Is Bob Dylan overrated?

Any Dylan alb is automatically 'interesting'

If anyone else had written these albums, they'd be considered genius.

And the scary thing is, the stuff Dylan left on the floor, the outtakes, are undeniably better than the official albums!

Yeah, I do like it....the Watchtower rocks, and hey, the band is tight.

This comes through plainly, and I think, brilliantly in the Budokan album (and in his other live albums, esp. Hard Rain and the Rolling Thunder Bootleg). He loves fucking with his songs, changing the cadence and lyrics, changing the whole damn melody sometimes. And its amazing how different the songs can sound. Listen to Simple Twist of Fate from Budokan. Or the Lonesome Death of Hattie Carrol from the Rolling Thunder Review. Or listen to the narrator shift from early versions of tangled up in blue. Or listen to his version of "Make you Feel My Love," then listen to Garth Brooks' version and tell me he doesn't know how to fill a song with meaning. To me, this is not idle fiddling, but reflects his mastery of the form of popular song and its different possibilities.

In case it's not clear yet, my answer to the thread's question is "No. No. No. What? Are you uhh... NO!" and I think live at Budokan is great. I think it is fair to say he is UNDER-RATED as a singer/general performer.

And, yes, I understand that it is people like me that lead to other people asking the question, "Is Bob Dylan Over-rated"

I like this: Dylan to me seems like someone you don't understand so much as live with, constantly revisiting and rediscovering from spittle's piece. And I also realised that, despite basically growing up to an almost exclusive soundtrack of little Apple Label Beatles 45s, just as someone else said upthread, I rarely listen to the latter yet regularly throw on some Dylan still.

I can't imagine ever getting tired of Dylan. There's always something you've overlooked, or forgotten, about him. Hence the polarized disagreements on so many of his records (Budokan, Planet Waves, Slow Train Coming, Street Legal, etc.).

(Yet, at the same time, i can understand the Boomer adulation/canonization putting a lot of people off, and don't really blame them for their initial responses -- however, I do think it's fair to expect those people to at least give him a chance, as he isn't going away even when he goes away, if you know what I mean.)

Dylan as comedian: Underrated.

He's not bad, but apparently Leonard Cohen was better when he did stand up!!!! (Fact!!!!!)

― Old Fart!!! (oldfart_sd), Wednesday, 18 February 2004 16:39 (twenty years ago) link

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100816/ennew_afp/entertainmentdenmarkusmusicartdylan_20100816152417

http://d.yimg.com/a/p/afp/20100816/capt.photo_1281972199149-1-0.jpg?x=400&y=266&q=85&sig=m1HqIjP297LSUCg1AMo1_Q--
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http://d.yimg.com/a/p/afp/20100816/capt.photo_1281972199149-1-0.jpg?x=400&y=266&q=85&sig=m1HqIjP297LSUCg1AMo1_Q--http://d.yimg.com/a/p/afp/20100816/capt.photo_1281972199149-1-0.jpg?x=400&y=266&q=85&sig=m1HqIjP297LSUCg1AMo1_Q--
http://d.yimg.com/a/p/afp/20100816/capt.photo_1281972199149-1-0.jpg?x=400&y=266&q=85&sig=m1HqIjP297LSUCg1AMo1_Q--http://d.yimg.com/a/p/afp/20100816/capt.photo_1281972199149-1-0.jpg?x=400&y=266&q=85&sig=m1HqIjP297LSUCg1AMo1_Q--

"hmmm...yes...art"

*sips cappuccino*

cups empty imo

overarted

that scott post up there is great, should be in some liner notes somewhere or other

i think dylan was overrated lyrically at times. something like "it's alright ma" is undeniably brilliant, but Blonde on Blonde, though a great record, suffers from too much jester/clown/random dated imagery that works far less often than it should. and though that record was supposed to capture the "thin...wild mercury sound" that he was after, it's ultimately flat and bloodless-sounding when compared to "royal albert hall concert"

i also never understood why people freaked out over Blood on the Tracks, which to me is sort of boring, with the exception of a couple of tracks (esp. you're a big girl now). the oft-maligned Self Portrait is leagues better, i think

that being said, of course he was amazing. so many little-seeming things, like titling a song (positively 4th street) w/no reference whatsoever to the lyrical content, i think was virtually unprecedented in pop music world up until that point? or suddenly and totally changing his trademark singing voice for nashville skyline?

so, i don't think that he's overrated, necessarily, but more that people rate him for the wrong reasons! but same could probably be said about the grateful dead. or the doors, for that matter...

I remember reading that "Boots of Spanish Leather" appeared in the Norton Anthology of American Literature and this seems so appropriate in a way.

Blonde on Blonde, though a great record, suffers from too much jester/clown/random dated imagery that works far less often than it should

Surprisingly I kind of agree with this. BoB used to be my favorite Dylan album - but lately it doesn't quite move me like it used to. It doesn't quite leap out of the stereo with the overwhelming brilliance of something like Freewheelin or Highway 61 - you have to be in the right mood for it. Maybe I've just listened to it too much.

yeah, i mean i like a bunch of songs on blonde on blonde a great deal, but then i'll hear something off of highway 61 and just be delivered those moments where it's truly like whoa, jeepers, no wonder this guy is a legend or whatever

dunno, i love almost everything about Blonde on Blonde -- all the layers of instruments, the sound of his voice. i can see how some of the lyrics could be dated (mainly becuz they were imitated by others for the rest of the 60s), but so much of it is actually pretty straightforward.

that scott post up there is great, should be in some liner notes somewhere or other

thanks for posting that link. great stuff!

BoB is great, obviously, but the band/performances/production just aren't as good as the previous two.

yeah, i like the record lots, but i always feel slightly disappointed by it, production-wise

BoB doesn't have anything i skip over, except maybe the opening track, 'cause i've heard it so much. but i think "Queen Jane Approximately" is the only song from tha trilogy i actively dislike.

yeah, i like the record lots, but i always feel slightly disappointed by it, production-wise

not sure what you don't like, del, but they did a REALLY FINE job with Bob's reissues - sound jumps out o' the speakers, in a good way
xpost

so here's this
http://video.bobdylan.com/desktop.html

Tried watching this last night. It was one of the worst things I've ever seen and I feel embarrassed for everyone involved. The only saving grace is the WTF factor. Like, why on Earth was this made?

to finally bring you to your low point in life. it's all uphill from here!!

Yeah it is definitely the worst project humanity was ever involved in.

Except maybe ww2