"He's gonna have a really good 3 weeks. Followed by a week of Jesus & a week of 80s hell."
"If he makes it out the other side he'll have done well. It's slim pickings after that though"
"Bob Dylan" and "Freewheelin' Bob Dylan";
"It's a real jump in quality despite being so close together and I like the 1st album"
"Somehow I've got 2 copies of this but have barely listened to it. Don't recognise many of the songs on Side A. It ain't me Babe is on it so I should have played it more"
"Motorcycle Nightmare would fit on Bring it All Back Home"
"My Back Pages is Hattie Carol with less good lyrics, but I did listen to Hattie Carol 3 times today"
"It's below Freewheelin' & Times but above the debut"
"Apparently recorded in one session over night which is pretty impressive"
"It's one of my favourites! Post-JFK assasination, black turtleneck wearing, 'I'm tired of being serious' Dylan"
"Always loved 'Ballad in Plain D' "
He's been giving them a crude star rating. Scores so far...
Bob Dylan - ⭐⭐⭐
Freewheelin' - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Times - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Another Side - ⭐⭐⭐⭐
"It's the best stuff from 'Another Side' but better. First proper rock n roll cuts with a band."
"Songs fly by when you put them on. Short and gold"
"After 'Times..' my most listened to Dylan album."
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
"It's got 4 songs I love. And few that are just very good."
"3 1/2 spins for it today. That's a PB"
⭐⭐⭐⭐
This one priced after decimalisation. Sticker suggests it's from @cobrecords in Wales.
Seems to be the first time he does his caricature singing.
A lot more relaxed/laidback vibes than Highway 61
Less "we got to do rock r&b".
The hybrid between the r&b and the more folky elements work better/smoother.
Also it's another fun listen.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I've got it around "Another Side..." level.
A few forgotten standout tracks. It's a relaxed, low key affair. Continuing the trends of Blonde on Blonde. Heavy on the country, low on politics.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
At only 27min it grew on me on 2nd & 3rd play.
Not sure if better than the debut, it's an easier listen but songs aren't as good. Less "whine & twang" and I'm a fan of both whine & twang.
⭐⭐⭐
Some decent songs. Some less so. If it was condensed down to the best stuff on there I would give it a 3. But too much filler of questionable quality.
⭐⭐
0. Terrible, unlistenable
1. Bad, wouldn't play again
2. Mediocre, not offensive, wouldn't play often
3. Good, would play again
4. Very good, will listen to regularly
5. Mint classic
"I've enjoyed New Morning. Gave it 3 spins! 1 song had a terrible vocal which renders it unlistenable. Even began to enjoy the odd latin-waltz followed by the jazz sact number in the middle."
"1 thing is pretty much every song fades out. Like he didn't know how to finish them"
⭐⭐⭐
"Only heard 1 song on this before. The 1st 2 tracks are nice intrumental numbers. Knockin' on Heaven's Door is better than I remembered and I like how short the album is."
⭐⭐⭐
"Some songs on there that I really like. It's only Big Yellow Taxi I really dislike (and I don't like the original)"
"Album on a whole is quite a fun upbeat poppy listen"
"I think it's better than Self Portrait. Call me crazy, I'm gonna give Dylan 3 stars."
⭐⭐⭐
"I was surprised how decent it was as I'd never heard of the album until this challenge. Prob just overshadowed by Blood on the Tracks"
"Will be going back to this one again, recon it's a grower."
"I'm giving it a high 3. Best of the 3star albums yet"
⭐⭐⭐
"It's one of the first albums I can ever remember putting on. When I was a kid I remember BOTT, Legend, and Rum Sodomy & The Lash"
"What's tough is as it's the 1st Dylan record I ever listened to a lot, I'd give it 5 without reviewing. Interesting to see how it stands up but it's impossible to review independently. Anyway..."
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
"First 3 tracks are very good. The sound quality however isn't great."
"Amy enjoyed it as there's plenty of The Band on there"
"I did notice my LP has a different running order to the CD. I need to listen to it more"
⭐⭐⭐⭐
"Starts off great. Joey at the start of side b is rubbish (and 11mins long). Enjoyed the ramshackle exotic travel vibe of the album."
⭐⭐⭐⭐
"Another I've never listened to before. Actually enjoyed it a fair bit. It's quite a poppy & mainstream sound compared to what came before. Fiddles and raw mouth organ swapped for sax. So much sax"
"I could see someone who doesn't like normal Dylan liking this 1, feels like it's got crossover power."
"At 9 tracks (with a couple of those long-ish) it's a good length. Some of them are good 1 or 2 duds."
"Going with a solid..."
⭐⭐⭐
"I'm not a fan of this."
"Budget Stax funk grooves with what turned out to be Mark Knoppfler jizzin' over the top"
"It's not terrible but I will be unlikely to listen again other than the title track."
⭐⭐
"I didn't realise 'till it came on but Cat Power did a good cover of "I believe in You". I found myself enjoying the Dylan version. I'm not sure if it's because I was reminded of the cover"
youtube.com/watch?v=INsC59…
"More fire & brimstone christianity from Bob. The production works better than it did on "Slow Train". The faux-Stax gospel has gone, it's much more rockin' with the BVs retained. In that respect it's an improvement. His delivey is enthusiastic & passionate"
"But most of them are very forgettable. Only "Solid Rock" is the only one that is memorable. Mainly because it sounds like a cross between the @BBCSnooker theme and "Walk on Guilded Splinters" by Dr John"
⭐⭐
“Amy says its the better than the last 2”
“It's more of a typical Dylan sound. Plenty of harmonica and rockin’ r&b. Production is noticeably worse than Saved”
“Listening to ‘Trouble/‘ I was instantly transported to The Double Douce. Straight up 80s blues
Then about 1/2 through started thinkin’ if it’d been recorded by Iggy & Josh Homme, this song would probably be mega.”
It’s more fun than the last two, but let down by bad production (often sounds like a live bootleg) and bland ballads.
⭐⭐
“First track is terrible”
“The album cover is high in the cannon of ‘Bad Dylan album covers’ “
Here’s a track that The Telegraph put at #4 in best Bob Dylan songs.
Worth checkin’ out for the comments alone.
Here’s a version from Letterman. Worth a watch just for Bob’s tight jeans, pencil tie and rockin’ moves.
youtube.com/watch?v=nP85Uc…
“It’s got the 80s Phil Collins snare sound. I will blame that on Knopfler.”
“No wonder its all over the shop, look at this band”
“It improved with another play. Some good songs tainted by bad 80s production.”
“I’m going for a low 3 star”
⭐⭐⭐
Ace line from @VinylCarBooty’s Bob’s Big Box Blog…
“The production style of Empire Burlesque suits Dylan about as well as the designer jacket he's posing in on the album cover.“
“One song could be the opener on a straight to video, Tango & Cash rip-off”
“Its the production. So bad. We’re back in The Double Deuce”
"Never thought i would be pining for the jesus trilogy"
⭐
“My word. Track 2 is AWFUL. This must be the worst song he ever recorded”
“It’s a new low. That fucking snare is back. Its unlistenable. Everyone left the dining room as soon I put it on.”
“This is all over the shop... every song sounds like a completely different band/album. Only similarity is 80s production and Dylan’s voice.”
“This fucking snare”
“There are some bland mediocre numbers. The 11m track is decent, but ruined by bad 80s production and sax solos”
“I feel like I’ve said that so much”
⭐
"It's the usual mix of badly mixed dull 80s blues rock and fairly awful ballads."
"10 tracks. 6 covers. 2 co-writes. 2 originals. It’s like he just gave up writing songs during this phase."
“Some of it is just dull rather than offensively bad. Track 2 is terrible"
“I’m low on generosity after the last few albums. Occasionally it's funny... mostly just depressing how wrong it'd gone for him”
“I have no desire to listen to anything on here again."
⭐
"It lost a star for “When Did You Leave Heaven” "
"It's actually decent 🤯. Let out a sigh of relief when the drums came in and they didnt sound terrible"
"Ended up listening to it 3 times which hasn't happened for a whle."
"There is a duffer.... the disease of conceit is just really strained and poorly written. Overall, I'm a fan!"
"Gone is the terrible 80s production that plagued many of the last albums. It's cohesive. He writes every song. The middle is probably the best part, peaking with Man in the Long Black Coat."
⭐⭐⭐
"His voice on this is not good on this album."
"It starts badly. Track 2 again is terrible."
"As an album, it’s just mediocre r&b with deeply tedious lyrics"
"Only a couple of tracks are offensively bad (Wiggle Wiggle, Handy Dandy)"
"Toyed with 1. But it's no way as bad as the late 80s trilogy"
⭐⭐
“Had another listen the following day!”
“Guitar sound and playing is great, it’s just his knackered voice that compromises the songs. It was a real nice surprise to get an all acoustic album”
⭐⭐⭐
“It’s a continuation of yesterday's album. More obscure stuff to my ears anyway. Jack-a-roe is a really good one i've not heard before but will look into. Including Roud song 268”
"If I'm honest, it just blended into "Good as I Been to You", which isn't a bad thing"
⭐⭐⭐
“Haven't heard it since the 90s. It’s really good but I’m only half way through, its long.”
“Some deep late night David Lynch blues vibes.”
“Production is really good, didn’t realise it was Daniel Lanois again.”
“Just had the 2nd play through. As all the songs (bar 2) are over 5mins, which is unusual for Dylan, it's long”
"I was surprised how many I recognised, at least 4, forgot we played the 16min closer on a long songs show"
mixcloud.com/RadioNightTrai…
“Enjoyed the late-night-dark-room-strung-out-blues-vibe throughout”
⭐⭐⭐⭐
“Listened to it twice today... It's got a more "roots" sound, quite different from Time Out Of Mind”
"More up tempo, lively and fun with production that's much more restrained"
"He's got his mojo back here. The vocals suit the music & the band. He's going back to the roots of American music, mainly pre rock and roll influences; blues, folk, roots, swing and jazz."
"It sounds a bit like a really tight live bar-room band just doing all the roots."
"I've played it through 3 times, I would definitely recommend"
⭐⭐⭐⭐
"First thought was this is a blander version of Love and Theft but I think it's just softer and more relaxed."
"He's back to lots of +5 min songs. Like Time out of Mind and unlike "Love and Theft" ".
"Hard to make up my mind on this album. I think it's a grower, three plays and I'm gettin into it."
"My initial feeling was a strong 3 and I'm sticking with this"
⭐⭐⭐
"More light & breezy romantic Dylan doing the pre-rock & rock/Americana roots. Heavy on the Cajun/Tex-Mex accordian."
"Some good blues reworkings. A few too many slow ballads & a lack of a real standout track means I won't be going back often."
⭐⭐⭐
"Played this album on whilst we ate dinner. Amy didn't mind it. In fact, she said she'd put it on at Christmas."
"I only enjoyed "Must Be Santa", just 'cause it was less serious & more funny."
"Weirdly, this album makes more sense having listened to them chronologically. Admittedly it's still suprising"
"If you think of Dylan and the anti-establishment music of his early years then this album does seem preposterous"
"I'm predisposed to dislike it anyway as I struggle with Christmas songs at the best of times. It would probably have annoyed more if it was mid-December"
"I can only give it two stars"
⭐⭐
"This is pretty accurate"
"𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘉𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴."
“It's actually pretty decent. I had low expectations for two reasons…. Firstly the album cover is terrible and it follows on from the Christmas croaking.”
“Thematically, it carries on where he left off before the Christmas curveball. Overall it's a bit too long and his voice has really gone in some ways. There are some good songs though, “Narrow Way” and “Pay in Blood” were personal favourites.”
“It's better than “Together Through Life”. The Lennon tribute track to close is cringeworthy. He reappropriates Lennon lyrics and it's just lame.
⭐⭐⭐
“The album isn't terrible. There's nothing as croaky and ridiculous as “Christmas in the Heart”. It's just exceptionally dull.”
Maybe you have to be well versed in the Sinatra catalogue to appreciate it."
"As a novice I just thought every song sounded the same. There's no verve or joy in it whatsoever.”
“Weirdly, it seemed to have good universally good reviews so it’s just me who can't tolerate it.
“Track 9 destroyed Amy. She said it sounds like Krusty singing with Bette Middler”
youtube.com/watch?v=3ysSeW…
“Personally i prefer his Christmas croaking to this. It's so boring. It’s not offensively bad.”
“The only positive thing I can say is it was mercifully short”
⭐
"Simply put, it's the same as the "Shadows in the Night" but 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘭𝘺 better."
"It wasn't quite so dull. But still fairly dull"
⭐
19:56 - "Triplicate is killing me"
20:25 - "Having a break. Only 7 tracks left. It's so dull."
"I think i counted 2 songs so far that had a change of pace or a bit of swing"
"Amy said they all sounded like slightly different versions of the Birds of a Feather theme and was reminding her of being bored on a Sunday and having back to school dread"
"There was a couple of songs which perked up with some swing, but I was very bored by it overall. Amy found it relaxing in a dull manner. It wasn't offensive, just deeply tedious"
"It was better than "Shadows... and on a par with "Fallen Angels". I'd just run out of patience with the whole sound after essentially 5 albums in 3 days"
"Everyone just sounds so bored. The playing is of a high standard but it all just plods along. No one sounds like they are enjoying themselves."
⭐⭐