In my dream, he delivered a string of hits and classic hidden gems for the first half of the concert, but the second half he delivered a strange rearrangement of songs, while playing video with nonsensical subtitles, like the movie currently in release called "Filme Socialism". So basically, what you would expect from a Dylan concert these days. But I digress...
Disc 306 is...Blonde On Blonde
Artist: Bob Dylan
Year of Release: 1966
What’s Up With The Cover?: A picture of Bob, sporting a hairdo not unlike my own after a windstorm. Bob is slightly out of focus - maybe his way of saying we - his audience - will never truly see him except through our own distorted lense. At least that's what I think it could mean.
How I Came To Know It: I was pretty into Bob Dylan by the time I bought Blonde On Blonde, and I think this was just me drilling through his collection, knowing this was an important record for him.
How It Stacks Up: I have seventeen Bob Dylan albums. "Blonde on Blonde" is one of the better ones, but competition is fierce at the top, and I don't think it could crack top 5, so I'll put it in around 6th or 7th.
Rating: 5 stars. Yes, that's right - Bob Dylan's 6th best album is a 5 star album. He's Bob Dylan - deal with it.
"Blonde On Blonde" for me is the last of a great run of six Bob Dylan records that starts with 1963's "Freewheelin' Bob Dylan." He records those six albums in a little under four years, which in itself is an amazing feat. That he delivers such high quality throughout is testament to his genius.
This is my second straight review of a double album set. Although it is a double album, it is only because of a few tracks that are a bit longer, and the limitations of vinyl at the time. Despite the overall length of the record, Dylan keeps it to a tasteful 14 tracks.
Although I think of "Blonde On Blonde" as part of Dylan's earlier work, this record sees a departure in his sound from the previous record, "Highway 61 Revisited". The record is much more heavily influenced by the blues, which combined with Dylan's evocative lyrics create a more rock and roll sound that will become his new sound moving forward into the seventies.
While "Blonde On Blonde" is not my favourite Dylan record, it does have songs that I believe are among the best he ever wrote. Despite the many hits on the record, the best song is also one of the more obscure ones; "Visions of Johanna".
No song captures the feeling of being with one woman, while still carrying a torch for another like "Visions of Johanna". This song has so many great moments, as it grooves along, but lyrically there are two places that always floor me. The first comes at the very beginning, setting the scene that the idyllic scene Dylan will be painting of a couple, will be marred with internal doubts and regret:
"Ain't it just like the night to play tricks when you're trying to be so quiet?
We sit here stranded though we're all doin' our best to deny it
And Louise holds a handful of rain tempting you to defy it."
And later, a line that made me see museums in a new and tragic light - and by way of comparison, deepens the feelings of entrapment the song's narrator is feeling as he looks at the woman he's with, and thinks of someone else:
"Inside the museums infinity goes up on trial
Voices echo, 'this is what Salvation must be like after a while'
But Mona Lisa had the highway blues, you can tell by the way she smiles."
Brilliant stuff, and another demonstration of Dylan's ability to make runs of three consecutive rhymes which on the surface can seem forced, but are in fact carefully chosen for maximum effect and impact. Dylan is proof positive that even the seemingly most random stream-of-consciousness poetry is in fact carefully chosen.
The album displays Dylan's softer folk side with romantic tracks like "I Want You" and "Just Like A Woman" and then proceeds to rock out with break up tracks like "Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again" and "One Of Us Must Know (Sooner Or Later)".
The only criticism I have of this record is that Dylan's sense of humour in places gets a little self-congratulatory. When it works it is vintage - such as "Leopardskin Pillbox Hat", or the painful, but hilarious "4th Time Around". The latter being the story of a man thrown out by a woman, but having to go back for his shirt.
When it doesn't work, such as the opening track "Rainy Day Women #12 & #35", it comes off like Dylan's mailing it in, looking for a hit. Despite it being the most famous song on the album, "Rainy Day Women" (known to most people as the 'everybody must get stoned' song) has always rubbed me the wrong way. As Sheila pointed out to me earlier today, even the title is pretentious, and the song doesn't deliver to the level of pretention promised. It is ultimately a novelty song, and even when he's kidding, Dylan is better than that.
That said, it is the only song on the album that doesn't deliver five star quality, so I'll give it a pass and start listening at track 2, when the Odyssey isn't forcing me to settle back for a full listen.
Best tracks: All tracks except "Rainy Day Women", although the best of the best are: Visions of Johanna, One Of Us Must Know (Sooner Or Later), I Want You, Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again, Leopardskin Pillbox Hat, 4th Time Around, Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands
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