I feel vindacated. This album has debuted in one of the top 3 positions all over the world. Five stars from Rolling Stone magazine, their highest rating. Calling it one of his three masterpieces. Mark my words, this will win the Grammy for album of the year. The songs are rich in texture and melody and the production, his own by the way, is crisp and clean. Martykl, what a silly obsevation from someone who thinks this is Dylan's best in ages. The music speaks for itself. Word of mouth has driven this record to the number one spot on the charts. A position it rightly deserves. |
I'm a huge Dylan fan, and I like to see that people still consider his new work worth listening to, but I can't see how you can call "Modern Times", anything more than a three star disc. And that is probably being overly generous.
It sounds ok, but it is almost entirely recycled from classic blues and folk tunes and from his own material. He has done this picking things here and there all through his career of course, but he used to make things his own, now he is just copying them. That being said, he is 65, and that is a hard lived 65, lots of concerts and lots of partying have left him with limited vocal ability and apparently not much to say.
So what, accept he is past his prime and revel in all the great music he has made. Even if most of it was made before 1979 or is that 1969?
matthew |
Anybody else think that the #1 chart position has more to do with the i-pod ad than the music? Don't get me wrong, I think the record is Dylan's best in ages, but I have a (sinking) feeling that this may be a secondary factor in its commercial success. |
Actually it's thiry years. Last time was 1976 with "Desire". |
Tfk-yup I am indeed in the UK.
I didn't realise it was a UK only release.
$250 I suppose is expensive but surely decent 2nd hand copies are about? |
Guys,
Modern Times hit number one in its first week. Bob's first in twenty years. I'm happy to see that people are still interested in what he has to offer.
=Wendell |
Ben_Campbell,
Some research leads me to believe that BS 1-3 was only released on vinyl in the UK. You are in the UK, correct? It appears to be quite collectable. A sealed copy sold for $250 on music-stack recently.
If you come across one, let me know.
Cheers.
|
Tfkaudio yes it was I bought it on vinyl at the time.
Should be pretty easy to pick up-it's 5 albums worth.
Dreadhead I am really quite familar with New Morning but I will get it another spin sometime soon.
Cheers. |
Was "Bootleg Series Vol. 1-3" ever released on vinyl?
Thanks. |
Ben, I totally agree with your statements regarding Bootleg Vol.1-3. I feel New Morning from it's title track on is an utter Masterpiece. The simplicty in the piano playing and arrangments is such a personal statement. Even the cover photo which I believe is a self portrait is fantastic. Go back and revisit this gem, Listen to the lyrics and feel the peace of mind Dylan chose to share with us. |
Drubin-to be fair JWH and a few of Dylan's early albums should be in the 2nd tier of Dylan's work I posted that list in a hurry-it's a crucially important album arguably one whose legacy is much more important today than it was at the time.
It's not in my list of Dylan favourites but I wouldn't disagree strongly with any argument to have it in there as a "masterpiece"..it's far superior to New Morning imho.
Dredhead the BS vols 1-3 is a definitive album and is constructed almost totally of studio work(there's maybe 3 live versions out of 50 or so tracks)-this collection released in '91 put Dylan's work in a completely new perspective-it showed the power of unreleased songs from '61 to '88 and really delivered a treasure chest of gems.
I'd argue to hell froze over that record put Dylan in a new light and is a masterpiece of a collection.
Last Thoughts On Woody Guthrie,Blind Willie McTell and Series Of Dreams amongst countless others surely prove that.
As for live albums I've been careful about including any but '66 is up there with the greatest live albums ever released-it is a masterpiece imho and is in my list on merit.
The mindset and thought process was different to the studio for sure but it was pure Dylan in essence-challenging, thought provoking and a cultural changer.
Dylan rewrote his own history and Rock's on that tour-this record delivers the evidence.
It is better imho than any of those live albums you listindeed there is a very strong argument none of those records would exist without it. |
And on a diffrent level, Desire, Street Legal and Slow Train Coming are all Masterpieces. |
I, personally, would certainly include JWH among his masterpieces. A qualified masterpiece, though, because the last track, "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" sounds SO out of place on this album. It's a good song, but it always sounded to me like it didn't belong there, especially as the album closer.
"New Morning" - A very good album.
In my opinion, "Planet Waves" approaches masterpiece territory but this opinion is shared by almost nobody. I'm not sure why I like it so much.
Cheers.
P.S. I haven't heard "Modern Times" yet. Hopefully soon... |
I really don't think it's fair to include any live albums in a list of Masterpieces. Though I do enjoy all of the Bootleg series of live shows plus Buddakan and Hard Rain etc, they do not have the mindset or the thought process that goes into a new studio album. That's not to say a live album can not qualify as a Masterpiece, Live at the Fillmore, Allman Bros and Live at Leeds, the Who come to mind. But we are discussing Dylan here and each new studio album gives us a wealth of unexplored landscape to survey. I think Another Side of Bob Dylan, Blonde on Blonde, John Wesley Harding, New Morning, Blood on the Tracks qualify. |
Ben, you don't think John Wesley Harding is a masterpiece? |
Ben,
Love & Theft is certainly barking up the same tree as Modern Times, but for me, it doesn't work remotely as well as the new record does. OTOH, I might need to go back and give it one more listen as it's been a while.
Marty |
Martykl-Love And Theft has very similar music to Modern Times on it.
Dreadhead- I said OM was something of a masterpiece-it was certainly his best album for a long time and it was a reference to Lanois fantastic production job on it.
His Masterpieces per se for me are....
BOTT
BIABH
H61RV
BOB
BS V1-3
BS LIVE66
Just behind those are a series of really good records including Desire ,L&T, Oh Mercy and a few others.
New Morning I think is a fine record but not up with his best. |
It seems our definition of masterpiece as it applies to Dylan's catalogs follows no set path. Ben considers Oh Mercy to be "masterpiece" material and Rich sees New Morning as just a "good recording". While I enjoyed Time out of Mind It did not strike me as a user friendly album the way Modern Times does. As for Blood on the Tracks. We all agree it's a classic but not every track is up to the same standards as Tangled up in Blue or Idiot Wind. By the way, I rate New Morning as one of Dylan's best and most personal albums. But thats just me. |
I think that this is Dylan's most interesting record in ages. I'm not sure it's a masterpiece (it's surely no Blood On The Tracks) but I find it more interesting than anything he's done in the last couple of decades. Weirdly, there seems to be a swinging, jazzy feel to much of this recording - almost a Louis Armstrong feel - that imparts a joyous feeling to what is, essentially, a blues record. Overall, I believe that this record is much more interesting than almost anything else in the lineup of recent pop/rock/country/blues releases. |
I can understand why the "harder and more atmospheric" sounds on TOOM would appeal more than the "quirky and lightweight" sounds on L&T.
Interestingly enough I find the production on TOOM really distracting and actually rather false and gimmicky.
It does work well in places and there are some classic songs on it.
I also find Dylan's voice is all over the place in terms of production and performance-his phrasing I find interferes even with the better songs as if he wasn't really feeling confident on the album.
Lanois production for me is actually something of a disaster especially when I consider Oh Mercy to be something of a masterpiece.
I do concede that the arrangements are more interesting overall if sometimes messy but when it works it works well.
Ultimately I see TOOM as overrated.
Love And Theft(2001) for me production wise is warmer and much more natural sounding.
Dylan sounds more confident despite the further limitations that age has bestowed upon his voice.
:-)
For me it's a far stronger record overall but I realise I'm in the minority with that opinion and that the lighter musical moments may be a hurdle for a lot of listeners.
For my money Dylan did something completely different on this record-it's a fantastic array of funny,fun, thoughtful and subtly powerful songs.
Modern Times features a very similar production to it's predecessor.
It hasn't (so far) for me got the factor X that lit up L&T for me but it could merely be the fact that musically Dylan uses very similar templates and sources.
Lyrically the album is quite different and arguably closer to TOOM in that respect.
It's always good to talk about Bob-thanks. |
I am about where you guys are....I have listened to ''Modern Times'' about 8 times and my first impression is that is a continuation from ''Love and Theft'' which was allright. Do I listen to ''Love and Theft '' when I'm in the Dylan mood....No. Would I pick up ''Blood on the Tracks'', ''Highway 61''and something more recent like, ''Time out of Mind '' ...Yes. In my opinion ( which always starts a war ) ''Time Out of Mind ''....was his last real good album / disc. A very dark album / disc but the majority of those songs could stand the test of time because they were so personal and well written and as Ben Campbell stated there is some arrangement to those songs. ( hats off to Daniel Lanois ) I bought the ''Limited Edition'' version of ''Modern Times''and got the DVD of the four songs which I'm getting a real kick out of. None the less....we should be thankful that he is still putting out music that is DEFINITELY different from the rest of the stuff that's out there that no one will be even listening to next year !!!!!! |
First and second impressions of Modern Times ... it reminded me stylistically of a cross between Dylan's "Self Portrait" and the Band's "Moondog Matinee." Still need to do another 6 or so listens, but if my impressions are spot on ... Modern Times will be a good, enjoyable record. It will not be a classic like "Blood on the Tracks". It will be a good recording like "New Morning."
Regards, Rich |
I don't know man, there's a few songs on here that give me that Blood on the Tracks rush. The vocals are strong and clean and the acoustic guitars are sharp and defined. The lyrics are timely. I believe in this stage of his game we couldn't have asked for a more satisfying album. In the same vein as the latest Stones effort A Bigger Bang. Great stuff. |
Masterpiece? I don't think so but it is a very, very good album and the 180g vinyl is wonderful. My favorite album of 2006, so far.
-Wendell |
dylan can 'phone it in' and still be superior to most....'modern times' like the stones' latest is really good, but no desert island disc. |
I've heard the album now about nine times and I wouldn't be prepared to go that far to be honest.
There are three arguably four "classic" songs on this album,it is a very good and reasonably consistant record with a few minor moments and maybe one pointless track.
The production and overall feel are strongly related to Love And Theft from 2001 but at this stage Modern Times lacks for me a distinctive tone or cohesion that brings it all together to be more than the sum of its parts.
If I were to pinpoint one failing despite very well crafted songs they do lack a little on the arrangement front.
It's a fine record that delivers a honest picture of where Dylan is at musically just now and highlights his powers despite the weathering that the years have brought.
I can't say it's a masterpiece but then you shouldn't be able to say that just yet.
Ooops you just did but I'm glad you did that rather than post about your speaker cable.
:-) |
