Search - Bob Dylan :: Collection 3: Blonde on Blonde / Blood Tracks / Infidels

Three Astonishing Records in One Collection

Zachary Hackett | Reno, Nevada | 05/07/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Blonde on Blonde - Thin Wild Mercury Music



Blonde on Blonde came out as a double album in May, 1966. Two months later Bob Dylan broke his neck in a motorcycle accident. Till then, every album was better than the last except this one. Blonde on Blonde just about equals Highway 61, which in my opinion is the best rock album of all time. I guess that would make Blonde number 2. Still with the Beatles, Stones, Zep, Eric and the Boss out there making music, having the number 2 record is pretty good, especially if you already hold the number one spot. Rolling Stone Magazine calls the record number ten, but hey, what's eight places when you're talking about the hundreds of thousands of rock records out there.



This amazing record was the third electric album done by Dylan and by now he'd won over many of his fans, though some did boo him when he toured in Europe in Sixty-six, but those Europeans, what do they know? And do any of us know what would direction Dylan's music would have taken, had he not been in that accident, would he have built on this record, delivering more of the same? Who knows? But what I do know is that this record opens with a dynamite song. Can you imagine what it must have been like for those establishment types hearing the lyrics, "Everybody must get stoned," blaring from their car radios.



The backing band on this record is both tight and loose, if that makes any sense, ripping through songs like "Stuck Inside a Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again," like a meteor streaking across a desert sky. This record is Thin Wild Mercury Music at its very best. Just incredible.



Blood on the Tracks - It's Like Bob Dylan Burst Upon the Scene All Over Again



It seems Bob Dylan's career has been studded with comebacks. "JWH" after the motorcycle accident. "Blood on the Tracks" after the lapse into country. "Infidels" after the lapse into religious territory. "Oh Mercy" after all those records with the girly backup singers (some of them were pretty good though). However, "Tracks" was so much more than a comeback. It's like Bob Dylan burst upon the scene all over again.



And now I'm going to say something that may or may not make any sense. I believe "Highway 61" to be the best rock & roll record ever made, but I think "Blood on the Tracks" is the best record Dylan has ever done. I know it doesn't make sense, kind of oxymoronic, but "Tracks" to me is more than just a rock record, more than poetry put to music, more than fine musicianship. It's chocked full of emotion, mostly tears. It's gritty and rough and it's got the best damned cowboy ballad ever sung on it to boot.



Infidels - Good Old Fashioned Rock 'n' Roll, this Record is



Mike Taylor's fine guitar work on this record is reminiscent of the work he did with the Stones on five studio and one live record. Mark Knopfler, another fine guitarist plays on this record too, as well as Sly Dunbar, Robbie Shakespherre and Alan Clark. This excellent band is backing a Dylan who is in fine voice on an album that marks Dylan's return to good old fashioned rock `n' roll. No more religion, no more God stuff, no more Bible. Well, okay I'll admit there are biblical references here, but boy what a record.



I know a lot of people have panned this record, called it pop, called it inferior. Well, their wrong. "Jokerman" is about as hard driving a rock song as you could ever find. "Sweetheart Like You," an infectious ballad, "Neighborhood Bully" a commentary, ala Dylan of the Sixties, about Israel and her problems with her neighbors who would like to stamp out her existence.



And I know others have complained about "Blind Willie McTell" not being on this record, but there were hours of these sessions, lots of songs left off. Dylan had to choose and fortunately he later chose to give us "Willie McTell" and some of the other outtakes on "The Bootleg Series, Vol. 1-3". This record, however, is whole without those outtakes. It's always been one of my favorites and if you give it a listen, I think it'll be one of your favorites, too."