Search - Bob Dylan :: The Collection,3 CD Boxed Set: Blonde on Blonde/Blood on the Tracks/Infidels

Bob Dylan Does Rock and Roll and is Great

Zachary Hackett | Reno, Nevada | 10/30/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

""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.



It seems Bob Dylan's career has been studded with comebacks. "John Wesley Harding" 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. "Blood on the Tracks" is just outstanded.



Mike Taylor's fine guitar work on "Infidels" 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."

Three Masterpieces in This Collection

Danielle Lane | Horseshoe, North Carolina | 06/02/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Three Masterpieces in This Collection



I own the record, the cassette and the CD of "Blonde on Blonde." The album was a double gatefold with a startling, good looking picture of Dylan on the cover. From looking at this cover, you get the impression of a young Brando. And like the defiant Brando of those early years, we see a defiant Dylan here, making music his way and damn the critics. This is a rocker, just witness the lead off song. It's also got the long "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands" taking up the whole last side on the second disc of the double record. That must have really blown some minds back then. There is dynamite organ work, terrific piano work, knock 'em dead guitar work on this record. Every song is a gem and every song seems to redefine Dylan, a man who has been defined and redefined so many times in his career. Not only is this record one of his best, but it's one of the best records ever made. I know that's been said before, but it's true.



From the first chord of "Tangled Up In Blue" on "Blood on the Tracks" you know you're listening to something special. The song draws you in, sends chills up your spine, it's so good. Then it chews you up and spits you out right into "Simple Twist of Fate", another chiller of a song. I've read that Dylan was going through rough times when he recorded this record and in typical Dylan fashion he's put his life on his sleeve for all to see. He's in pain and you really feel it when you listen to these songs.



Like my friends, I just love the pulsating power of "Infidels." I also appreciate the way Dylan gets his spiritual message across without jamming it down your throat. "Jokerman" for me is reminiscent of "Subterranean Homesick Blues" and I can just picture a younger Dylan with those signs tossing them away during the singing of "Jokerman" the way he did in "Don't Look Back." I'm not a very spiritual person, but the biblical references in "Jokerman" did have me going to my Bible (everybody has one, religious or not, right?) and checking them out. Then there is "Sweetheart Like You," a song covered so well by Rod Stewart, but even more sentimental when you hear it sung by the writer himself. This is just a super rock and roll record, every song a gem."

Three Records for the Ages

Ophella Paige | Reno, Nevada | 06/02/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Blonde on Blonde" opens with "Rainy Day Women Nos. 12 & 36" and I can remember driving from LA to TJ with that record on the cassette player. I was riding with three friends and we played that record all the way there. Over and Over listening to that refrain, "Everybody must get stoned." We were college girls out for a good time. We did tequila shooters south of the border, but we were back Stateside by dark, I guess we weren't quite as daring as we thought we were. In the motel in Chula Vista we played the whole album on my portable cassette player. We cried during "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands" even though it's probably not a crying song. "Vision of Johanna" is just the best. "I Want You," is a gripping rocker. "Just Like a Woman," is just like this whole record, Just outstanding, superb, really.



"Blood on the Tracks" is an album of broken love. There is so much sadness here. But there is also the best cowboy ballad on this record since Marty Robbins' "El Paso" and "Big Iron." "Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts" just goes on and on, seemingly without end, then poof, it's over and the Jack of Hearts has gotten away with all the cash. You need a refreshing, uplifting song like this to balance out all the heartbreak. Once again, Bob Dylan has proven that he is the absolute best at whatever he attempts. Once again he's turned out a record that once listened to, becomes a part of you. It seems he's done that a lot, is still doing it.



On "Infidels" I just love the way Dylan says, "They say that patriotism is the last refuge to which a scoundrel clings" in the song "Sweetheart Like You." That phrase is timeless, more true today than ever. But than that's the way with a lot of Bob Dylan's songs, they never seem to age. I saw Dylan when he was touring for this record and he did a rocking version of "Masters of War," that is just ripping. "Neighbor Hood Bully" on this record is performed pretty close to the way he did that song, "Sundown On the Union" is too. This is a rock and roll record and I just love it!"