Really close between John Wesley Harding and Freewheelin' 7. The Times Are a Changin' 8. Nashville Skyline 8. The Debut
I usually see how close someone is with my own ranking, with the understanding that both are opinions and nothing more. This is perhaps the first time that someone has matched exactly the rankings I would have had. I'll need to change mine a bit ... I don't want anyone agreeing with me ... gives me the heebie-jeebies.
I can’t believe you didn’t mention the re recording of girl from the north country with Johnny cash on Nashville. I’d say that’s arguably the best song on that album
I actually did but edited it out. I feel that it has a certain charm but I take the original over it any day. Back in my bootleg collecting days I had a recording of that full session, and suffice to say, it was a cooler document than a good session.
I actually love the debut for the crazy punk energy and raw emotion I'd probably rank em Highway 61 Revisited Blonde on Blonde Bringing it all Back Home John Wesley Harding Freewheelin Bob Dylan The Times they are a Changin Another Side Nashville Skyline but everything he did in the 60s was pretty much great
Yeah I mean something to keep in mind here is that we're comparing Dylan's albums against his own work only. The only reason the debut is as low as it is is because of the heights he'd reach later in the decade.
would say Tweez to Spiderland is the greatest quantum leap. With Bob Dylan to Freewheelin you have someone go from being fine to great. With Tweez to Spiderland you have a band go from teenagers with hiss and fuzz to the greatest band of their era.
The great thing about being into or a Dylan fan/scholar is that you also learn so much about musical history in general through him. Also, I respect your take and can see where you are coming from on JWH. But I'm a little more on your friends side about that one. Something always brings me back to it. That intangible thing. But some of my friends don't really care for it either. You are pretty spot on about Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands. It's perhaps his most epic song, but you can really feel him trying to push it. It's amazing to listen too and still beautiful, but it doesn't feel as natural and organic as Visions of Johanna or Desolation Row.
Yeah exactly - it wants to be the Desolation Row of Blonde on Blonde but it just doesn't hit as hard. I have a lot of love for JWH - I just feel like it's a less impactful poetics than he'd developed for those prior few albums.
John Wesley Harding in the B tier is a little crazy for me. The lyricism and sound on that album are incredibly unique. It's arguably the first country and religious rock LP ever released. With Dylan even going as far as naming it, "the first Biblical rock album."
Yeah, this is another one that I’m not super fond of on that album. The lyric is sort of scant, and I think most of the reason why people dig it is that (amazing, admittedly) snare part in the chorus.
I pretty much agree with your overall album assessments, with my biggest disagreement being that I would definitely put Blonde on Blonde ahead of Bringing It All Back Home. However, I agree with the tier that you put each album in, with the possible exception of that I might call Bringing It All Back Home high A rather than S.
Re: BIABH, it's S-tier largely because of the majesty of those songs on side 2. As far as I'm concerned, Mr. Tambourine Man, Gates Of Eden, It's Alright, Ma, and It's All Over Now Baby Blue is one of the most perfect album sides ever. And side 1 has enough classics/near-classics of its own to keep it S-tier.
Side 2 of Bringing It All Back Home is probably the best run of songs ever. Cant wait for the 70s albums ranked! Street Legal is a favorite record of mine
As someone who loves Nashville Skyline and would have it in S, I never understood why people love Lay Lady Lay so much. It’s a great song sure, but there’s a few others on the album I think are better. The album can’t really compare to some of Dylan’s all-timers but it’s my favorite. I just really fw that twangy country guitar
"Sad Eyed Lady..." is, I think, better than you think. Reaching? yes. In vain? yes. It is reaching for the unattainable. No one can know another as he seeks to know this Lady. Its cadence is courtly and patient yet almost funereal in its resignation. Should I wait? perhaps not. I'd be curious to know your take on "warehouse eyes". Has he seen too much? Is he unable to forget? Don't give up on this song. I listen to it 5 or 6 times a year because that's all the heartbreak I can stand.
This is a really well-made point! I'll concede that "Should I wait?" is an apt way to end the chorus. However, I don't love "Warehouse eyes" as an image - it reminds me of some of the lesser songs from this period, like "I Wanna Be Your Lover" (an outtake), where he's experimenting with surrealism but not quite hitting nerves with it.
The Times...has a lot of character driven narratives that make it feel more thematically consistent than the rather hit or miss predecessor. The follow up has yodelling on the opening track so it is flawed straight out if the gate. Of the three Times gets nod for me.
For me, all Dylan's 60s albums are 5 star, with the exception of the debut and Nashville Skyline, which are 4 stars. Why? Because irrespective of any 'faults' or weak tracks, the run of albums from Freewheelin to JWH were so culturally influential and so ahead of their time that the 5 star status is deserved. Btw, I wouldn't call yourself a Dylan scholar. I have all his albums, the whole Bootleg Series, I have read a couple dozen books about him. But the 'meaning' of the songs are really what they mean to you. Dylan can't explain alot of those 60s songs, so how can you or I? I'm a fan. You're a fan. The phrase 'Dylan scholar' would most likely make Mr Zimmerman feel ill, lol. Anyways, enjoyed and subscribed.
I take your points! I mean the "scholar" term as a slightly tongue-in-cheek way to distinguish listeners like you and me from more casual admirers. But I appreciate you checking out the video and weighing in!
Prior to watching. (We're on the same page): My very favorite Dylan album is none other Than: 'Highway 61 Revisited'... (Not that this should be a surprising favorite Dylan album to anyone, though.... So, no marks for originality!!) SS-tier
lol this guy really doesn’t like the blues! Blonde on Blonde doesn’t HAVE to be your favorite but i wish you’d give better reasons for it not being higher. Your 3 filler examples are sonically some of my favorites off the whole thing! personally feels weeeeird to me to put it below BIABH, but i’m happy for more Dylan content nonetheless, keep it up
One thing I might experiment with next time is extending my assessments a bit. I kept them short this time but might have omitted some important ideas in doing so. On the whole with Blonde on Blonde, there’s a compositional looseness whose chaos is by turns rewarding and not - One Of Us Must Know is a prime example of the latter, where behind the exuberant studio take is a pretty basic song. A number of them fall into this category for me.
@ hopefully i didn’t come off saltier than i meant to, i appreciate any and all opinions from someone who knows their stuff. even tho i disagree with your expanded reasoning haha i think it makes for an interesting perspective. i think that simplicity adds to the “pop” leaning he seemed to be going for on many cuts of that album, but the build-up and payoffs are still very effective and moving to me. I was gonna say it happened to be another favorite of mine but i realized I could say that for most of the album lol
Swap Blonde with Freewheelin' and you're there. BoB is not only his most over rated record, but probably the most over rated in musical history. it does have some great songs, but around half of it is absolutely inessential. Side 3 is a bit crap, sad eyed lady goes nowhere, and is just dull. there's no need for it to be 11 minutes long. take out maybe 7 songs and you have a very good LP.
@@DustinLowmanMusic yeah, but from people who haven't actually listened to it. Ive been in a room of people who were asked what the best album ever made was, and they all argued for a bit before agreeing that it was Sgt Peppers. None of them could name more than 3 songs from it, but they didnt want to get it wrong. Thats the problem with readers/viewer polls. 99% of people dont get that theyre being asked thier opinion.
I agree that Highway 61 is probably his best - it’s my favourite, at least - but I think TTTAAC, Blonde On Blonde and JWH deserve far more credit than you give them. The songwriting and performances on both are sublime. I also don’t understand why a classic album can’t be bleak; it’s a work of art and that’s the tone and there are very few Dylan albums that don’t mark a change of tone or direction from the last. If you want humour, you have Another Side (which is also my favourite of the first four, but it’s not ‘better’ than it’s predecessor).
I mean, listing is always somewhat of a fool’s errand, you’re inevitably going to compare apples to oranges. Really what this reflects is my taste: Bleakness resonates less with me than a comitragic mix.
Blonde on blonde to me is the peak of surrealist Dylan. The musical backing helps. I think visions of Johanna is a classic
Some of his best surrealist writing, no doubt.
the live version of Visions...on Biograph is the best version.
More videos like this and artist breakdowns! You kill this format!
That means a lot, thank you! More on the way.
Thanks for a great and entertaining video. I don't agree, but that's another story. Merry Christmas from Sweden!
These videos are as much about where you disagree as where you agree. Nothing written in stone, just opinions. Merry Christmas!
Best is blonde on blonde, Achilles, five believers and sad eyed lady are like my three fav dylan songs ever
Let us celebrate the plurality of opinions his music permits!
I like the analysis style. Looking forward to rankings of future decades!
Here’s how I would rank his 60s work:
S - Blonde on Blonde, Highway 61 Revisited, Bringing It All Back Home
A - John Wesley Harding, Nashville Skyline, Freewheelin’
B -
C - Another Side, Bob Dylan, Times They Are A Changin’
6:53 I’m curious, what do you consider to be the greatest song of all time? Excellent video, can’t wait for the next one!
An impossible question to be sure. But one worth investigating at great length in a future video. Thanks for watching!
As a person who’s listened to all 40 of Bob Dylan’s album I can safely say I’m a big Dylan fan, I’d say 20 of the 40 albums are 10/10 albums imo
Where we agree is that so many of Bob Dylan’s albums are rewarding listens. I’m a big Pete Townshend fan too by the way!
Great. Looking forward to the rest.
Cheers!
Temporary like Achilles IS an essential song
Why are you so hard???
Bloke knows his stuff.❤
@@OrggsOrggs Cheers 😊
I absolutely love highway 61 revisited and his many songs but his other albums are not my cup of tea. And more than that I love prime Dylan himself. I am 18 and I am so happy to discover Dylan when I was 16. I am still finding out Dylan any advise for me?
Great question! If you love Highway 61, I’d say spend some time with Bringing It All Back Home and Blonde On Blonde, the other two great surrealist albums of that era. Then, check out Blood On The Tracks, and if you’re still having fun, visit Love And Theft for something wildly different.
Tier lists don’t interest me much, especially if they ain’t mine. So I have a question about the Freewheelin sessions. The fingerstyle guitar pattern for Don’t Think Twice. It’s iconic, unorthodox and very difficult to play. Did Dylan play this or was a session player doing that? I’ve never heard Dylan play that pattern live. He tends to strum and/or flat-pick it. It’s sort of in that same urban music myth category as the You Really Got Me (Kinks) studio version and whether Dave Davies played the solo or session man Jim Page did it. I heard Dave Von Ronk may have done the Dylan recording.
@@GoneButNotGone It’s a good question, and I believe it’s Dylan, for a couple reasons. Dylan was a decent but not perfect fingerpicker, and this pattern has just enough prettiness and irregularity to sound like him. Also, it’s very well-coordinated with the vocal part, and as a singer/songwriter, I know that’s very hard to do when playing with an accompanist, even a very good one.
@
A well reasoned answer, which I share. I think it’s him playing precisely because it’s so unusual. Sometimes guitar players find a groove in a moment and just nail it, and sometimes they simply can’t replicate it again. Dylan was a much better guitarist than he’s often given credit for. He absorbed styles of the day like a sponge. Not sure if he has perfect pitch but the way he learned so quickly suggests he may have it. In one interview (maybe the Scorcese documentary), he talked about his ability to listen to a record once, maybe twice, then being able to play it from memory. I love that first album with the covers, because it’s the first one I really heard and it still has a raw energy and earnestness.
Bro you should write a song about biscuits. That would pop off!
Dang that’s smart
I'm looking forward to the 70s video. My favourite Dylan era.
Production is underway!
The Christian albums don’t get enough love, there’s some really well written songs in those albums.
Absolutely. I’m looking forward to digging into those
Slow Train Coming is a great album, Saved has almost nothing worth listening to on it and “Every Grain of Sand” single handedly carries the entire last album, that’s how I see them 😂 the live albums from this time are pretty good tho
Dear landlord
Please don't put a price on my soul
My burden is heavy
My dreams are beyond control
When that steamboat whistle blows
I'm going to give you all I got to give
And I do hope you receive it well
Depending on the way you feel that you live
Dear landlord
Please heed these words that I speak
I know you've suffered much
But in this you are not so unique
All of us, at times we might work too hard
To have it too fast and too much
And anyone can fill his life up
With things he can see but he just cannot touch
Dear landlord
Please don't dismiss my case
I'm not about to argue
I'm not about to move to no other place
Now, each of us has his own special gift
And you know this was meant to be true
And if you don't underestimate me
I won't underestimate you
Really rich song to be sure!
I’d probably keep everyone in S but move freewheelin up there as well. Then move The Times they are a changin, John Wesley Harding, and Nashville Skyline to A and keep the debut in C. But still a great tier list!
Appreciate you watching!
listened to them all thanks to you, Blonde on blonde is the best one
@@idanregev1617 Glad you checked them out! Blonde On Blonde is a fine choice for best one.
Would you make a video of Dylan's best songs from this period, but the performances that eclipse the album versions like you mentioned? :)
That's a great idea. I'm going to get through the rest of his albums first, but his songs so often take shape live - great concept.
Blonde on Blonde and Nashville Skyline are my favourites. The last one is so genuine, natural and poetic.
@@econ7288 Both very rewarding listens!
gotta do the 70s next!
Production is underway!
For those wanting to learn about Dylan, you should point them in the direction of the new book, "You Don't Need a Weatherman: Bob Dylan for Beginners". I'd love to know what you think of it
Never heard of it - I’ll check it out!
I respect putting another side in A tier
@@tjmichaelmathere It seems like a chronically underrated album, and is very special to me
Cannot WAIT for the Blood on the Tracks take.
@@CharlesG_1 I think you’ll be pleased!
My ranking for the sixties and the top 5 below are also my top 5 Bob Dylan albums. For albums after the sixties, the ones I enjoy most are Blood on the Tracks, Love and Theft, Oh Mercy, Desire, Time Out of Mind and Modern Times.
1. Blonde on Blonde just barely
2. Highway 61 Revisited These top two are super close to me. When I was younger
Highway 61 was my favorite now I would give a slight edge to Blonde on Blonde but they have always been number 1 or 2 for all his albums. I like Blonde on Blonde a bit better because of the greater vulnerability and sophistication in the range of expression and arrangements and the sense of greater immediacy and intimacy in delivery. For songs you said you weren't impressed with, I like Pledging My Time, Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands a lot, but would say Temporary Like Achilles is the weakest link, though I still kind of like it. I add Please Crawl out My Window to Blonde on Blonde and Positively 4th Street to Highway 61 since it makes for an even more engaging listening experiences and since they were recorded at the same time as these releases.
3. Bringing It All Back Home- this one has always been number 3
4. Another Side of Bob Dylan
5. The Basement Tapes
6. Really close between John Wesley Harding and Freewheelin'
7. The Times Are a Changin'
8. Nashville Skyline
8. The Debut
We’re pretty close!
I usually see how close someone is with my own ranking, with the understanding that both are opinions and nothing more. This is perhaps the first time that someone has matched exactly the rankings I would have had. I'll need to change mine a bit ... I don't want anyone agreeing with me ... gives me the heebie-jeebies.
@@willchristopher1899 😂 😂 I’m glad we see things so similarly!
Great video but Nashville Skyline is S tier, probably a top 5 all time for Dylan
A lot of people think so, I think George Harrison among them. You’re in good company!
John Wesley Harding is my favorite Dylan album. Blood on the Tracks and Modern Times are also big ones for me.
Respect!
I can’t believe you didn’t mention the re recording of girl from the north country with Johnny cash on Nashville. I’d say that’s arguably the best song on that album
I actually did but edited it out. I feel that it has a certain charm but I take the original over it any day. Back in my bootleg collecting days I had a recording of that full session, and suffice to say, it was a cooler document than a good session.
I actually love the debut for the crazy punk energy and raw emotion I'd probably rank em
Highway 61 Revisited
Blonde on Blonde
Bringing it all Back Home
John Wesley Harding
Freewheelin
Bob Dylan
The Times they are a Changin
Another Side
Nashville Skyline
but everything he did in the 60s was pretty much great
Yeah I mean something to keep in mind here is that we're comparing Dylan's albums against his own work only. The only reason the debut is as low as it is is because of the heights he'd reach later in the decade.
would say Tweez to Spiderland is the greatest quantum leap. With Bob Dylan to Freewheelin you have someone go from being fine to great. With Tweez to Spiderland you have a band go from teenagers with hiss and fuzz to the greatest band of their era.
The great thing about being into or a Dylan fan/scholar is that you also learn so much about musical history in general through him.
Also, I respect your take and can see where you are coming from on JWH. But I'm a little more on your friends side about that one. Something always brings me back to it. That intangible thing. But some of my friends don't really care for it either.
You are pretty spot on about Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands. It's perhaps his most epic song, but you can really feel him trying to push it. It's amazing to listen too and still beautiful, but it doesn't feel as natural and organic as Visions of Johanna or Desolation Row.
Yeah exactly - it wants to be the Desolation Row of Blonde on Blonde but it just doesn't hit as hard. I have a lot of love for JWH - I just feel like it's a less impactful poetics than he'd developed for those prior few albums.
Please rank all of the records he has done throughout his whole career ! I love your perspective on dylan ! 😊
@ewanjamesbeats3511 The full list is coming. Thank you!!
I loved this video keep making them pleasee
I will!!
Great video!! loveee bob
Thanks for watching! Bob is the best!
Blood On The Tracks, best album of all time
@@diegopizarro7419 It’s certainly up there!
Couldn’t agree more. Greatest storytelling, heartfelt emotion and I think his voice on this downright beautiful.
John Wesley Harding in the B tier is a little crazy for me. The lyricism and sound on that album are incredibly unique. It's arguably the first country and religious rock LP ever released. With Dylan even going as far as naming it, "the first Biblical rock album."
Hmmm.... Mostly it's just, all along the watchtower, that I particularly like off that LP... But to each their own!
Sooner or later, one of us must know…
Yeah, this is another one that I’m not super fond of on that album. The lyric is sort of scant, and I think most of the reason why people dig it is that (amazing, admittedly) snare part in the chorus.
I pretty much agree with your overall album assessments, with my biggest disagreement being that I would definitely put Blonde on Blonde ahead of Bringing It All Back Home. However, I agree with the tier that you put each album in, with the possible exception of that I might call Bringing It All Back Home high A rather than S.
Re: BIABH, it's S-tier largely because of the majesty of those songs on side 2. As far as I'm concerned, Mr. Tambourine Man, Gates Of Eden, It's Alright, Ma, and It's All Over Now Baby Blue is one of the most perfect album sides ever. And side 1 has enough classics/near-classics of its own to keep it S-tier.
Side 2 of Bringing It All Back Home is probably the best run of songs ever. Cant wait for the 70s albums ranked! Street Legal is a favorite record of mine
Couldn't agree more about BIABH - and couldn't disagree more about Street Legal 😆 Get ready for some constructive, respectful debate!!
@@DustinLowmanMusic oh no
@@bryceolson6490 It'll all be okay in the end, trust me
As someone who loves Nashville Skyline and would have it in S, I never understood why people love Lay Lady Lay so much. It’s a great song sure, but there’s a few others on the album I think are better. The album can’t really compare to some of Dylan’s all-timers but it’s my favorite. I just really fw that twangy country guitar
"Sad Eyed Lady..." is, I think, better than you think. Reaching? yes. In vain? yes. It is reaching for the unattainable. No one can know another as he seeks to know this Lady. Its cadence is courtly and patient yet almost funereal in its resignation. Should I wait? perhaps not.
I'd be curious to know your take on "warehouse eyes". Has he seen too much? Is he unable to forget?
Don't give up on this song. I listen to it 5 or 6 times a year because that's all the heartbreak I can stand.
This is a really well-made point! I'll concede that "Should I wait?" is an apt way to end the chorus. However, I don't love "Warehouse eyes" as an image - it reminds me of some of the lesser songs from this period, like "I Wanna Be Your Lover" (an outtake), where he's experimenting with surrealism but not quite hitting nerves with it.
Christmas in the heart is a 3x SS Tier
Dylan died in after blonde on blonde . Momentary rebirth in 74/75. But 61-66 is > the rest of his ongoing career.
@@rappersandrabbis I agree only to a point. His career became very uneven afterward, but there are still several peaks that rival his mid-60s output.
@@DustinLowmanMusic difference between Genius and Brilliant.
Here from tiktok! Was in from a small clip. Let’s see what ya list has got.
Thoughts??
@@DustinLowmanMusicsolid!!! Loved all the insight and reasoning for each. Pls do his 70s stuff next
great video / list.
only note: nashville skyline = easy A.
@@morrimoto Definitely an argument to be made there. Thanks for watching!
The Times...has a lot of character driven narratives that make it feel more thematically consistent than the rather hit or miss predecessor. The follow up has yodelling on the opening track so it is flawed straight out if the gate. Of the three Times gets nod for me.
I like your take! I don’t feel as strongly anti-yodel as you do though 😂
this guy is clearly a bob dylan fan
Shhh don’t tell anyone
For me, all Dylan's 60s albums are 5 star, with the exception of the debut and Nashville Skyline, which are 4 stars. Why? Because irrespective of any 'faults' or weak tracks, the run of albums from Freewheelin to JWH were so culturally influential and so ahead of their time that the 5 star status is deserved.
Btw, I wouldn't call yourself a Dylan scholar. I have all his albums, the whole Bootleg Series, I have read a couple dozen books about him. But the 'meaning' of the songs are really what they mean to you. Dylan can't explain alot of those 60s songs, so how can you or I? I'm a fan. You're a fan. The phrase 'Dylan scholar' would most likely make Mr Zimmerman feel ill, lol.
Anyways, enjoyed and subscribed.
I take your points! I mean the "scholar" term as a slightly tongue-in-cheek way to distinguish listeners like you and me from more casual admirers. But I appreciate you checking out the video and weighing in!
Prior to watching. (We're on the same page): My very favorite Dylan album is none other Than: 'Highway 61 Revisited'... (Not that this should be a surprising favorite Dylan album to anyone, though.... So, no marks for originality!!) SS-tier
What a fantastic video have a great weekend also happy holiday season from Canada ❤😊🇺🇸🇨🇦🎸🌲🎄🤢 also I have a stomach flu
Do 70s right now and I mean video within the next 30 minutes or else.
Or your money back
i need more
You'll have it
lol this guy really doesn’t like the blues! Blonde on Blonde doesn’t HAVE to be your favorite but i wish you’d give better reasons for it not being higher. Your 3 filler examples are sonically some of my favorites off the whole thing! personally feels weeeeird to me to put it below BIABH, but i’m happy for more Dylan content nonetheless, keep it up
One thing I might experiment with next time is extending my assessments a bit. I kept them short this time but might have omitted some important ideas in doing so. On the whole with Blonde on Blonde, there’s a compositional looseness whose chaos is by turns rewarding and not - One Of Us Must Know is a prime example of the latter, where behind the exuberant studio take is a pretty basic song. A number of them fall into this category for me.
@ hopefully i didn’t come off saltier than i meant to, i appreciate any and all opinions from
someone who knows their stuff. even tho i disagree with your expanded reasoning haha i think it makes for an interesting perspective. i think that simplicity adds to the “pop” leaning he seemed to be going for on many cuts of that album, but the build-up and payoffs are still very effective and moving to me. I was gonna say it happened to be another favorite of mine but i realized I could say that for most of the album lol
@@ShaunSteverson Yeah I appreciate all your takes! Blonde on Blonde is a very meaningful album to me, nuanced S-tier quibbles aside.
Swap Blonde with Freewheelin' and you're there. BoB is not only his most over rated record, but probably the most over rated in musical history. it does have some great songs, but around half of it is absolutely inessential. Side 3 is a bit crap, sad eyed lady goes nowhere, and is just dull. there's no need for it to be 11 minutes long. take out maybe 7 songs and you have a very good LP.
Your feeling is a little more extreme than mine but I agree that BoB often gets more credit than it deserves!
@@DustinLowmanMusic yeah, but from people who haven't actually listened to it. Ive been in a room of people who were asked what the best album ever made was, and they all argued for a bit before agreeing that it was Sgt Peppers. None of them could name more than 3 songs from it, but they didnt want to get it wrong. Thats the problem with readers/viewer polls. 99% of people dont get that theyre being asked thier opinion.
Seriously underrating John Wesley. Look a little deeper into the lyrics
Yeah, that’s the thing, I don’t think there’s as much to look into as the minimalism and stray Biblical allusions sort of tacitly imply.
I agree that Highway 61 is probably his best - it’s my favourite, at least - but I think TTTAAC, Blonde On Blonde and JWH deserve far more credit than you give them. The songwriting and performances on both are sublime. I also don’t understand why a classic album can’t be bleak; it’s a work of art and that’s the tone and there are very few Dylan albums that don’t mark a change of tone or direction from the last. If you want humour, you have Another Side (which is also my favourite of the first four, but it’s not ‘better’ than it’s predecessor).
I mean, listing is always somewhat of a fool’s errand, you’re inevitably going to compare apples to oranges. Really what this reflects is my taste: Bleakness resonates less with me than a comitragic mix.
Blonde on Blonde is 2 spots too low!
You can't close with a 12-minute drag and be a #1 album! You just can't!
@@DustinLowmanMusic 12 minute drag is insane
Pretty cringe