The Rewind Button is a group blogging project instigated by Rachel Tynan. We’re writing our impressions of Rolling Stones top 40 albums of all time every Thursday.
This week: Bob Dylan – Blonde on Blonde
I’m gonna keep this one relatively short. For I refuse to be caught in a web of Bob Dylan lyrics for he is a spider. Honestly, sometimes I think the joke is on all the pseudo intellectuals who have flexed their mighty poetry decoder brains to endowing Dylan with genius. I’m almost certain this amuses the spider. I spiders web is certainly something to behold. A work of majesty and beauty. Something to be admired. But for the spider, it is all he knows. He was just born with this ability. He just goes ahead and spins one if he feels like it. And it provides a great bounty of insects that couldn’t see through it.
I found Blonde on Blonde to be sometimes amusing, sometimes perplexing, sometimes intriguing but seldom moving. I think this is what prevents me from being a true Dylan fan. I just don’t find myself moved emotionally by his music. And, as usual, for me it comes down to the vocals. Dylan has never been known as a great singer and many can get around it. But not me. If a singer does not emote or seem connected to the emotion of the song than how can I connect to it? For some songs it works. For Rainy Day Women #12 and #35 the delivery is near perfect. Kind of ironic and absurd. And I like the moment where you can hear Dylan crack up and show a real sense of fun. The Spider’s vocals also suit “Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat” which will always remind me of my dad who loves to play that one.
But on songs like “I Want You” it is almost laughable how insincere it comes across. If I was a woman on the receiving end of that song I won’t believe it for a second. “I want you… so bad” umm, no you don’t. He nearly gets there with “Like a Woman” which has pretty guitar work and a musical arrangement which really assists with the emotional impact. Hard to impress the ladies when you sing like a Spider. But spiders like to like alone in the kingdom they’ve spun anyways.
The other bloggers:
http://rebstevenson.com/
http://1throne.com
http://bettylivin.com/
http://www.musicqwest.com/
http://love-as-a-verb.blogspot.com/
http://www.gradstudentbyday.blogspot.com/
http://www.pimplomat.com/
http://reneesw.com/blog/
http://sarabynoe.com/blog/
http://sarahkelsey.posterous.com/
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