Dylan's one of those artists where his defining characteristics - a need to try everything, a refusal to pander - are also the ones that can work against him on his worst albums. This album has all of those defining characteristics, and is terrible, and those two factors make it one of the most debated records in Dylan's history. At the time of its release, it was written off as one of the worst records ever made, and just forgotten about - it quite nearly ruined Dylan's whole career, which makes sense, because most of it is just plain terrible. But since then, it's been a firebrand of controversy, with some people declaring that it was supposed to be awful, an attempt by Dylan himself to show the world just who their Messiah was; some who think it's an honest attempt to make a roots album, and see it as a good one at that; and some who think it was a mistake, plain and simple. I'm with the first camp. I don't see how else an album with songs as awful as the made-for-Vegas schlock of "All the Tired Horses," "Belle Isle," "Copper Kettle" and "Wigwam," unlistenable covers of songs by Paul Simon ("The Boxer") and Gordon Lightfoot ("Early Mornin' Rain"); crappy country or pop standards ("I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know," "Let It Be Me," "Blue Moon." "Take Me as I Am," "Take a Message to Mary," done in an awful Spanish country-folk arrangement), reprises of songs that weren't any good to begin with ("In Search of Little Sadie" and "Little Sadie," "Alberta #1 and #2"); trite, clichd blues ("Living the Blues," "Woogie Boogie," "Gotta Travel On"), live songs where Dylan flubs his own lyrics like an idiot ("Like a Rolling Stone," "She Belongs to Me"), and whatever "Minstrel Boy" is supposed to be. And, if there was any intention to make a good album out of this, he definitely wouldn't have made it a double-album full of stuff like that. I think that the good songs that are included here (the barroom rocker "The Mighty Quinn (Quinn, the Eskimo)," the disc's lone classic; the decent but overlong bluesy stomp of "Days of '49;" the likeable enough acoustic blues "It Hurts Me Too") were all included to taunt listeners by showing the world just how good Dylan was capable of being. Or maybe that's a lie, because the only song here that demonstrates Dylan's full potential is "The Mighty Quinn." I have no idea. But this thing is bad, whether it was intended to be or not. It's better than a couple of Dylan records, but it's still crap. Bob Dylan has made both some of the best (Freewheelin', Bringing it All Back Home, Highway Sixty-One Revisited, Blonde on Blonde, Blood on the Tracks) and worst (Saved, Knocked Out Loaded) records I've ever heard in my life. He's also made some of the most confusing, this one among them. If you're curious about how bad it really is, or if you're looking for a vague idea about the inner workings about Bob Dylan's bizarre mind, I guess I can recommend this release to you. And, in a way, it's the most quintessentially Dylan record he ever released. Only problem is it isn't any good.
Dylan's one of those artists where his defining characteristics - a need to try everything, a refusal to pander - are also the ones that can work against him on his worst albums. This album has all of those defining characteristics, and is terrible, and those two factors make it one of the most debated records in Dylan's history. At the time of its release, it was written off as one of the worst records ever made, and just forgotten about - it quite nearly ruined Dylan's whole career, which makes sense, because most of it is just plain terrible. But since then, it's been a firebrand of controversy, with some people declaring that it was supposed to be awful, an attempt by Dylan himself to show the world just who their Messiah was; some who think it's an honest attempt to make a roots album, and see it as a good one at that; and some who think it was a mistake, plain and simple. I'm with the first camp. I don't see how else an album with songs as awful as the made-for-Vegas schlock of "All the Tired Horses," "Belle Isle," "Copper Kettle" and "Wigwam," unlistenable covers of songs by Paul Simon ("The Boxer") and Gordon Lightfoot ("Early Mornin' Rain"); crappy country or pop standards ("I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know," "Let It Be Me," "Blue Moon. " "Take Me as I Am," "Take a Message to Mary," done in an awful Spanish country-folk arrangement), reprises of songs that weren't any good to begin with ("In Search of Little Sadie" and "Little Sadie," "Alberta #1 and #2"); trite, clichd blues ("Living the Blues," "Woogie Boogie," "Gotta Travel On"), live songs where Dylan flubs his own lyrics like an idiot ("Like a Rolling Stone," "She Belongs to Me"), and whatever "Minstrel Boy" is supposed to be. And, if there was any intention to make a good album out of this, he definitely wouldn't have made it a double-album full of stuff like that. I think that the good songs that are included here (the barroom rocker "The Mighty Quinn (Quinn, the Eskimo)," the disc's lone classic; the decent but overlong bluesy stomp of "Days of '49;" the likeable enough acoustic blues "It Hurts Me Too") were all included to taunt listeners by showing the world just how good Dylan was capable of being. Or maybe that's a lie, because the only song here that demonstrates Dylan's full potential is "The Mighty Quinn. " I have no idea. But this thing is bad, whether it was intended to be or not. It's better than a couple of Dylan records, but it's still crap. Bob Dylan has made both some of the best (Freewheelin', Bringing it All Back Home, Highway Sixty-One Revisited, Blonde on Blonde, Blood on the Tracks) and worst (Saved, Knocked Out Loaded) records I've ever heard in my life. He's also made some of the most confusing, this one among them. If you're curious about how bad it really is, or if you're looking for a vague idea about the inner workings about Bob Dylan's bizarre mind, I guess I can recommend this release to you. And, in a way, it's the most quintessentially Dylan record he ever released. Only problem is it isn't any good.