Interesting album. I had only heard "Walk On the Wild Side" previously, and I did not expect him to vary so much stylistically. I also thought it was a pretty risky song lyrically for the time, so I was pretty surprised by the lyrics of "Vicious".
I feel like in many ways, this album is predictive of 90s alternative music. The incorporation of horns, drastically varied styles within a single album, nonsensical and sometimes offensive lyrics, and especially Reed's vocal delivery. His style on many songs reminded me of John McCrea from Cake, both in timbre and in his deadpan delivery.
I did not absolutely love the album, but it had its high points and it was worth listening to. Full marks for creativity and risk-taking, but only a moderately pleasant listening experience.
At first it seemed mostly pretty repetitive, but as I listened more I realized that was only surface level. Several elements remain fairly consistent in many songs, but that really isn't any more repetitive than most pop-punk songs utilizing power chords and fast drums.
My favorite thing about him is his voice. He conveys pain in a way that few can, and does it with a mellowness that is unmatched by most blues and rock artists who accomplish the same feat.
The music, along with Marley's voice is quite haunting. Almost trancelike at times. I assumed all guitar would be the typical muted, simple reggae guitar, but a lot of it was actually quite creative. I really appreciated the use of organ, piano, and clavinet.
All in all, I didn't like it that much at the beginning, but it grew on me a lot by the end. I'm torn between 3 and 4 stars, but I'm going with 4 because of the huge influence he had on so many other artists, and because I'm pretty sure I will enjoy the album much more on the second listen.
I've listed to this album once before, and "have a cigar" is on my main Playlist.
I love how little regard they showed for how an LP is "supposed to be". Over half of the album is a 26 minute song, and one that is largely instrumental. Gilmour is amazingly versatile, playing ethereal, psychadelic parts with the same ease as his crunchy blues riffs.
Waters really brings the funk with his bass playing, particularly on "have a cigar" his interplay with Gilmour's guitar is often very interesting. I'm not a big fan of Gilmour's voice. It often sounds strained, in an unpleasant way to me. At times, the album seems experimental just for the sake of being experimental. Which isn't necessarily bad, but doesn't make for magnum opus material in my opinion. A good album, but not Pink Floyd's best work.
I am pretty unfamiliar with jazz, and this was the first artist I've never heard of. I went in blind, not knowing what to expect, and was blown away by "the kid from red bank". Loved the energy.
The piano was my favorite. Tone was amazing, playing was phenomenal. I was surprised that a few songs were standard 12 bar blues, I did not know that it was used often in jazz.
All in all, great album. As somebody who is not generally that into jazz, I listened to the album twice and will probably listen again. For that, it gets 4 stars.
This album had a lot of aspects that I liked, but was never able to pull them together into a single song that I would choose to listen to again. Asylum was probably the closest, but there was still something about it that just had me wanting it to be over. The piano was good, guitar was decent at times, and I enjoyed some of the ethereal extended jams, but never enough to be sad when they were over.
This album is great, hugely influential, and a big turning point in Dylans career. 1965 marked his first peformance with an electric guitar. This is also his first electric album, and was contreversial among his fans at the time. It demonstrates a shift away from more simple folk songs and covers. Also a shift away from direct protest songs, towards these ridiculous storytelling style lyrics that he became so famous and influential for.
Subterranean Homesick Blues: one of my favorite Dylan songs. Great opener, and way ahead of it's time. The rapid fire delivery of the verses makes me think of later songs like "we didn't start the fire" and "it's the end of the world(as we know it)". I also feel like it hints toward rap a bit.
She Belongs to Me: Nice, slow, folky love ballad with Dylans signature bizarre storytelling lyrics. I love the interplay of the Memphis soul style guitar with the harmonica.
Maggie's Farm: this song slaps. Pretty much an uptempo folky blues/rockabilly song, as usual with lyrics that seem to hold some deeper meaning that is far beyond my reach.
Love Minus Zero: more of that sweet soul guitar. I'm liking the sound it lends to this album.
Outlaw Blues: I love these straight-ahead blues rock tunes. Something about Dylan's harmonica and that nasaly voice and unusual phrasing makes even a simple song like this feel unique.
On the Road Again: Love the harmonica intro. As soon as the rest of the band comes in, I feel like I'm crusing down the highway in an old station wagon on a nice summer day. What the hell are these lyrics.
Bob Dylan's 115th dream: I'm starting to hear a lot of similarities to jam bands. The Gratefull Dead to some extent, but to much more extent newer jam bands like the String Cheese Incident, Twiddle, Umphrees Mcgee, etc. I've even heard some lyrics that I believe were referenced in some songs by these groups. I had never thought of Dylan as an influence of Jam bands, but I guess it seems like a pretty obvious connection in retrospect.
Mr Tamborine Man: absolutely beautiful classic. A perfect choice to transition into the acoustic side of the record.
Gates of Eden: interesting song. I am intentionally not looking further into these songs while writing this review, but I intend to look into the meaning behind the lyrics of this one, and some others. I know Dylan was Jewish and later converted to Christianity. I'm curious if this is a religious song, or if he is using farmiliar religious imagery as a metaphor for something else.
It's Alright, Ma: I love Dylans guitar work on this one. On many of his acoustic songs, he leans on his lyrics and/or harmonica to carry the song, playing simple chord patterns with moderately high intensity. I'd guess he meant this track to showcase that he is still a skilled guitar player, as his guitar is either simple or drowned out by other players up until this point on the record. The near complete absence of even his harmonica on the track really allows his unique playing style to shine
It's all over now, baby blue: I like the intensity in his voice on this one. The bluesy bass is a nice addition to Dylan on this track. Excellent close to an excellent album.
Unfortunately I don't currently have time to write a thorough review, but here are my general thoughts on the album.
I am not crazy about most of the music. I appreciate the broad range of influences Bowie brings in, and the variety on the album, but I didn't enjoy it much. It seems a bit ahead of it's time in that I would have guessed it came from the mid 80's, but I do not know how much of this was innovation vs imitation. I like Bowies voice, I hear things that come up in future artists that I like so I'm guessing this was an important album, just didn't like it that much myself. I'm gonna have to go with a 3 on this one.
I couldn't even finish this. I found most of it horribly annoying. Lyrics were lazy and cringy, and I'm really not into the vocal styles on most of the album. Some of the music was ok, but not enough to redeem the rest of the album.
