...could anyone recommend some other Bob Dylan records I might enjoy?

I realize this is probably gauche, but I haven't bothered with much of Dylan's discography. I don't care for a lot of Blonde on Blonde or Highway 61 Revisited, which people seem to swear by.

I love Blood on the Tracks, though. Has he done anything else in that same ballpark? I suspect I might like Desire and the Basement Tapes, but I don't know. The man's catalog is pretty daunting, and I don't feel too inclined to blindly sift through all of it.

Beautiful people of the EA Forum, recommend away! Or ridicule away!

Try Planet Waves, maybe.

Anything up to '76 or '77. Seriously.

Jacques,

Have you heard any of the pre-electric folk material? That would be the self titled debut up to "Another Side of Bob Dylan". Any of those are worth a listen, especially "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" album. Bringing it All Back Home is pretty consistent and my favorite from his electric period. I agree that "Blonde on Blonde" and "Highway 61"..... are hit and miss." John Wesley Harding" and "Nashville Skyline" have him flirting more toward country. If you are a Cash fan, he collaborated with Dylan on Skyline. "The Basement "Tapes have some good stuff like "Going to Acapulco" and "Tears of Rage". "Desire" is the next best from his seventies period after "Blood on the Tracks". Everything afterwards is kind of disposable.

I like Desire and Basement Tapes. And Nashville Skyline. New Morning is also good, and has a song you might recognize if you saw Big Lebowski.

But if you didn't like the two you mentioned, it's hard to say.

Yep, Planet Waves.

For another take completely Nashville Skyline is great. I love that record very, very much.

The first 6 or 7 albums are unmatched, for my $.

I really like the Basement Tapes.

But Planet Waves has the same aesthetic as Blood on the Tracks.

Ike

I would try the Basement Tapes, also, for you, given your predilections. Just b/c it's great, not b/c it's anything like Blood on the Tracks.

Maybe Desire, but it's just not as good as his best records, on any front. I like it quite a bit, but it's not as good. If you're a Leonard Cohen fan, you might like it. It has some of the soft edges that Leonard Cohen records tend to have (and Bob Dylan records do not tend to have).

But Blood on the Tracks is on its own. It's not of a piece w/any of the other albums. He hasn't ever written that many songs at once that are that close to the bone.

Desire is the record for you. Go and buy.

Thank you very, very much for the recommendations, guys.

punch_the_lion wrote:Jacques,

Have you heard any of the pre-electric folk material? That would be the self titled debut up to "Another Side of Bob Dylan". Any of those are worth a listen, especially "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" album.

Matt, I admit that I have not bothered much with Dylan's early folk stuff. What little of it I've heard, I like and dislike in pretty equal measure. I'm not too into protest songs, and I'm definitely not into a lot of Dylan's "surreal" wordplay, so I've been cautious.

Perhaps I've been wrong about these records!

placeholder wrote:I love Blood on the Tracks, though. Has he done anything else in that same ballpark?

The answer is, "Not really."

placeholder wrote:I suspect I might like Desire and the Basement Tapes, but I don't know.

"Desire" is sorta/kinda in the same ballpark. It's in that same sort of time period anyway. "Desire" is underrated IMO.

"The Basement Tapes" is something you should definitely own and treasure even though it has no real relation to "Blood on the Tracks."

"John Wesley Harding" might appeal to you. It has a stripped-down, acoustic, straightforward overall feel that is not all that dissimilar to "Blood." It isn't electric and audacious the way "Blonde on Blonde" and "Highway 61" are.

So I say "Desire" and "John Wesley." And "The Basement Tapes" for a different thing.