straf's (Totally awesomer than G's) Review Thread

[straf]

Also note that reviews and what-not are rather subjective.

If something like Some Girls gets the same rating as something like Blonde on Blonde, that doesn't necessarily mean it's on the same level as that album. I figured that I should address that issue.

[straf]

Bob Dylan - Bringing It All Back Home

Released in 1965
Track Listing
Subterranean Homesick Blues
She Belongs to Me
Maggie's Farm
Love Minus Zero/No Limit
Outlaw Blues
On the Road Again
Bob Dylan's 115th Dream
Mr. Tambourine Man
Gates of Eden
It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)
It's All Over Now, Baby Blue

Note: Since it seems that some people aren't too satisfied with the way I've been doing things, the reviews will no longer be so casual and much more in depth.

It was well-established back in the 60's that ol' Zimmers was the most iconic and important folk singer on the market. Zimmers, being the very unconventional and smart-ass guy that he is, decided to send everyone a very blatant "screw you" with the inclusion of electric instruments that received less than lukewarm reception. This was the kind of thing that started all the numerous and oblique death threats and caused numerous creepy stalkers to stop hiding outside of his windows and start smashing his records directly in the store(or at least, I assumed that happened. That's just what creepy stalkers do). I was never a big fan of Zimmers' acoustic work anyway -- I always thought that it was way too pretentious and boring for my tastes -- and I didn't think that I'd like him all to plugged up either. Two wrongs don't make a right, right? I'm willing to say that that statement still rings true with Bringing It, but not even I, the horribly picky semi-elitist, can deny the catchy-ness and aesthetic value of some of these songs. Of course, Zimmers has always put melodies first -- such is the way of the elusive Bobology -- which is particularly evident in earlier compositions such as "It Ain't Me, Babe" and "All I Really Want To Do". However, with the introduction of a wider variety of instruments, it was then possible for him to branch out with those melodies. And he did.

But while Bob was busy changing his sound, he didn't change much else. He decided that he would keep his position as the highly-acclaimed visionary with the wonky and surrealistic lyrics. Yes, it's a mixed bag of garage band ramblings and epochal lyrics detailing the struggle of the common peoples and the assery of the Ameircan government. He was being the primitive Springsteen, if you will. But what's so fascinating about it all is that Zimmers talks so casual of it. He sounds very indifferent about the struggle of America and it really makes you question his sincerity of it all. But perhaps not all of his lyrics are meant to mean anything. I'm sure that loads of people have tried to interpret them, but how would you make any sense of stuff like "Just then the whole kitchen exploded/From boillin' fat/Food was flying anywhere/And I left without my hat"? Either he's lapsing over into self-parody or he really likes to watch people strain their brain over trying to figure it all out. After all, most of his fans back then usually forgot that music was to be enjoyed, not studied over. In fact, a lot of his fans studied almost obsessively over it, as demonstrated in a 1965 San Fran press conference when a particularly creepy-looking fan asked Zimmers about the significance of him wearing a motorcycle T-shirt on the cover of Highway 61 Revisited, in which he wittily replied, "I haven't really looked at it that much" and "We all like motorcycles to some degree". But really though, a massive mind-fuck sounds like something he'd do. Ah, that bastard~.

Mixed together with all the new electric noise, though(especially towards the end), are the familiar acoustic arrangements associated with Bob Dylan, showing that Bringing It is in fact a transition album of sorts. The arrangements are supple and pristine, showing both maturity and veteran song writing skills. The mass of new acoustic compositions by far surpass the older ones, and are constantly making nods back to them. The two popular ones("Mr Tambourine Man" and "Gates of Eden") both contain the epochal and Messianic qualities of Zimmers' endearingly popular "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall". Of course, one could claim that all of his songs are epochal and Messianic, but may I remind you of creepy motorcycle guy? And each acoustic song(and every other song) flaunt a new vocal integrity that's not present on any previous recording. His old and sheepish "innocent boy" voice is gone, but the innocent image stays mostly intact even though he's constantly trashing people(seen more towards his Highway 61 era. "Like A Rolling Stone", anyone?).

As for the songs themselves, I've never had a problem with them. As I've stated before, Zimmers was always good with melodies and he puts them to good use here. The opening track tacks through a very pompous run through all the criticisms that he has with America, interspersed with rough Beat poetry and gritty harmonica blowing -- an obvious precursor to rap. The rest of the songs are thinly-veiled protest dogmas, [what I believe to be] criticizing the petty and Bohemian wants of casual America and its "leaders", and asking you to reject to common protocol of common living. In a nutshell, Bringing It has a very nihilistic message(If I'm right in my interpretation), which -- although flawed -- has some very nice points. But besides the political songs, the surreal ones are really fun and occasionally droll with that is well known in Bobology, and it added a few nice numbers to Zimmers' live repertoire. But really, it all comes down to one question: Is this album worth it? That's a rather subjective question. The only reason that I listened to it in the first place was for the social commentary that was rumored to be in here. I was very pleased to find that it was there, in an almost Oscar Wilde-esque way. I realize that Bobby D's voice can be a very big turn-off to most people. Understandable. His wheezing can get almost unbearable at times, but I find that he's in very good voice on this album. There's still a few wonky sections, but they aren't too prevalent. I'd give this album a chance even if you have a veritable loathing towards the Poet. There'll be at least one song that clicks with you, even if you have to trudge through 45 minutes to find it.

I couldn't find any YouTube clips, but you can download this here.

A+

[straf]

Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited

Released in 1965
Track Listing
Like a Rolling Stone
Tombstone Blues
It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry
From a Buick 6
Ballad of a Thin Man
Queen Jane Approximately
Highway 61 Revisited
Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues
Desolation Row

Perhaps I seem a tad hypocritical for giving Zimmers so much praise even though I constantly make my contempt for him known. Really though, I find his almost petulant attitude very appealing, especially if it would result in his surrealistic and allegorical tour de forces. Luckily for me, the majority of Highway 61 is composed of those allegorical tour de forces. Unfortunately for Zimmers' avid fans, he continues his little electric detour, and this time is unrelenting, not offering a single unplugged piece whatsoever. But for those who adapted to Zimmers' new-found sound, this offers a very tasty array of compositions. With Bringing It, his electric bits were still young and flawed, but with a few months between this and that, we get to see a massive improvement over what we were offered on the last album. I would even go so far as to haphazardly call this "perfect". It's very rare that we get to see every step in an artist's development, but Zimmers only puts a few weeks between a release and new recording sessions(well, earlier in his career, anyway), so we get to see almost every detail in maturing. He's literally growing up musically and lyrically right before our ears. That being said though, you can't help but feel that this album was somewhat rushed. Or at least really loose, which makes up most of its charm.

If you ever have your doubts about Bob Dylan(I certainly do), you really only need to listen to the very first second of this album to have all of those doubts erased. The opening drum beat is like a soul-bullet through the head, which in turn opens up your mind to all of the whimsically dark salutations to nihilism and the thrashing of Capitalist America. I'm sure that Zimmers would make an excellent politician if he ever tried to be one. I don't think any of his albums was devoid of any of his social statements, even when he was trying not to be so visionary. This album is no exception, of course, thrashing the "Napoleons in rags" and all of his creepy followers. Of course, he's done that all of his life and it definitely doesn't get boring here, especially since his infamous lyric work takes an even more surrealistic turn here. I'm still not too sure if he's into any self-parody yet, it really seems like he stopped caring in songs like "From A Buick 6", and it really seems like he's just stringing together bits of fairy-tale inspired poetry like in "Desolation Row", but only the arrangements in their odd beauty keep them from being mediocre -- especially on the latter.

And speaking of his fairy-tale inspired poetry, there's tons of references in this to the famous and contemporary stories like the Pied Piper and the Phantom of the Opera and Tom Thumb and what-not. This is where I question his sincerity and think he's lapsing into self-parody. All of these references could easily be allegorical -- they definitely seem like it -- but they could also be a big mind-fuck. He'd do that. And by this point, he seemed so washed out and bored of everything that he'd seem like he'd want to get rid of his fame(which he actually tried to do with Self Portrait). But whatever. Like I said before, music's meant to be enjoyed and not studied over. But you can only enjoy music if the artist himself is still enjoying it, and at this point, Zimmers still seems to like to do it. He has a knack for it. He's popular for a reason, you know.

His song writing's still strong. In fact, it always has -- only his performance has suffered at all in his bajillion year career. There's a few songs that seem to take on a similar theme here: "Like A Rolling Stone", "Queen Jane Approximately", and one of the leading singles "Positively 4th Street". They all deal with a relationship of some sort gone bad. While they all three trash the woman, though, only "Queen Jane Approximately" tell the woman to come back to him after she rids herself of here material wants and ethereal lusting. The other two are just brutally trashing her. Like... bad. "Tombstone Blues" and "Highway 61 Revisited" are both surrealistic fairy-tale tellings of American struggles -- possibly the same one too, from what it sounds like. "Highway 61", though, is prophetic about starting a new war by thinking too hard on one subject(that's what I think it means, anyway. Damn Zimmers and his wonky allegories!) But really though, any meaning in all of this(if it has any) is really subjective. I doubt that even Zimmers knows what it all means.

Final thoughts? I think that Highway 61 is a revolutionary and landmark album. This is the last album where Zimmers is in good voice, and the last to have such solid and almost heavenly production. I have no doubt that you'll find something that you absolutely love about this album, even if you want to stab Zimmers' penis several times with a blunt fork. In my honest, honest opinion, this is the greatest album ever recorded on human and heavenly history. From the rollicking and gruff "Like A Rolling Stone" to the supple guitar work and superlative lyrics of "Desolation Row", you will almost definitely find yourself loving every minute of Highway 61 Revisited.

Download

A+

[Suicide Club]

Seriously?
You doing these just annoys me.. //

[straf]

Seriously?
You being a fuckwad just annoys me.

[Suicide Club]

You resorting to letting malice guide your words/actions annoys me. //

[richarddjames]

Nov 14, 2010 13:24:13 GMT -5 Suicide Club said:

You resorting to letting malice guide your words/actions annoys me. //

how long has it been since i've heard "malice" jesus

[straf]

Nov 14, 2010 13:24:13 GMT -5 Suicide Club said:

You resorting to letting malice guide your words/actions annoys me. //

You resorting to using your poor excuse for a brain to guide your words and actions annoys me.

[Suicide Club]

Your tendencies to take what I post and turn it into something completely different out of convenience annoys me. //

[straf]

That's the point, bitch. >.>

[Suicide Club]

I can see.
And I simply want to point out how much it annoys me.
Is that bad?--No.
That's (actually) so sad. //

[Zilla2112]

Feb 1, 1974 12:10:42 GMT -5 straf said:

Bob Dylan - Bringing It All Back Home
10/10: With good reason too, mate.

Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited
10+/10

DOES NOT COMPUTE

[straf]

Criteria are a bitch, mate.

[Sway]

reviews plz

[richarddjames]

www.mediafire.com/?mby0lyjm1n1
get this under queue, high priority