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39 Comments
- mg128, on 11/08/2009, -2/+17Who the hell judges a Christmas album so severely?
- EatingPie, on 11/08/2009, -3/+17I ABSOLUTELY DISAGREE with the article, Dylan is *not* a misanthrope by any stretch of the imagination (it's actually an old "conspiracy theory" amongst disgruntled fans, starting with the very album named in the article: Self Portrait.) Listen to "Man in the Long Black Coat" to hear a truly great Dylan song written during this "misanthropic" period (or a more hopeful "Ring them Bells" from the same album).
That said, I believe Dylan is truly a messed up, hurting and lonely human being. And that is the *more* likely explanation for how he acts.
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I've seen Dylan twice. The first time, he was so messed up, my wife leaned over and said "is there something wrong with him?" Yeah there was, and I was absolutely shocked and horrified... while everyone but us was on their feet and cheering through every song and interlude.
The second time, I was 5 feet away, at his feet against the stage. Perfect position for worshipping the god of rock... that's certainly what everyone else wanted to do. He staggered and swayed, sounded terrible, at times inaudible... people ate it up. And when he pulled out the harmonica, he blew the most incoherent, non-melodic noise I've ever heard. And the audience went absolutely nuts, like it was manna from heaven!
Dylan has been on a pedestal and worshipped for years. And I personally believe *that* is why he acts the way he does. I mean, how can he have a friend -- a true friend, who cares about *him*, connect with him, hang with him just for fun, rather than his "godness" -- or any real relationships for that matter (something all humans need). He really strikes me as a truly lonely person (read accounts of his recent "arrest" in New York, and even that makes him sound like a lonely man).
It's the cost of fame. And it looks to me like he has payed the highest price of any artist I have ever seen.
-Pie - Blinker1315, on 11/07/2009, -3/+16Andrew Ferguson is one of America's most clever writers and usually I agree with him. On this topic: no. Although I haven't liked a Dylan record in more than 25 years, his "Christmas in the Heart" is really terrific. He's right that uncritical Dylan disciples blanch at any word of criticism about the songwriter, but Ferguson goes overboard here. Could be he never liked Dylan even in the latter's glory days.
- crackerjack20, on 11/08/2009, -1/+9I like Weird Al's Bob Dylan impression better than the real Dylan. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nej4xJe4Tdg
- borez, on 11/08/2009, -2/+10I'm a lifelong Dylan fan, but... when I saw him in concert a few years ago he was so ***** bad that I left half way through.
I've been trying to pretend I never saw that concert to preserve the respect I have for the man ever since. - AgentVladimir, on 11/08/2009, -3/+10Irony tends to work better when it's a bit more subtle.
- inactive, on 11/08/2009, -2/+7Maybe if you never heard of battered wife syndrome.
- reginbad, on 11/08/2009, -1/+5Remember that old Louis Armstrong quote about Jazz? "If you have to ask, you'll never know." Some people don't like Jazz. Some don't like Shakespeare. Some, apparently, don't like Dylan. Doesn't affect my enjoyment of his music.
- DrWil, on 11/08/2009, -2/+5Not a deep Dylan fan, though I liked and listened to his early stuff in the 60's. Not sure what to expect, I went to a Dylan concert a few years ago when the opportunity presented itself and found it astonishingly and appallingly terrible. One-note vocal range, random wandering around, seemed sort of confused, relied heavily on his (excellent) backup band to get back to whatever song he had begun, Have to agree with EatingPie re: harmonica: monotone, random, unmusical noise. Was he drunk, I asked my wife? Heavily stoned? Medicated, she replied? Sedated?
It was painful to listen to, not because of disapponted admiration or how far the mighty had fallen, but because it was, well, just painful to listen to. Unfocused, purposeless, unrecognizable, ugly noise. We stuck it out through the first set, partly because the band jammed a lot and was first rate. The second set, though, was no different than the first, so, shaking our heads and regretting the money we had wasted, we left. We rarely leave a musical performance - there's always _something_ of interest - but there really was no reason to stay except masochism. - charlietuna, on 11/08/2009, -0/+3I prefer his writing to his singing, and overall I enjoy the work of Leonard Cohen more.
- rikwakefield, on 11/08/2009, -9/+12Bob Dylan is a true American Hero and one of the greastest song writers ever to have lived. Please show him the respect he deserves.
- bradbaxter, on 11/08/2009, -0/+3Am I the only one who prefers Dylan's recent albums (Time Out Of Mind, Love & Theft, Modern Times and Together Through Life)? There's a depth, charm and maturity in these albums that you don't find as fully realized in his earlier stuff.
I am a conservative and would probably agree with much in the Weekly Standard, but this is just a hit-piece from a guy who decided he'd lash out a stereotypically, liberal icon (Bob Dylan). The irony is that Bob is neither a liberal or a conservative. Just as he does with his music, he defies categorization. - EatingPie, on 11/08/2009, -0/+3Look no further than his switch to electric... *30 YEARS AGO*! :p And calling Folk Music a "cause"? It's music, with a strong cultural, sometimes social, context. But a "cause"?
If you knew what happened when he went electric, you really wouldn't call it a hypocritical power grab (more fan sour grapes and conspiracy theories). The "electric" tour with The Band had them booed almost from start to finish at every single show, according to Robbie Robertson. If it were a money grab, it sure as heck was the most poorly conceived one ever in the history of music.
-Pie - macmcraeart, on 11/08/2009, -0/+3welcome to postmodernism.
- culwyeh, on 11/08/2009, -0/+3What annoys me is how polarizing Dylan is. There's no need for this discussion to devolve into outright dismissal of opponents arguments by both sides.
Dylan has some damn good songs. Listen to his most recent albums with reference to their context in American music and roots. They are very impressive pieces of work. This album is also an example of that, though Dylan had no business trying to sing some of these songs.
On the other hand, any Dylan fan who does not admit that he is often indecipherable in concert (unless you know the lyrics) or that he has had long periods of releasing bad material in his career is delusional.
If nothing else, Dylan is pretty damn funny. - anaclagon, on 11/08/2009, -0/+2I think he performs bad on purpose sometimes just to ***** with the fans.
- EatingPie, on 11/08/2009, -0/+2A lot of people can't stand his singing, which is understandable, and while Dylan's voice has deteriorated over the years, to call him a "terrible singer" doesn't quite catch it.
What made me a Dylan fan was that he sings with *emotion*. He means it when he sings it. And while he isn't the greatest voice of our time, he really pounds it out. Now, somewhere in the mid-90's, his voice took a dive, and is much harder to make a case for.
But listen to *Desire,* where he isn't singing at his best, but the emotion -- the pain -- is still palatable to this day. A powerful album for the emotional depth of his *singing*. If you "get" this, then you can "get" why people like me actually enjoy his singing.
Or just put in The Big Lebowski, and listen to "The Man in Me." If you don't "get" it then, at least you've watched a great movie!
-Pie - EatingPie, on 11/08/2009, -0/+2Yeah, con man. Some of his songs have been covered on more than 100 different albums by other artists.. Yeah! He got them all right!!
Sheesh.
-Pie - maqikelefant, on 11/08/2009, -0/+2If by 60's burnout, you mean one of the single most influential musicians of all time, then yeah. You're right.
- maqikelefant, on 11/08/2009, -0/+2That's a shame. I saw him this past Tuesday, and I absolutely loved the show. His singing was easy to understand, the band was incredible on their instruments, and it was just a great time in general. However, it may have had something to do with the size of the venue. The venue was less than half the size of the arenas he's been playing in for years, so I think it may have inspired a better performance than his usual.
- geoman2k, on 11/08/2009, -0/+2i saw him a couple of years ago and it reminded me of weekend at bernies... he might as well has been hanging from strings with a guitar glued to his hand making death rattle noises.
that said, i was glad i saw him because his albums from the 60's, 70's and 80's are some of the most inspiring albums i've ever heard. - illinest, on 11/09/2009, -0/+1pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!
- malbertsen, on 11/08/2009, -0/+1Yeah, seeing Leonard Cohen live is actually what made my former live Dylan experience seem like *****. Everything about Cohen's current show is so perfectly realized. Well...maybe when Dylan's 75.
- Tarkaan, on 11/08/2009, -0/+1I saw him at the Murat in Indy back in 04 (I think it was) and his band surely backed him up. He was only superlatively good when he did his solo work. Still, to critique 40 years of music (even during his god-bothering days) based on one year's tour is a little off-colour. I thought he was excellent.
- maqikelefant, on 11/09/2009, -0/+1A few songs with high praise? And a body of work that is mediocre at best? Hmmm...let's see...Hurricane, Like a Rolling Stone, Desolation Row, Lay Lady Lay, Quinn the Eskimo, Mr. Tambourine Man, Knockin' On Heaven's Door, Highway 61 Revisited, Ballad of a Thin Man, Subterranean Homesick Blues...I could go on all day like this. His catalogue of greatest hits is mind-blowing. So yeah, over the course of four decades there's gonna be some pretty bad filler songs. But it's obvious that when he puts his mind to it, his song-writing talents are damn near unmatched.
And yes, musician. The man played the guitar, harmonica, keyboard, and harp during his set this past Tuesday, almost always while singing. That, my friend, makes him the very definition of a musician. And if the Dead thought rehearsing with Dylan was a nightmare, why did they then proceed to go on tour with him and even have him play with them onstage for several sets? For it being such a nightmare to play with him, they sure did seem to enjoy collaborating with him every chance they got. Strange, huh? - EatingPie, on 11/08/2009, -0/+1I agree, it's not outright cut-and-dried, one or the other. It's a mix of both.
The author cites "Wiggle Wiggle" from *Under a Blood Red Sky*, which was one of his worse albums overall. He fails, however, to mention *Oh, Mercy* the album immediately preceding, and one of the very best Dylan ever did. The lyrics are complex, thoughtful. The singing emotional and engaging. The production quality, sublime.
We get no citation of "Disease of Conceit," "Most of the Time" or "Shooting Star"... or any of the other myriad lyrics that make up *Oh, Mercy*. If we did, it would be too hard to pigeon hole Dylan into the just "good" or just "bad" categories.
-Pie - maxray, on 11/09/2009, -0/+1As if the Weekly Standard needed to prove how uncool and lame they are. But thanks for reminding us!!
- DubYaSee, on 11/08/2009, -2/+2The guy has penned a few songs that have justifiably received high praise. But his entire body of work is mediocre at best.
Musician? The guy plays and sings badly at best. The Grateful Dead tried rehearsing with the guy and deemed the experience a nightmare. - omnithought, on 11/08/2009, -3/+3I saw him just a couple of weeks ago. It was awful. He no longer sings, he barks. The band was good, but they sounded like any blues bar band you could hear anywhere. The worst was he re-interpretation of All Along the Watchtower. He filled that song with fail. I wanted to see Bob Dylan while he was still around, and from what I saw, he isn't.
The sad thing is, I love many of his albums. I am a fan. But I could not deny that the concert was one of the worst I've been to. - bceagles, on 11/08/2009, -3/+3Long time Dylan here fan, and this article struck quite the chord.
The author is absolutely dead on with his critique of a modern Dylan concerts. We're there for the man not the show.
He is even more dead on with his analysis oh Dylan's inert hypocrisy. Look no further than the switch to electric as a manifestation of Dylan's willingness to abandon the roots of his cause to get some dough.
Dylan's quite the artist, his words resonate quite strongly when taken in their appropriate historical context and this bashing was slight hyperbole in my opinion. - Bilbobaggins, on 11/08/2009, -1/+1This is not a case of "It's so bad it's good." Dylan is not Florence Foster Jenkins or Tom Waits.
Screw this article. Tom Waits has amazing music. - Glenners, on 11/08/2009, -2/+1I just saw bob dylan in concert and he was crap. It sounded like big band jazz music, nothing folky AT ALL! and he played the guitar once(horribly) and every guitar was electric.
- antoniuk, on 11/08/2009, -3/+2Selling the American dream. The man is pure genius for his ability to ***** with his fans.
- Joliman, on 11/08/2009, -10/+7He nailed it.
- ricker2005, on 11/08/2009, -6/+3Bob Dylan is a quality song writer and a terrible singer. His best works are his songs covered by other artists.
- DulcetTone, on 11/08/2009, -4/+1Tony Orlando >> Bob Dylan
- kingofinternet, on 11/08/2009, -6/+2"Bob Dylan fans are the battered wives of the music industry"
what a tone-deaf comparison. - DubYaSee, on 11/08/2009, -7/+3I always thought Dylan was more of a con man than troubadour. So much of his stuff is like the "Emperor's New Clothes". It dares anyone to consider "there's nothing there". The guy was in the right place at the right time. Otherwise, he's just another 60s burnout.
- uruururr, on 11/08/2009, -10/+3are you ***** serious with this post? i should probably block you, shouldn't i.
-uruururr
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