Dylan on Drugs ?

Dylan has been taking a trip on that magic swirling ship for 40 years. He's been to sugar town and shook the sugar down. He's dined with kings and been offered wings and he's never been too impressed. He's forever young and always changing the times on his terms. I may be biased, but I find some genius in every one of his albums. Dylan may have new material, but I would never call him contemporary. Part of the magic of Dylan's lyrics is they can mean many different things depending on how you may interpret them. He can sing one of his songs differently than the time before and bring new meaning to a song you may have heard a 1000 times. Dylan is condemed to drift or else be kept from drifting. I hope he stays on that magic swirling ship for another 40 years. May he stay forever young.

Brulee, words of magic and praise for someone that you obviously feel linked to. Kudos for putting your own twist on things. Sean
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PS... Saw Dylan ONE time quite a while back. That was enough for me forever.

I have NEVER been able to figure what all the fuss was about Dylan. His voice is just about the worst ever recorded and the guy mumbles and shuffles thru his songs like a zombie on Prozac. Bogus. He does, however, know how to surround himself with great musicians. Too bad they have to share the stage with brain-dead Bob. Color me thoroughly under-whelmed...

RL, the fuss about Dylan: he is one of the greatest songwriters ever, but really shouldn't attempt to play/sing his compositions. Like Leonard Cohen, Bob has no musical talent and should restrict his musical performances to the shower. I saw Dylan in concert several years ago, and although I had a good time I couldn't help thinking Bob should stick to writing music and perhaps playing the harmonica.

I am a Dylan fan. However, I find that eveytime he comes out with a new album, post 1990, the critics call it the best since Desire, ect. I listen and usually find a rehash of the same themes and chord structures.

I judge an album by how many times I listen to it. Repeated listening equals good. Wearing it out silly equals great.

I'm sure my taste varies but I barely listen to any of Bob's albums of the 90's and I own them all. As for the 80's, I really liked "Infidels" some songs on "Empire" were great, "Red Sky" was okay and "Oh Mercy" about the same.

As for the his re-doing tired old blues and folk standards, not my cup of tea. And, all these albums were hailed as the best since........ you know when.

"Time out of mind" has some really good takes on it but the mix is so spotty and anoying that I had a difficult time listening to it repeatedly. Also, some seem to find real deep meaning in some simple phrasing, which I attribute to and compare to seeing animals in clouds.

Now, this goes against the grain completely, seeing how this album was highly praised both for composition and sound. To its credit the sound does get better as the album progresses. But, ultimately the chord structure and topics were "overall" too boring for repeated playing. Honestly, how many times did you listen to or when was the last time you listened to this album.

When "Love and Theft" came out I was very skeptical. All the same tired praises were there by the same reviewers, "The best since.........", you know when. But, after it was out for a month I bought it.

Well, sure there are some 12 bar blues, "same old chord progressions" in the typical Dylan fare, ,aybe 3 or so, but in between the ho-hums were some reals gems.

It was like Bob found a new source for inspiration. He reached back to the "Tin pan alley" days added a little "Swing", and some "Dixieland". It was like the spirt of Irvin Berlin had consumed his chord structure and melody making abilities, thus producing immediate classics. These were complete songs. Melody, lyrics and chord changes!!!!!

The sound is very good, too. Bob should produce and engineer more of his recordings. He did a fine job. He is "Jack Frost".

"I was immpressed" And, needless to say it is getting its share of play.

Time will tell if I will consider it "the best since......" But, for now it is very good.