tmidgett wrote: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.

Yeah. If you like "Blood" because of the 'close to the bone' nature of virtually all the songs on it- you won't really find that in any other Dylan record.

If you like it because of the way the songs are performed and arranged, some of our suggestions will come pretty close.

placeholder wrote: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 think 'Bringing it all Back Home' is a better album overall.
You might want to check it out.

Tremendous.

I am definitely going to pick up the Basement Tapes, Desire (I tend to prefer Cohen to Dylan so this seems like a wise choice, given TM's post...), Planet Waves, and maybe Nashville Skyline.

I think I might need to reevaluate my ideas about the first few Dylan albums. For what it's worth, I don't have a preference with regard to acoustic vs. electric Dylan material. I probably should have mentioned that I'm more interested in lyrical similarity to Blood on the Tracks, rather than similar instrumentation, but no matter. You guys have given me many fine recommendations.

Salut to you, spectacular people of the EA Forum.

placeholder wrote:Tremendous.

I am definitely going to pick up the Basement Tapes, Desire (I tend to prefer Cohen to Dylan so this seems like a wise choice, given TM's post...), Planet Waves, and maybe Nashville Skyline.

I personally am not into Planet Waves. The songs aren't there.

There is one great song, "Forever Young," and I think they all knew it, which is why there are 2 versions of that song on the record.

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. 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.

Interesting.
For my money, looking back on it all, Dylan didn't really find his voice until he plugged in his guitar.

I would agree with those saying Desire or Planet Waves are the closest to Blood on the Tracks - but still aren't that close.

Ishmael wrote:

placeholder wrote:Tremendous.

I am definitely going to pick up the Basement Tapes, Desire (I tend to prefer Cohen to Dylan so this seems like a wise choice, given TM's post...), Planet Waves, and maybe Nashville Skyline.

I personally am not into Planet Waves. The songs aren't there.

There is one great song, "Forever Young," and I think they all knew it, which is why there are 2 versions of that song on the record.

"Forever Young" is not nearly as good a song as "Hazel," "Going Going Gone," "On a Night Like This," or "Something There Is About You."

Planet Waves is my favorite studio album by Bob Dylan. I'm not saying it's his best, but it's my favorite.

I personally like the versions of "Tangled Up in Blue" and "Idiot Wind" on the Bootleg Series 1-3 better than what ended up on Blood On The Tracks.

The old frog has said that he can't understand why a lot of people consider BoTT his best album because there's so much pain on it, but I think that's exactly why it's his best album. Those songs are so raw and real.

The Basement Tapes is just loads of fun. There are a few throwaways but I think it has some of his best songs/lyrics.

What's it to ya, Moby Dick? This is chicken town.

Street Legal is pretty good. It has one of my favorite songs, Baby Stop Crying, on it and the new remaster sounds better than the original vinyl. Also, checkout live recordings from the Rolling Thunder tour.

i would suggest getting the bootleg of the alternate recording of the entire blood on the tracks album. he recorded it and then scrapped those recordings at the last second right before it hit the stores. went in and quickly and drunkenly (according to the musicians) re-recorded it. i think 2 (?) of the original versions survived and made it onto the album. you can find a very very bootleg cd of the "alternate" blood on the tracks with the first versions. pretty brutal stuff. the lyrics were changed quite a bit the 2nd time around. they are much more direct on the first version. there are a couple of great books on this album's history.

the officially released dylan "bootleg series 1-3" has some outtakes from those sessions that are worth hearing, too.

i would also suggest picking up "john wesley harding". it is a really sad and great album.

also, do yourself a favor and spend the 50 dollars or whatever for a bootleg dvd of "eat the document"... it is all tour footage and it shows him playing some songs that he had written immediately after blood on the tracks in this hotel room on an acoustic guitar. to my knowledge, they were never recorded or released. they are nothing short of gut wrenching.