Blonde On Blonde

Dylan album number two on this journey. It was quite to my taste. I admittedly have very little exposure to Dylan's albums, even so, when "Rainy Day Women..." started up I was singing along. How do I know this? Then I recalled the Forest Gump soundtrack that I owned and listened to over 30 years ago. What a memory that was. Its funny how we associate memories so strongly to our senses. A scent, a sound, a sight can recall so much that may have long faded into the past. That was also the feeling this Dylan album gave me. So much of the songwriting on these songs seem pulled from the ghosts in the memories. The feeling of regret that remains when even the subjects of our stories have long passed out of our lives. What music would one pair with such forlorn musing other than blues. The harmonica on this album is perfect. Wouldn't change a note. And Visions of Johanna could just keep going until the sun comes up. Its a late night conversation of a track that ponders in the best of ways. 5/5 Also, funny note is that I saw Bob Dylan met the American Pope on the same day this album generated on our project. Maybe its a divine sign. Two American icons, together.

(5/5) My second favorite Dylan album. It's post-electric, mid-60s Dylan, fresh off the high of "Highway.." (THE best, IMO). His songwriting is still at it's zenith and he's as creative as ever with his music. It *is* heavy on the harmonica and that can be a polarizing instrument, but I think he's mostly tasteful about it. It is packed tight with such iconic stuff.. "Rainy Day..", "Visions..", "I Want You", "Stuck Inside..", & "Just Like a Woman" to name the biggest, but even the extras are good to great. His voice is an acquired taste -- I understand that -- but aside from too much treble (harmonica), it's a legendary record with some of his best songwriting.

Must. Get. Stoned. I like it when he gets bluesy and groovy like in "Most Likely You Go Your Way". But I do like the rest, too. Looks like I just like it.

Still cannot get into his voice. Phil Ochs was better

Would be better if a harmonica wasn’t violating you every song

I’ve tried to like Dylan but it’s just so unrelentingly repetitive!

I’m just not a Dylan guy. I don’t like his voice, enough to make me want to bypass any of his lyrics.

I just don’t get it. It’s not fun to listen to. The writing isn’t mind blowing like people say. The harmonica is too much. I feel like I’m being lied to by people who think it’s good.

Not my favorite. Best songs aren’t that great. Worst songs are very forgettable

Really good, although being 6 Dylan's deep into the generator, I am starting to burn out a little. Not as huge on the bluesier stuff, does sound a bit pedestrian, and his vocal affectations are particularly pronounced on this album compared to what I remember from the other ones. Overall though, very good record from Dylan. Really liked Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again.

255. Blonde On Blonde - Bob Dylan (1966) 11.4.26 Variety: 4 Adequacy: 5 Listenability: 5 Uniqueness: 3 Emotionality: 5 = 4.4 rounded down to a 4 "He writes everything's been returned which was owed/ On the back of the fish truck that loads/ While my conscience explodes" Our second Bob Dylan album! We had Blood on the Tracks, which I liked quite a bit ( and which has been making my brain itch in thinking I might just round it up to a 5 on a re-listen) and when that one was over I was immediately looking forward to more. I'm pretty familiar with his hits, mainly off of his two early greatest hits compilations which floated around my house when I was a kid ( though I suspect they belonged to one of my aunts as my mom's taste veered towards America, the Beatles, Bread, and Carole King). The third volume I never heard as it didn't come out til the mid 90s, and was full of a bunch of stuff I was mostly unfamiliar with anyways. I never listened to a full Dylan studio album I don't think until high school when I was prompted to investigate this one by having listened to "Rainy Day Women" over and over again via the Forrest Gump soundtrack. I remember not being disappointed at all, and already familiar with several of the tracks via those compilation records, it went down pretty easy. But it was not one I revisited very often and I never became a huge Dylan enthusiast. He always struck me as kind of a prick who seemed to dislike his fans, so I wasn't clamoring to know more. That said, I would never turn away a Travelling Wilbury's song if it came on either. It wasn't I think until my mid-20s, when I was diving deep into music and using a bunch of similar lists and review sites to find all the "good shit", that I decided it was finally time to dig deep on old Mor. Tambourine man himself. I went through pretty much the entire discography ( being very easy at the time due to recent advances in technology) and, making exceptions for live albums, and all the Basement Tapes and Bootleg stuff, made it all the way up to the early 80s where I tapped out, satisfied I was up enough on my knowledge to not sound like a complete idiot in a conversation about the man. Very few of those albums, as much as I liked quite a few of them ever made many return visits though, and mostly sat fallow in the cold electronic prison of my iPod. With a few exceptions, I've not re-listed to a full Dylan album since then. I was mighty impressed, and willing to admit he likely deserves the reputation he got, but he was just never one of my guys. I've spun stuff by people he influenced a LOT more than the man himself. My tastes have evolved over the years, and like with Blood on the Tracks, I think I might surprise myself a bit and end up liking him a bit more. We are going backwards chronologically on this one, and hopefully we can continue that trend and then maybe circle back around for his old man albums that are on the list. For some reason instead of John Wesley Harding... Let's go! THE TRACKS Side one "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35" - A certified classic, and for good reason. I love Dylan when he get's good and dumb with his lyrics, and this is a prime example. Maybe only "Wigwam" from Self Portrait outdoes it in terms of actual lyrical simplicity as that's literally just "La-da-da-da-da-da" repeated over and over again. Even when he's dumbing it down, he's smarter than most, and the almost childlike glee on display here speaks volumes about the tone he's going for with it's live in the studio feel 9 edit: this was indeed recorded in one take) and it's mistakes and laughs, and general lazy sloppy vibe. It feels like a New Orleans street jazz band just happened to march its way through Dylan's living room, so he took advantage. Catchy as hell, and stuffed full of character and great textures, despite the sophomoric subject matter, and winking double entendre. I do find the seriousness with which hardcore Dylan fans will try and ascribe all these deep and various meanings onto his lyrics to be pretty hilarious. I think Dylan himself also finds this to be pretty funny and has dropped cryptic references and alternate meanings in interviews just to frustrate and mess with them. I'm not sure how anyone who has seen any of his antagonistic interviews from early in his career could think that he takes any of this as seriously as his fans and some rock critics do. Sure it's all about the bible, Bob. You would never make a drug reference. "Pledging My Time" - On paper it seems like a white Jewish folksinger kid from Minnesota might be a not great choice to be able to pull off a believable blues song. But here we are. And Dylan pulls it off with aplomb, and more than a little bit of style. He realizes, unlike a lot of the British guitar gods who tried to take the form and somehow "improve" upon it, that it's SO much better when it's raw, and rough around the edges. Dylan is not a great harmonica player, nor is he on anyone's list of greatest guitarists. At least from a technical point of view. What he does here is pound the emotion into the vocals, the guitar and the harmonica like few are able. Say what you will about even the worst Dylan song, but it never sounds cold and clinical ( at least not the worst that I've heard). He might not be authentic, but he treats the blues with respect here, and doesn't try to gussy it up. "Visions of Johanna" - Also recorded in one take. And it sounds like it. That's not a crack as it feels lived in and close up and feels like a cool way to hear what the guy might have sounded like live at his peak, and when he was being faithful to the original studio cut, as apparently in concert he is notorious for changing, even beloved classics, so much that they barely resemble the original, sometimes changing lyrics, chords, pace, rhythm, etc... This is one of those classics that I think you might need to be at least in the 1st tier of Dylan fandom to consider a true "classic". Your casual fan may have heard it, but would not call it one of his "hits" and that's maybe at least down to the length and the fact it ever became a radio staple. It's full of surreal imagery, lots of clever rhymes and funny lines, and I'm sure has been over analyzed like most of his stuff. It pulls off the cool trick of making you think it's a love song of sorts without ever giving you any real concrete details, and it's all done via tone and abstract imagery and I bet Dylan must have laughed his head off reading all the interpretations. It goes without mention that the playing on everything here is top tier, even if it feels loose and full of little imperfections. That's what makes it great. "One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)" - A great "deep cut" if you can count anything on an album as well regarded as this a deep cut, this one finds Dylan getting a bit more serious and telling a sad, and very personal-seeming story about people unable to connect because of a failing of interpretation and maybe a lack of self-awareness. Dylan's narrator comes across as clueless and callous and a bit of a prick, but you still feel for him just a little despite fucking up whatever could have been. It feels realistic, and like it could be vaguely describing something that really happened, and yet it lacks JUST the right amount of detail to make it feel universal. It's no wonder Dylan was as revered as he was at this point when a lot of his contemporaries were still stick in the "YEAH BABY YEAH" mode. It's been well documented that the Beatles claim to have been inspired by him to up their game, and this is a prime example of the sort of depth and simple execution of a complex idea that the Fab Four would have been possibly absorbing though maybe a couple years earlier than this specific one. Side two "I Want You" - One of my favorite Dylan songs, and I think it's mainly because it's one of his poppiest ones. The ringing guitar melody on this that's echoed by what sounds like an electric keyboard is sublime. It's upbeat and bouncy and pretty and it plays up there with some of the catchiest stuff that Cat Stevens would soon be putting out. It's just a pure pop masterpiece, and you can really feel the longing in Dylan's delivery. I think I'll have to move on now after four listens in a row. "Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again" - The hits they keep on coming, y'all. Another great one that also I think would not pass muster with the casual fan as far as being very recognizable, it's a favorite of a lot of hardcore fans, and apparently Hunter S. Thompson was one of these, mentioning the song in Fear ad Loathing in Las Vegas ( it was also featured in the soundtrack to the Terry Gilliam movie). It was also a favorite of the Memphis Group - a bunch of Italian post-modern designers who are largely responsible for the 80s look of boldly colored geometric designs that you saw in everything from Pee Wee's Playhouse, to trapper keepers to Saved by the Bell - who named themselves after the song which they would play at meetings. It's got a hell of a machine gun drum beat, and some cool ass organ playing as well as a really neat watery, and lowkey guitar part. It's another one of his nonsense lyric songs, but it still manages to feel a bit elegiac and nostalgic, despite making next to no sense. It's the second longest song on the album at 7:05 and there are nine verses. NINE! And yet it feels like it was barely around long enough to get the chorus stuck in your head. And on top of that, each verse is its own tiny piece of atmospheric flash fiction. "Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat" - Another more or less straightforward blues number, this one is a little bit mean, a little bit funny, and a whole lot of a piss take that's been taken to the extreme and come back around to being a cool 12 bar blues, full of some very emotive playing from Robbie Robertson on the lead at the end. Cool shit, and likely not as respected as some of the "deeper" Dylan songs, but this is the stuff I dig most I think. The funny stories that sound like they were fun to play. "Just Like a Woman" - We close side two with one that even most casual fans would recognize, and one that definitely got played on the radio. But not as much as the other stuff. It's very pretty, catchy as anything the man ever wrote, and had a beautiful acoustic bit of guitar work on it. It's one of the lovely pop songs Dylan wrote, and despite it's gentle feel, it has gotten a lot of criticism for being misogynistic. Which, fair enough - but it's still a love song of sorts, and Dylan is a talented enough guy that I don't find it necessary to make every narrator's feelings his own. Except when it's fun to speculate of course. Side three "Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine" - More relationship troubles open side three, this time with a martial drum beat, some whirling, playful guitar and an organ line from Al Kooper that feels almost but not quite like some demented carnival music. It's ok, but doesn't measure up to anything that's come before. Merely a base hit. "Temporary Like Achilles" - This one has some great blues piano playing in it, but I do wish it was higher in the mix. Another one that's fine enough, and would be a feather in the cap of a lot of other musicians. But here it feels like a leftover that's been clandestinely warmed up and presented as fresh. Pleasant while I was listening to it, but not sure it's one that will have left a mark in the grooves of my brain. "Absolutely Sweet Marie" - More cool organ playing from Al Kooper on this upbeat poppy number about a man who is constantly being stood up, and who keeps falling for it over and over again. It's not as funny as some of the other songs on here, but has the same sort of structure as those, with it's kind sorta punchline ending. I guess it's ultimately about not getting what you want, which must be one of the classic pop song subjects, but Dylan couches it in such specific yet meaningless language that it never feels like a cliche. "4th Time Around" - This one has a little bit of a Latin flavor to the guitar part, and is seemingly a parody of the Beatle's "Norwegian Wood" which... alright, maybe if you squint your eyes. Both involve a doofus getting rejected by a woman, and the minor drama within her apartment, but it's got a different tone, and feels more playful than sinister, and involves a third party besides. But who knows. This is another minor classic in my opinion, and a shame it's not better known. "Obviously 5 Believers" - A nice bit of blues rock, with emphasis on the blues, this one goes a lot at a nice clip, and is over before you know it. It's nothing special though, and feels as much like filler as anything on this album can. The harmonica refrain is maybe my favorite part. I could imagine the Animals tearing this track up. Side four "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands" - The longest song on the album at 11:23, and maybe his longest ever? It's a sullen, pretty love song in a waltz time that keeps from feeling like a dirge by Dylan's alternately soaring and restrained vocals which provide a great bit of dynamics to the thing. The song never feels overlong despite taking up a whole side of the record, and remains one of Dylan's prettier choruses. And this is a dude who wrote a lot of pretty choruses. It never feels epic either, but instead personal and like a genuine, unironic love song. HIGHLIGHTS - "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35" - "Pledging My Time" - "Visions of Johanna" - "One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)" - "I Want You" - "Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again" - "Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat" - "Just Like a Woman" - "Absolutely Sweet Marie" - "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands" MIDLIGHTS - "Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine" - "Temporary Like Achilles" - "Obviously 5 Believers" LOWLIGHTS - FINAL THOUGHTS Man, this is a tough one. I had assumed I would like this one better than Blood On the Tracks as it had more recognizable numbers on it and in my mind it was the more cohesive album. And I did like this quite a bit. Enough that it's neck and neck, with the overall tighter connective tissue and the highest of the highlights winning out, but I think I prefer Blood On the Tracks ever so slightly as it felt mor complex and had a little bit more meat on the bones. As much as I like Dylan in blues mode, he dipped into that well one too many times here and I think the length did not help. A double album, as I've mentioned before, rarely comes without it's flaws. Overall though, this was a treat. I think if I were to line all the Dylan albums up in a row and rank them from memory, it would have been something like this: 1. Highway 61 Revisited 2. The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan 3. Bringing It All Back Home 4. Blonde On Blonde 5. Blood On The Tracks 6. Time Out Of Mind 7. Live 1966 But now I have to reconsider those rankings. At least in this case 4 and 5 would be reversed. We've got five more to go though, so we'll see. I'm still fairly certain those last two won't be moving though. I detest most live albums, and Time Out of Mind I was not very impressed with the one time I heard it. This is a great album, wither way, and the stuff that didn't hit is still very solid. I don't think Dylan is anything less than interesting all the way up to the 80s, and then maybe more so than people give him credit for. If you're just embarking on a first time listen of his discography, and you like him already in any way, this album is sure to give you a lot of good reasons to keep going. It's a classic for a reason, I just think it's one of the lesser classics. Possible turn-Offs might include: - that weedy, nasally, sneering voice - aggressively obtuse lyrics that he knew would get people wasting valuable time deciphering - lots of blues and blues-folk stuff if that's not your bag - a reputation that might put you off before even listening if you don't cotton to the belief that Dylan is all that great You Might enjoy this if you: - have an interest in rock history in general and are trying to hit a lot of the milestones - love you some blues flavor mixed in with your folk and rock - dig great melodies, meticulously ramshackle arrangements, and don't mind if the acoustic and electric instruments intermingle - like his hits but would like to know more PLAYLIST ALTERATIONS - Nah FURTHER LISTENING Precursors: - King of the Delta Blues Singers by Robert Johnson - Moanin' The Blues by Drifting Cowboys and Hank Williams - The Songs of Tin Pan Alley (2018 compilation) - At Newport 1960 by Muddy Waters - Lightnin' Hopkins by Lightnin' Hopkins - The "Chirping" Crickets by Buddy Holly and The Crickets - Going to a Go-Go bySmokey Robinson & The Miracles Contemporaries: - Revolver by The Beatles - Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys - Aftermath by the Rolling Stones - Tambourine Man by The Byrds Descendants: - Music from Big Pink by The Band - Astral Weeks by Van Morrison - All Things Must Pass by George Harrison - Blue by Joni Mitchell - After the Gold Rush by Neil Young - Damn the Torpedoes b Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Horses by Patti Smith - Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot by Wilco - Destroyer's Rubies by Destroyer - Smoke Ring for My Halo by Kurt Vile - Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit by Courtney Barnett

There were a few songs on this album, but mostly this album consists of lyrics with some music in the background.

Shiny, established 60s Dylan. One of the best BD albums out there.

Arguably the greatest album by the greatest songwriter in history.

I love the instrumentals (except the harmonica), I just don't really like the singing.

Another great Dylan album but the harmonica is a bit much and the album doesn’t have the same magic as some of his others I think.

I loved his music with The Hawks\AKA The Band. This may be the best of his post-electric era, which, considering his immense songwriting chops isn't saying as much as it should. I would put The Last Waltz over this album any day of the week. His intro of the Double-Album should be a point against him, based on the bloated albums to come from so many bands. Editor and music producers get a bad wrap, but they often helped save us from the excesses of the artist's ego. I've never met a double-album that didn't have a double-helping of filler songs or overlong jam songs.

Back half carried for me still really enjoyed this album

Nach zwei Drinks gehts eigentlich.

Not my thing but I can understand why people like it

Not my favorite Dylan, but still a great album with some of his best songs.

One of the first double albums. This one has several blues tracks, along with the songs we all know (“Rainy Day Women #12 & 35”, “Just Like a Woman”, “I Want You”, “Stuck Inside…”). Dylan’s lyrics are always interesting, and how many singers have Nobel Prizes?

In my mind this is probably one of the 20 most famous albums (other top 20 famous albums we've had: the white album, dark side of the moon, that king crimson one, rumours...) Not that I've ever listened to it! But I like the picture of Bob Dylan because he kinda looks like me. I wasn't prepared for this much harmonica. Too much harmonica. Hey, 'Visions of Johanna' was written in the Chelsea Hotel! But I dunno, it's not anything special for me. People make a big to-do about his lyrics but just having a lot of lyrics doesn't mean they're Nobel-prize worthy -- wait, what's this? They are? Well, whatever. They aren't 4-or-5 on MY Rating Scale-worthy.

Can't stand his voice. Oof.

Between 3 and 4 Liked the instruments and songs are generally easy and pleasant to listen to Slightly repetitive (same instruments but different moods) and did not like his voice bc he sounds more like he is speaking than singing Sometimes he is just stringing words together and you can tell he is trying hard to be deep and give meaningful commentary (leopard-skin pill-box hat) which doesn’t really resonate but I don’t mind that too much

ok

A really good singer-songwriter album that is light on the production but strong on the lyricism.

I have no idea why I like Bob Dylan, he is not a good vocalist. But I love his voice anyway. No idea why I like his music but here I am giving this 4 stars.

Eher nervig, bisschen guter Blues und so aber... Naja.

Good classic Dylan album! Some good old songs

This was good if a little long! Bob Dylan is so good sometimes I think he can sing!

Never been a big fan of Dylan, and Blonde on Blonde doesn't convince me to be now either. Though "I want you" is a pleasant track which leans more to pop than the rest blues & awful harmonica filled tracks.

Why do people like this?

Geesh, this one was a little too long! I enjoyed most of the songs, and there were some really good moments, but it was a lot of Bob Dylan to take in all at once. A few songs were quirky, and I think the album would have been much more enjoyable if it had been shorter. Good music, just a little too much Dylan for one sitting.

Don't mind if I do! Very daring to make your 80 min opus start with its two worst songs (they still rock). So many of these songs go Short Verse -> Hook (Repeat 10x). So many instrumental or vocal takes that are either off or half-assed. So much harmonica. But it's all fucking awesome. The hooks that you hear a million times a song all rock, the stream of consciousness psychedelic verses all are beautiful, funny, confusing, and heartbreaking. I love Bob Dylan's rock era in the same way that I love early Pavement. He just kicks ass and does exactly whatever the hell he wanted and didn't give a shit who liked it. Well I like it!

The best Bob Dylan album? Probably. Starts off mega and then does not relent the whole time. Genius in 72 minutes.

Great album! Enjoyed this much more than Bringing It All Back Home. Dylan sounds fantastic on this and each song really seems to deserve its' place here. It's sonically rich and the lyrics are delivered in such a way that each word feels utterly important. Favourites: Pledging My Time Stuck Inside of Mobile Temporary Like Achilles

5 Dylan albums down so far. This one is also very listenable, great for the background with all the musical details it's got going on. It's way too long, maybe at the time the double album was a way to enhance the fans' experience, but right now I'd find it acceptable and appropriate to finish this record on Just Like a Woman. I got to give it to them, the album doesn't tip after that point, it's just one solid well executed effort from front to back. Excessive by today's standards, but I can see this being highly influential. That last 11 minute side was grating at me on paper, but it actually works. I'm surprised I didn't hate it, but I'm not loving it either. 3.2/5

I can't get behind bob dylans music because his voice his voice is intolerable to my ears.

There are some real gems on this one, but as someone who isn’t a huge Dylan guy … this was a LOT of Dylan lol

His lyrics are good, I just don't like his voice... I'm sorry.

The lyrics were meaningful but I didn’t find it meshing well with the sound

Honestly I really don’t like Bob Dylan’s singing voice lol

Have this record, love this record.

Zero stars

Favorite songs: Visions of Johanna, One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later), I Want You, Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again, Just Like a Woman, Absolutely Sweet Marie, 4th Time Around

Dylan

A lyrical genius, but does anyone besides him know what they mean? I like the heavy dose of harmonica. Nashville Skyline is my favorite Dylan album but this one is up there.

Well, this group knows how my interest in Dylan shot up after the movie "A Complete Unknown." (Colton, you really need to watch again and not fall asleep this time!) As an album, I enjoyed most of the tracks, loved a couple, and disliked a couple (first two).

one of the bob dylan classics

Not my favorite Dylan album but the composition is on point as per usual.

Some great songs but rest is boring

Bob, Holding a sing harmonica note at full volume is not music. It’s aggravating. I lost a couple decibels of my hearing range while wearing my earbuds. Do better, Bob, do better. P.S. This could have affected my rating, but it didn’t. You earned your two stars.

Solid Bob Dylan album

Can’t get into Bob. Very nasal in his vocals and not my vibe at all.

this album has been holding me up for a couple days... i really like, just can not think of anything to say about this?? i can tell that it's *good*, like, bob dylan's voice is very distinctive (positive) and the instrumentals are solid especially on tracks like "most likely you go your way (and i'll go mine)". but despite that it somehow manages to keep finding its way into the background on every listen. idgi? maybe i'm just not able to engage with like, idk.... "white man blues", i guess? as a genre?? cos i feel like this happens every time we get an album like that and til now i'd just assumed it was cos those albums were kind of mid at best but like. this one it feels like he was cookin something, maybe? and yet i still can't lock in. doesn't help that it's over an hour long, i guess, but still.... i'm sure i'm missing something here and i have no clue what it is. .........im just gonna give this a 3 and move on.

When the first Dylan album appeared on the list, I gave it a shot. Sounded like what I expected from Dylan. 3 stars. When the second Dylan album appeared on the list, I thought let me listen with more purpose. I pulled up the lyrics, dug into their message. Assessed the intentions. Tried to place myself in the moment. 3 stars. When the third Dylan album appeared on the list, I queued it up in the background while working. It's more of the same. I can't be arsed to do another intentional listen to a beat poet over a guitar and a harmonica. I got it, he's a voice of a generation or whatever. I don't have to be reminded with another album of what he is capable of.

The album opens with "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35" - a/k/a the "everybody must get stoned" song - which has always struck me as the prototypical "why is this guy famous?" Dylan song. It's musically plodding and dull, the doggerel lyrics could have been written by a clever sixth-grader, and there's absolutely nothing special about it. As the album progresses, the lyrics get better, but the music never really does. Dylan has talent as a poet, but no one should ever have suggested setting his words to music.

Mostly very easy to listen to songs that have great stories baked in. If I paid more attention to the lyrics I'd probably like it even more. The harmonica playing is sloppy but it somehow works. 8/10

I really want to like Bob Dylan but just can't get over his vocal style. The folk instrumentals and harmonica bits are really nice. I will make a lot of people mad by saying this but I'd really enjoy a lot of these songs in the style of The Front Bottoms or something more modern. Maybe I'll watch the movie to learn a little more about the guy.

Bob Dylan continues to just not be my thing. The writing and instrumentals are great, but his voice and timing just haven't grown on me.

Album 235 ist das erste Dylan Album in dieser Liste. Das wird sich wahrscheinlich irgendwann rächen und 2028 gibt es dann 3 Dylan und ein the Band Album in einer Woche. Und Scooter. Blonde on Blonde war für ungefähr ein halbes Jahr auf Dauerrotation als ich ca. 28 war. Also wahrscheinlich so alt wie Dylan irgendwann, bin zu faul das nach zu schauen. Und ich habe es zwar lange nicht mehr komplett gehört, aber es ist schon ein sobjektiv fantastisches Album, was man wirklich nicht von ganz so vielen Dylan Alben sagen kann. Ich glaube für mich passt das Album weil Dylan hier in einem spielerischen musikalischen Kontext eingebunden ist. Es klingt fast so, als wären kompetente Mitarbeiter am Werk die Spaß haben. Dafür

To je fajn album od majstra

Not a fan

Bob Dylan is a poet, I get it. But he can not sing for two cents. Hearing this double album was not amusing.

I’m sure I’d like it more with more listens and time to absorb the lyrics.

All in all gutes Album aber ich fand die Mundharmonika teilweise echt anstrengend, weil sie so schrill klang und nicht wirklich reingepasst hat.

One of his best

Vast in scope, meticulous in detail.

So when it comes to Bob Dylan, I’ve grown to really respect him and his music, but I don’t enjoy all of his albums the same. Some just don’t connect with me as much as others. Well, this is one album that I really do enjoy, and out of the ones I’ve heard, it’s one of his best. I love the warm, loose, and hazy sound, because it really has this late-night, maybe a little tipsy, feel to it. It makes me think of a smoky, dark lounge with people just enjoying the live music, while the band sounds loose and a little lazy, almost like they’re jamming. One of my favorite songs on this album is “Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine).” The instruments have this slightly playful and quirky sound to them.

I still don’t like his voice, but the album is amazing.

En av Dylan bästa. Här finns stora melodier, maffigt arrangemang, historieberättande. Det blir en 5a. Bäst är Visions of Johanna, I Want you, Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again, Just like a woman

Both the harmonica and this blokes voice grate on these bore fest

I think it's overrated, even though it's still a 4 for me. Too much goes into the switch to electric but honestly, I like the poetic tales of the earlier albums more than those here.

Going to give this a four, more an accident of timing than a judgement of the music for which an argument can definitely be made that this is a five star album. Firstly, I mainly got into Bob through the Bootleg Series stuff dripped out around the turn of the millennium, and as such, the definitive version of some of the songs on here for me personally are other versions. I'm thinking Visions of Johanna at the Free Trade Hall and Stuck a Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again with more prominent harmonica on No Direction Home for example. Secondly the order in which I've got the albums from his 60s peak in this project also influence the score I feel inclined to give. I've already had the two preceding albums (Bringing It All Back Home and Highway 61) and given them five stars and I feel both are a bit stronger than this and I also was more familiar with them earlier than Blonde on Blonde so there's not the same issue with thinking the recorded versions are not quite as strong as alternative takes. Its also a touch too long and a bit too trippy in places with Bob's a bit more raspy than before although nothing on what comes later. Had a got this as the first Dylan album out of the generator I would probably have gone straight five for the inclusion of songwriting like I Want You, Pill-box Hat and Just Like A Woman. However, as an album I do feel it's a rung below my top three all-time Dylan LPs - Blood on the Tracks, Highway and Bringing It All Back Home. it's not far behind though, alongside Time Out Of Mind, Oh Mercy, Slow Train Coming and the one with Mr Bojangles on it. Ok, one of those is not like the others, although I kind of don't mind it actually.

I mean it's Bob Dylan!!... at his best?? Pacing is just about perfect. Lyrically a game changer. Indebted to the blues no doubt but that's nothing new. Instrumentation is somehow loose and tight at the same time. No skips. Absolutely Sweet Marie!

I'd be tempted to vote 1, however the music (excluding the loud, awful harmonica playing) as alright and I didn't want to seem to vote harsh just to be a contrarian. Vocals felt lazy, half-hearted, almost a self-mocking parody where every twenty seconds it felt like has balls got squeezed and he sounded strained a bit higher pitch. Songs were not interesting, lyrics like he knew his grandad died but he knew it was gonna happen unlike others or something weak like that. I'm not sure who would sit down to listen to him and enjoy it, I don't feel like the vibe fits anything. And this is one of his best albums apparently...?!

Bob should have been a poet

Listened previously. Expectations: High - Verdict: Masterpiece - Rainy Day Women is a great opener with such a rollicking, rambunctious energy. Visions of Johanna is arguably the definitive statement on poetry in rock music. It is such a beautiful combination of words with harmony and rhythm that always makes me feel something utterly ineffable and wonderful. One Of Us Must Know is stunning, as is I Want You. Memphis Blue is epic and Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat rocks along. Every track from start to finish is a masterpiece and it culminates in the outpouring of mystic emotion and wonder that is Sad-Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands.

As someone who loves folk music, people with weird singing voices, and even the much maligned harmonica, I fear I'm never going to enjoy the music of Bob Dylan, at least when he's the one performing it. like Phil Ochs if he sucked. he should have stuck to writing songs for Joan Baez.

this one is classic right?

Somehow didn't fully appreciate the harmonica on Pledging My Time. Wow. Other standouts during this listen: Most Likely You'll Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine) Obviously Five Believers

Solid Bob but not the best Bob.

Love this album always have

I finished the first 4 songs and really enjoyed them they had good lyrical composition but the instrumentals left me lacking

Say whatever you want. Play whatever you want. Smash them together. What a pretty voice. What a poet. Fave song was fourth time around, second fave was sad eyed lady. Ill be back for more Bob Dylan; kinda sad i wasn't raised on him.

It seems like Bob Dylan goes electric with a whole lot of harmonica.

This might be sacrilege, but this would have been better if this were a single lp. Bob needed some editing on this one. Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands doesn't need to be 11 minutes long.

ive listened to this one too already its pretty good

Bone fide classic. A lot of double albums outstay their welcome, not this one. Even though the final track covers an entire side of the record. The end of an era for Dylan, but what a way to finish it.

Could have sworn I already wrote this review. Every phase of life comes with a favorite Dylan album, but this has been my fav for a long time and I don't see that changing any time soon. It's the weird and wonderful essence of Dylan breaking down every aspect of what a song is then putting them back together in ways that only make sense to him. It's traditional and electric, erudite and obtuse, personal yet also not about anything in particular. I feel like I always hear something new in it. There's lots of Dylan I've gotten sick of over the years, but never ever Blonde on Blonde.

I love everything about this album except for Rainy Day Women #12 & 35. I despise that song. I'm still going to give the album 5 stars but I have hated that song for years now

The most tepid of fives, but come on. It's just too good!

hm. where's the sixth star button. or perhaps seven? 1001 albums admin please answer my emails

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This is an objectively great album. The impact at the time, its effect on fellow artists and its commercial success, mean it's often mentioned as one of the very best albums ever made. But the difference between objective truth and subjective reality is one of the interesting things about this exercise, and while I love some of the wonderful songs, I can't honestly say that it's an album I love, yet. My journey is still underway - I didn't grow up with Dylan, and I've not had a phase, so I'm still at level 1: basic, where Freewheelin' is still my favourite album. I dig Highway 61 and Bringing It All Back Home - I'm not shouting "Judas" at the electric guitar - but Blonde on Blonde just hasn't really kicked in for me. I don't want to be too contrary, but I have some bugbears with Blonde on Blonde - it starts really badly ("Rainy Day Women #12 & 35" is surely a deeply unfunny joke?) and continues with the lumpen blues of "Pledging My Time". There's also lot of shrill harmonica which is not really up my musical alley. Of course, the band are great throughout, and some of the grooves are unbelievably sweet, but despite the famous "baffle ban" I'm not convinced of the musical chemistry between Dylan and his Nashville rent-a-band - they were working through a conduit (Al Kooper) rather than with old Bobbles himself, and I think it shows. The run of five songs from #3 to #7 is outstanding. But it's also where "the Dylan voice" starts to grate. He's decided to change his voice in this album: and while obviously that phrasing has been there before, when he says "Jeez, I can't find my knees" in "Visions of Johanna".... for me, he's gone full Dylan. It's as if he's doing a caricature of himself, and while it feels blasphemous to say it, but for me, it breaks the spell a bit. At 72 minutes, it also feels a bit long - but then again, I'm also aware that one day's listening is not enough for a record like this. I'm sure I'll come back to it, and maybe this will be a five-star review, one day.

At its best this is as good as music gets. It’s a swirling, magnificent album that in those places sounds timeless and fresh despite being made 60 years ago. But it would be better if 4 tracks were removed, including the weak opening track. 9/10

The hits from this album are a definite 5, the rest a bit lower. 4.5?!

Wow. I think my favorite Dylan album. So much depth. So many songs that can stand on their own. As a full work, stunning.

Great love songs, very "my mistress's eyes are nothing like the sun" – Dylan's femme fatales are treated with relatively fairness: cast as naive and a little silly, like him