Blood On The Tracks

“Blood on the Tracks” by Bob Dylan (1975) It takes a remarkable talent to produce poetically powerful emotional scenes and evocative narratives in a musical idiom, and that is what is on display in this album. A bit of advice for those who are not Dylan fans: Listen to the stories. Listen to the expressions of love fulfilled or frustrated. Generate images in your mind, guided by the lyrics. Anticipate and cherish the moments when you say to yourself, “I never thought of it that way before.” You’ll find life expanding within you. And if you find Dylan’s vocals unbearable, start with “Tangled Up in Blue” and “Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack of Hearts”. Listen to the creative variations in the synchronization between the poetic rhythms and the musical rhythms. You may not ‘get’ all the obscure references, but you’ll feel the feeling. Then you might be ready to embrace the passion of a man who sings to his estranged wife at the end of a failed marriage (in “Idiot Wind”): You’re an idiot, babe It’s a wonder that you still know how to breathe. . . . We’re idiots, babe It’s a wonder we can even feed ourselves. Try to put words to the development from the first two lines to the last two lines. This is not music for dancing, partying, getting stoned, lifting one up, easing one down, or background while one works. This merely culture-causing music fit for a serious listen. But if this album is over the heads of pop music consumers with three-minute attention spans, they should feel free to move on. I’ll stay awhile. Shelter from the storm. 5/5

I really can’t stand Dylan’s way of singing.

Confession time: I’ve never listened to a Bob Dylan album before. Couldn’t tell you why. He seemed, I suppose, too much of a Goliath to tackle; I’d missed my window, surely - where would I start? But here we are. My window opened, and I leapt through. I listened to this album three times yesterday, and will surely have to listen more, and more intimately to unravel all the rambling tales and hidden crooked melodies, and its deceptively simple-not-easy instrumentation. I will always feel like I’m not getting something when it comes to Dylan, and like I’m playing catch up, such is the weight of mythology that comes with such an artist. But I’m pleased to have finally broken the seal.

To me, this is his last 5 star masterpiece album. Me and my friends were practically Dylan cultists back in high school so this one is burned into me. Probably the most personal Dylan ever got and perhaps the greatest breakup album of all time.

No more Bob Dylan please

Shit, as always

Tangled up in blue is incredible. The rest of the album reminded me why I'm a distant admirer rather than a fan

BOB FUCKING DYLAN

You know how a harmonica sounds really annoying and whiney? Well, on this album Bob emulates a harmonica with his voice and sometimes doubles it with a harmonica too. Just can't get past the worst voice in music. Autotune wouldn't save this either. I'm sure the lyrics are cutting but can't get past the voice.

fuck bob dylan

There are some artists that should only be songwriters, NOT singer-songwriters. I'm sorry to say, but Bob Dylan is one of those artists. The man CAN NOT sing! I'll bury myself even deeper by adding that Bruce Springsteen is in the same boat, IMO.

Bob Dylan’s voice is an acquired taste and baby I have ACQUIRED it. This album rules.

Following on the heels of an album where he repudiated his past with his greatest backing band, Blood on the Tracks finds Bob Dylan, in a way, retreating to the past, recording a largely quiet, acoustic-based album. But this is hardly nostalgia -- this is the sound of an artist returning to his strengths, what feels most familiar, as he accepts a traumatic situation, namely the breakdown of his marriage. This is an album alternately bitter, sorrowful, regretful, and peaceful, easily the closest he ever came to wearing his emotions on his sleeve. That's not to say that it's an explicitly confessional record, since many songs are riddles or allegories, yet the warmth of the music makes it feel that way. The original version of the album was even quieter -- first takes of "Idiot Wind" and "Tangled Up in Blue," available on The Bootleg Series, Vols. 1-3, are hushed and quiet (excised verses are quoted in the liner notes, but not heard on the record) -- but Blood on the Tracks remains an intimate, revealing affair since these harsher takes let his anger surface the way his sadness does elsewhere. As such, it's an affecting, unbearably poignant record, not because it's a glimpse into his soul, but because the songs are remarkably clear-eyed and sentimental, lovely and melancholy at once. And, in a way, it's best that he was backed with studio musicians here, since the professional, understated backing lets the songs and emotion stand at the forefront. Dylan made albums more influential than this, but he never made one better.

The album before was "The Dark Side of the Moon" so it's a tall order to follow but I think this manages. This is my favourite Dylan album. As i get older I feel that the older stuff Dylan wrote that previously were my favourites now seem a bit mean and childish. This album however has grown on me so much. There are not many catchy songs but the lyrics are really where this shines. Many of the songs feel like poems more than songs in a way. The songs are all scenes from a relationship and there is so much optimism and sorrow between the lines. I think it's clear that this is a more adult break-up album, there is not too much anger but just a lot of regret and reminiscence. Favourite songs is hard to say as it's such a slow burn. I have a few favourite lyrics though from simple twist of fate: """ He woke up, the room was bare He didn't see her anywhere He told himself he didn't care Pushed the window open wide Felt an emptiness inside To which he just could not relate ... People tell me it's a sin To know and feel too much within I still believe she was my twin but I lost the ring """ Clear 5 star from me.

Bob Dylan was one of the best songwriters of all time, and this is some of his best work. Idiot Wind is a work of lyrical genius. I love his trademark unconventional vocal delivery; to me it makes the songs more memorable than having a Michael Bublé type singing them. This album is going on repeat and straight to my personal collection.

tangled up in blue is a classic, rest is pretty much nondescript except vocals that rise up into a weird falsetto. Great song writing but otherwise not sure why Bob Dylan is so popular.

08/19/2022 About a year ago, I woke up one morning and went out to find garage or estate sales. I came across a house in Alamo Heights where an older woman was selling lots of items for dirt cheap. She had a box full of CDs that were only a dollar. Taking advantage of the situation, I bought Neil Young, Bringing it All Back Home, and Blood on the Tracks. When she saw what I had picked she sighed and told me “When [Blood on the Tracks] came out it was just incredible. I bought the record and would play it all the way through, and then I would turn it over and start it again.” I didn’t really understand why anyone would feel compelled to do that. I liked the album at that time but wasn’t fully in love with it like I am now and figured that anyone would get tired of hearing an album over and over again. Regardless, I took the CD home with me. I was lucky enough to still have a CD player in my car at that time, so I would listen to it when I would drive around San Antonio. I slowly began to fall in love with each song, and to this day I grow to love this album more and more with each listen. Falling in love, experiencing heartbreak, longing for something or someone long gone, and feeling emptiness that only some of the darkest times in one’s life can bring out are the languages of this album. There have been times when listening to this album sets me right back in those head spaces, and I can only imagine what Dylan was going through during the production and recording of this album. Divorce from his wife, loss, heartbreak. There’s some sort of timeless quality about this album. Something that sounds and feels like it was made centuries ago, but with the same freshness and raw vulnerability that still holds strong and fits right in the time that one listens to it now. Dylan truly bared his soul for this album, regardless of his petty insistence that these songs have no relation to what was happening in his life at this time. When I saw this album was the one assigned to me today, I was so happy and also thought it was the funniest thing, because just like how that old woman told me how she would play this album over and over, I had come to do the exact same thing. Just yesterday I was playing this album over on Spotify only to skip to playing the record and sitting next to the player as each track rang out. — No skips on this album for me. Although I think every track is wonderful in its own way, I’m extremely biased toward You’re A Big Girl Now, You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go, Shelter from the Storm, and Buckets of Rain. — Otherwise, today has been very calm. Did lots of housekeeping today. Laundry, cleaning, unpacking, all that. School starts in just three days. I’m so nervous, but so excited as well. Listening to albums like these give me the strength to keep pushing. The only thing I knew how to do Was to keep on keeping on like a bird that flew Tangled up in blue

Perhaps because I was looking forward to it all day, or it’s been a while since I last listened, or what I look for from Dylan has changed, or I’ve changed, or I’ve never ‘got it’ before, but in the ten years and many listens since I first spun Blood on the Tracks this is the first time it’s sounded like a 5. And I don’t doubt that change for a second. I’d rather luxuriate in the delicious tangibility of growing with an album – surely one of music listening’s greatest and mysterious pleasures. So, what am I hearing differently? First, Dylan’s writing, which is equal to (no higher praise) Hank Williams in the way he uses the hook – often just one line: “shelter from the storm”, “a simple twist of fate”, “tangled up in blue”, “the Jack of hearts” – like a recurring dream or deadly obsession that pulls him back no matter how far he strays. Second, melodies and arrangements that are somehow both gentle and played with a muscular, sometimes even virulent, intensity and exactness, hoarily putting me in mind of a master painter – let’s say Turner out of laziness, though that’s probably a good comparison for delicacy qua intensity. And last, something extraordinary about the limitations of what he’s saying, or rather feeling. By which I mean that (to paraphrase something I read recently on the interwebs) these songs are about romance not love and, however gorgeously complex, are confined to one man’s limited and very solipsistic experience of those romance. Somehow, the narrower parameters improve the overall effect. Don’t ask me how. I’ll only say, “That’s art.”

Actually not terrible for a Bob Dylan album. He still can't sing for the life of him, but it was bearable and there wasn't too much harmonica. 3/5

Goddamn this list for making me appreciate Bob Dylan. Ok, 5 songs in and I’m back to being annoyed by him. I think Dylan is just one of those musicians I can take in small doses, but more than 15 minutes and it starts to become excruciating.

God were all the “great” songwriters mediocre fucking hacks? I swear to god, every one of the “great” albums on this list are tedious, mind numbing exercises in unmusical repetition. What the actual fuck am I supposed to take away from this album? Does ol’ bob know that there are more instruments than just the guitar? His Spotify calls him “One of the greatest figures of the 20th Century”. I wanna vomit. Stalin, Mao, Roosevelt, step outta the way! This nasally overrated fuck is here to spew pretentious nothing at you for an hour. Fuck rock & roll, fuck folk music, and fuck the baby boomers who ate that shit up, consequently forcing me to listen to all of it due to its “historical significance”. “Greatest songwriter of all time” my ass. The music is utterly unremarkable. And I’m not listening to the lyrics, you have to bribe me with good tunes first. Schumann was a real first rate songwriter, and you actually want to listen to his music even though it’s all in German. God this entire culture of ranking fucking albums based on historical significance is so goddam tedious, a way for musically illiterate tools to learn what they’re supposed to like and what they aren’t. AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I FUCKING HATE BOB DYLAN

One of my favorites from the first time I heard it. Beautiful lyricism, and no tracks I would throw out.

Nopy nope.

This was the first Dylan album I ever listened to that wasn’t a best of and it was the thing that finally helped me understand what people saw in him. The music is complicated, the lyrics are intricate and tell such vivid stories, and his voice sounds phenomenal. The only knock against it is that it isn’t quite as good as some of the albums leading up it, which is more just an indication of what an insane hot streak Dylan was on at that point in his career.

Had heard before one of my fav albums ever

It's Dylan. I swear I hear a completely different thing than everybody else who listens to him, because I can't get into him at all. His albums are too long, the songs all sound the same, and his legendary (Nobel prize winning!) songwriting just does not speak to me at all.

I understand the influence, and honestly a great lyricist and intersting song structures..... but that voice.

Just the fucking best.

tangled up in blue, you're gonna make lonesome when you go

Loved it.

Thank god he turned down the volume of the harmonica from Blonde On Blonde, that could get very hard to listen to. Ok nevermind "you're gonna make me lonesome when you go" fucking killed my ears holy shit. The lyrics are really great and all, but none of the songs really hit me very hard. I think Bob Dylans music is a bit overrated, felt the same with Blonde On Blonde, except for "I Want You", that song is fucking exceptional. Some songs though, like "Lilly, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts makes me physically cringe because the intro is so horrible to listen to. And then of course a song like "If You See Her, Say Hello" comes and fucking breaks the mold. Fuck man. a 4 for that actually And "Shelter From the Storm" is quite good too. Was ready to hear a 5 but I just don't see it. An album of 3 but, If you see her, gets it to a 4 to me.

Thorns: I'm not a huge fan of the way Bob Dylan sings. There are some singers where they no doubt have an amazing voice even if perhaps you don't like the song. In general I don't think Dylan is a great singer, when listening to the album at times it didn't bother me while other times it did. Often times the best part of folk songs are the lyrics but for me it's hard to focus on the lyrics if the melody is overly repetitive and doesn't hook me. Many of the songs on the album were too long and repetitive that my mind wandered off and I wasn't listening to what he was saying. Roses: There were catchy moments and none of the songs were bad to listen to, at worst they were repetitive or unmemorable. Standout songs: Tangled Up in Blue, Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts

Yawn. I know I’m supposed to love Bob Dylan and particularly this album. I don’t. It’s boring to me.

This is tough because it's Bob mfckn Dylan. I went through a Dylan phase in college and really loved his poetic ramblings. I guess my tastes have changed since I really don't have the patience for his nasal inflections and longass songs. I do like "Tangled Up in Blue" and other singles, just not a whole album at once.

Two rules, every line must rhyme no matter how nonsensical and every track must end in a harmonica solo. Only slightly better than the live double album that I was forced to skip.

The first lp in this ist i couldnt listen to the end - his whining makes me sick

I didn't know a single one of these tracks, but they all felt like timeless poetry. Truely one of the greats.

I always kind of feel that culturally, we're still in the tail end of the long 20th Century, and that when Bob dies it will finally be over.

Perfect. Five. Favourite Dylan album. Also quoted by Hootie and the Blowfish. Seething heartbreak…with the perfect dash of hope with Buckets of Rain.

I'm not going to add to the millions of words said about Blood On The Tracks, other than "you're an idiot babe, it's a wonder you still know how to breathe" is an ALL-TIMER BURN

I’ve had this for ages, maybe the first Dylan album I bought and tried to get into. It’s elusive, rich with obscure yet precise sentiments, the vibe of the music big and welcoming, therefore tricky. I don’t understand it, but I like it a lot.

It’s an album like this that makes me reflect on how much this list has changed my perspective on music. I used to really hate Bob Dylan. I thought he had an annoying voice and boring music. I’ve really grown to appreciate a lot of new music and can feel all the raw emotion in a project like this. It’s truly beautiful music and bursting at the seems with soul.

Dylan's best 70's album. Tangled up in Blue may be his best song. Each track is great, showcasing a renewed lyrical strength and a mostly stripped back instrumentation. I even like the much maligned Lily, rosemary and the Jack of hearts! The only thing better (to me) is the original 1974 test pressing. 5 Heard before? Yes Owned: Yes 1/1001, 1/3 (33%) Will I get? Have several copies already! Recommend: Yes

makes me feel worse than my parents' divorce

A marriage falling apart makes for Bob's best album of the '70s.

From start to finish, this is Dylan's greatest achievement. It's his most literary record b/c it's his most confessional, his most sustained, his most motivated and focused. I guess love will do that to you - will exalt a writer to brass tacks. Featuring a vindictive storyteller getting his get back ('Idiot Wind'), and a nearly nine min interlude about Big Jim and the Jack of Hearts, the album tells it like it is by telling his version of it. As much as I revere 'Blowin' in the Wind,' 'Like a Rolling Stone,' and 'A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall,' I love those records b/c they speak to something culturally or societally universal. Here, Bob jettisons the cultural and societal for the personal - and he may just be a tad deeper b/c of that.

I decided to give this one more time to grow on me and I’m really glad I did. I’m not a native English speaker so with anything rich in lyrics I need extra time to truly immerse myself in the ideas of the writer. This is the best full album I’ve heard from Dylan and I’m gonna give it a 5/5 and continue to listen to it closely. He really captures different emotions that almost everyone goes through during break up and the fact that each song reflects a different perspective makes it so much better. I really love this and I continue to discover new meanings with each listen

40 minutes of perfect music and also a song about playing cards or something

The first time I heard this record was a shocking, exciting, revelatory, coming-of-age experience. I was just a kid, and I knew Dylan, but I had no idea of the significance and history surrounding the album, I had never heard of it in fact. It became one of my favourite records from the very first time I heard it. A few hundred times later it is still a fantastic, astonishing, breathtaking listen. There's an enduring magic about these songs that never makes them sound dated; on the contrary, it makes them eternal, somehow

Utterly unparalleled in quality, coherence, depth and range of emotion, plus epic singalongs, (personal) protest anthems twinkling tunes and tender – even heart-breaking – ballads. Not only are there no filler cuts, there’s nary a wasted note and Dylan’s voice has never been stronger nor clearer, and never more assured in delivery. One of the best records of all-time …. Easily top 5.

And I was listening to each side of the disc Words falling in my ears Hearing an album of pain and grief Lord knows there's some amazing tunes getting through Tangled up in Bob

How have I not heard his before! This is why I do this list..

Honestly loved it. Songwriting was great and the overall sound was so raw and emotional, though it ran probably 5-10 minutes too long. I’ll give it a strong 9

Un clasico, pero no me gusta Bob Dylan

One of my favourite albums

10/10

Tangled up in Blue, the first track is a great example of amazing storytelling and song writing. The instrumentation is also really good with the 12 string guitar shining throughout the whole song. Idiot Wind, contains some great songwriting. The song seems autobiographical but Dylan has denied it. Regardless, it conveys bitterness or anger and in another version that I found online I hear a bit of sadness as well. The chorus contains a little of Dylan's humor and the harmonica solo at the end is a blistering exclamation point on it all. "A lot of people tell me they enjoy that album. It's hard for me to relate to that. I mean... people enjoying that type of pain, you know?" - Dylan 1975 You're gonna make Me Lonesome when You Go is a nice western style country rock that throws in a bit of blues.

Never heard this album all the way through. Loved it.

Top 5 dylan easily. 10/10

Grande Dylan. O Raul Seixas dos estates

Never really listened to Dylan, but I enjoyed this a lot.

Dylans beste, og topp ti i vinylhylla. Alle må eie denne.

Not my default Dylan album to listen to, typically Desire or the classic 60s ones without making an effort. There are some great tunes on here but it's a bit less varied than his other feted records. I get the praise, but there are better ones! [EDIT: What I mean is, "Idiot Wind" is no "Positively 4th Street"; "Lily, Rosemary.." no "Desolation Row". Have to calibrate my five stars]

thoughts: good production other than man, that harmonica flies in loud as a MFer. i like the back half of this album a lot more; basically starting at “meet me in the morning” through the end, this is a phenomenal album. i’ll probably like this more on repeated listens songs: “simple twist of fate”, “meet me in the morning”, “if you see her, say hello” rating: 7.5/10

This is not the best Dylan for me, but I should say that the Wikipedia article on the page helped me to understand a little bit more of the importance of this album. Being the "most" personal of Dylan's work, it's increasing my evaluation of it. Musically, it's too much country for me, but it's still Bob Dylan and it counts!

Might be my favourite Dylan album and possibly emotionally the polar opposite of another favourite, Blonde on Blonde. Accessible and really good songs. Yes, it's about heartbreak, but good music just gets you.

An intensely personal album about being in and out of love. More direct than other Dylan albums, this has a strength that I didn't appreciate when I was a callow youth. Now, I get it.

Hate to say it, never been a fan of classical guitar. Though the lyricism was nice on a few of the songs, it failed to hold my interest. Nothing bad, just not my taste.

Dylan just doesn't hit for me. Talented but boring.

Ugh no more Bob Dylan please. I think this is number 6 or 7 for me. That's way too many Bob Dylan records. Maybe I'm the only one who doesn't like him? Goddamn that fucking harmonica. I hate it so much. I lasted about 4 minutes into this one before I was irritated and ready to play something else. Some of the songs are actually good, but he just doesn't do them justice. I've heard covers of a few of these and all the covers a better. The Jeff Buckley version of If You See Her Say Hello is magnificent. Bob's version? Lacks any emotion or feeling at all. I just hate Bob Dylan. That's not something I really knew until I started this project so at least I've learned something about myself. 2/5

Bd is lame

I’m sure he’s great but I hope this is his only album on the list.

This is kitsch, brute-force lyricism contorted to fit over instrumentals that are just happy to be there. I'm sure Bob Dylan plugging in his guitar was a watershed moment for a generation that just got done wetting themselves over Elvis Presley, but I can't understand from this record how Bob Dylan and his songwriting are considered to be legendary, ('Time is a jetplane, it just moves too fast') It's all so gauche and obvious and it makes me scared for the inner life of Dylan fanatics everywhere.

I do not like Bob Dylan.

Not a fan. Don’t like his voice and the music just too dull. Just don’t understand the hype.

Not for me

I discovered I do not like bob Dylan, or at least this album. Bonus: my headphones disconnected while I was in the bathroom, so my office heard a track or two and died of second hand embarassment

One of the best of the best from the best of the best. The original cut, Blood on the Tapes, might even be superior.

Can a record that features Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts be a 5? Does Idiot Wind make everything better? I don’t know. But I do know that at age 43 it IS a wonder that I can even feed myself.

while i'm far from a Dylan apologist, a classic is a fucking classis. five bloody stars.

Probably the pinnacle of one of the greatest artist ever's career. Some of his finest lyrics combined with some of his greatest melodies and just a mournful feel that adds depth to those he think he is just folksy. The sort of album that makes you wish you'd been divorced just so you could feel it even more.

“Sundown, yellow moon, I replay the past I know every scene by heart, they all went by so fast If she’s passin’ back this way, and I sure hope she don’t Tell her she can look me up. I’ll either be here or I won’t” Dylan’s last masterpiece.

One of the best albums of all time!

My late roommate from University was a performative fan of Bob Dylan. I’m not sure he actually liked his music that much. They were just both from Minnesota. I traditionally didn’t care much for his music but a I really enjoyed this album. Maybe it was nostalgic memories of my roommate and university days. Also maybe it is due to the fact that I’m coincidentally reading this book at the moment that highlights Bob Dylan’s path to success. The book mainly focuses on Bob Dylan’s intense dedication and passion studying every aspect of the genre. Bob Dylan dropped out of college, moved to New York, and relentlessly studied his craft. Including deep dives on all the artists that inspired him. He moved to New York with little to no money, a guitar, and a suitcase. He wanted to immerse himself at the center of the folk scene. I think a lot of people assume big musicians get this lucky break. But Bob Dylan’s dedication to learning the craft and maybe going all in on some bold dreams led to his success. Bob Dylan was dedicated to finding work he loved and avoiding career regret experienced by 60% percent of workers. Since everyone knows if you love what you do for work. You never get a day off. Fun fact Bob Dylan changed his name legally from Robert Allen Zimmerman and famously avoided speaking to the media or doing interviews because he didn’t want them to over simplify him.

Bob Dylan... What can I say?

If you're going to listen to one breakup album in your life, make it this one. There's so much sadness and hatred throughout this entire record that it's impossible to put into words the emotional toll that it must have taken on Dylan to write these songs. I'm grateful that he did though, as this has always been my favorite album of his.

goat

296/1001 Bob Dylan - Blood On The Tracks Heard before? ✅ Revisit? ✅ One of my favourite Dylan albums. I absolutely love the storytelling and musicality on this. A Simple Twist of Fate is an all timer for me.

listen man, it's blood on the tracks! i was like four years old autistically requesting tangled up in blue to be replayed ad nauseam on the car stereo! i once stopped in ashtabula, ohio only because it is mentioned on this record and saw a bald eagle fly over a covered bridge and it is maybe the only time in the last ten years i've felt proud to be american! i genuinely think You're A Big Girl Now is one of the top ten most beautifully sung songs of all time! this shit Lives in me, it has been running through my veins longer than any other record. every song on it is the best song on it, and i'm going to tell you why. Tangled Up In Blue - "we always did feel the same, we just saw it from a different point of view" Simple Twist of Fate "people tell me it's a sin/to know and feel too much within/i still believe she was me twin/but i lost the ring/she was born in spring/but i was born too late" You're A Big Girl Now - "i'm going out of my mind/with a pain that stops and starts/like a corkscrew to my heart/ever since we've been apart" Idiot Wind - "i can't feel you anymore/i can't even touch the books you've read/every time i crawl past your door/i been wishing i'd been someone else instead" You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go - "situations have ended sad, relationships have all been bad/mine have been like Verlaine's and Rimbaud's/but there's no way i can compare/all them scenes to this affair/you're gonna make me lonesome when you go" Meet Me In The Morning - "honey, we could be in Kansas by time the snow begins to fall" Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack of Heart - "and Rosemary on the gallows, she didn't even blink/the hanging judge was sober, he hadn't had a drink" If You See Her, Say Hello - "sundown, yellow moon, i replay the past" Shelter From the Storm - "not a word was spoke between us, there was little risk involved/everything up to that point had been left unresolved/try imagining a place where it's always safe and warm/'come in' she said, 'i'll give you shelter from the storm'" Buckets of Rain - "i've been meek/and hard like an oak/i've seen pretty people disappear in smoke/friends will arrive, friends will disappear/if you want me, honey baby, i'll be here" better than i ever could've put it, bob. thanks for the record.

Blood on the Tracks is one of those records that suffers slightly from its own reputation. “The divorce album.” “The confessional masterpiece.” “Dylan gets personal.” You approach it expecting either granite-carved importance or two sides of nasal recrimination. What you actually get is something much more elusive, humane and structurally astonishing. The first surprise, listening closely, is how alive the album feels. Not polished-alive or “great performance” alive, but psychologically alive. The songs don’t settle into a single emotional position because the narrator himself cannot settle. One minute he’s angry, then nostalgic, then tender, then exhausted, then spinning a western yarn because perhaps that’s easier than staring directly into the wound for another three minutes. The album moves like memory moves - contradictory, repetitive, selective, full of false certainties that dissolve by the next song. That’s why the sequencing is so extraordinary. Dylan seems instinctively aware of how long both he and the listener can remain in one emotional register before needing release. When the introspection becomes too intense, he shifts into movement, myth, blues form, story, humour, archetype. Then quietly returns to intimacy again. The album breathes. It never becomes emotionally airless. The architecture is much richer than the “raw confession” label suggests. Dylan is constantly transforming experience into song form rather than simply reporting it. “Tangled Up in Blue” feels less like autobiography than a Steinbeck novel compressed into linked sonnets - roaming characters, shifting perspectives, roads, jobs, weather, remembered encounters. The chronology fractures because emotional truth matters more than factual sequence. “Simple Twist of Fate” achieves devastation through tiny harmonic movements and weary acceptance rather than theatrical heartbreak. “You’re a Big Girl Now” sounds almost frighteningly exposed precisely because the composure initially holds so gently before beginning to crack. And then Dylan repeatedly escapes direct confession altogether. “Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts” arrives like a pressure valve opening - enough of this emotional autopsy for five minutes, let me spin you a yarn. But even there, the themes remain: betrayal, escape, shifting identities, consequence. The masks and western archetypes simply redistribute the emotional material into story and action. Dylan understands an old truth of ballad-writing: feelings often become more powerful once translated into movement and narrative rather than directly explained. Musically, the album is deceptively subtle. Repeated cadences and rhythmic shapes link songs together almost subliminally. Harmonica breaks function less as solos than emotional decompression chambers - moments where language can no longer carry the weight alone. The arrangements are sparse enough that every chord movement matters. Again and again, Dylan avoids the obvious grand gesture. A major chord quietly turns minor. A phrase hangs unresolved. A guitar figure gently keeps the emotional weather moving. Perhaps the album’s greatest achievement is that it ultimately arrives not at bitterness, but at perspective. “Shelter from the Storm” stands over the experience rather than merely inhabiting it. By the time “Buckets of Rain” closes the record, the masks have largely fallen away. No hood-eyed prophet. No venomous wit machine. Just Bobby Zimmerman sounding tired, affectionate, human and capable of tenderness again. The gorgeous loose fingerpicking and half-smiling warmth of the performance feel like emotional circulation returning after prolonged internal weather. A lot of supposedly great breakup albums climax in devastation. Blood on the Tracks ends with breathing. And that may be why it endures. Not because it is “the definitive statement on heartbreak”, but because it understands something quieter and more adult: after rage, after grief, after narrative reconstruction, life continues. Not healed, perhaps. Not triumphant. But capable once again of warmth, humour, movement and rain.

I'm a very literal person. If my love for someone transcends time and space, I'm just going to stay "My love for you transcends time and space." For Bob Dylan, he weaves a narrative across centuries and continents about how he and his love will always cross paths, no matter how tough things get. I love how "Tangled Up in Blue" follows its own dreamy logic; it doesn't make sense- and yet- I get it! I think it's amazing that he can do that. The album as a whole is incredible, barring "Idiot Wind" and "Jack of Hearts." They're both just too long. And I hate Bob's vocal performance on "Wind." I do love that Hootie and the Blowfish stole the first verse for "Only Wanna Be With You," but that doesn't redeem it for me. WIthout those two songs "Blood on the Tracks" is an all timer. With them, it still manages - FIVE STARS

One of my all time favourites. Even the deeper tracks are good, lyrically strong and musically cohesive

Really enjoyed this more than other bob dylan albums even! It felt more concise, richer and less dry I think. Top track: tangled up in blue but maybe just because I know it better

The best breakup album of all time. Crushing, introspective, biting, poetic. I love Bob and this is Bob at the top of his game. Masterclass in album craft.

His fifteenth album. Folk / Folk Rock. I am in a bit of a jam today. My landlord isn't renewing the lease so they can sell the property. My home for a decade and nowhere to go. I poured myself a coffee, added some fine bourbon for a little extra kick, sat in my spot on the couch that has worn down to the exact shape of my arse. I sipped my coffee and took a deep breath, then completely lost myself and my situation as Bob Dylan told me stories with a poetry and music in the way only he can. What an album.

Bien.

YAYAYAYAYYAYAYAYA

One of my favourite albums of all time!

I am biased because this has been one of my favourite albums for a long time now, so I have attached a period of my life with it

Hadn't really been giving this one a chance. I keep hearing Dylan is washed up, but he sure wasn't here. This was stellar from start to stop.