Artist – Album: Bob Dylan – Blood on the Tracks
Released: 17th January 1975
Sounds Like: Dylan opens up about the breakdown of his
relationship. Possibly
Fanfare please for Mr. Bob Dylan, who, following The Times
They Are A-Changin’ on the 13th, becomes the first person to have a
second album reviewed in this blog. Well done sir, you must be very proud...
The year after that 1964 album Dylan went electric, famously
being labelled Judas at the Manchester Free Trade Hall, about a mile away from
where I’m sat right now. His songs moved on from simple protest songs to elegant
and complex riddles; abstract poetry that continues to be interpreted and
reinterpreted nearly fifty years later. Later,
he was involved in a motorcycle accident and stopped touring. His critical
output seemed to have peaked with Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde in
1965/66, and his releases began edging steadily towards mediocrity by the 70s.
Blood On the Tracks was an exquisite return to form. He revisited
simply constructed acoustic music, albeit with the backing of a full session
band. The writing too was more back to basics than previous efforts without
losing the skill and use of metaphor of his more enigmatic lyrics.
And Dylan really had something to write about. Although the
man himself denies it, it’s hard to imagine that this set of songs is about
anything other than the separation with his then wife Sarah. From the how-I-met-your
mother tale of ‘Tangled Up in Blue’
we follow the full arc of their relationship. The album contains a plethora of
emotions, from the venomous ‘Idiot Wind’
to the reconciliatory ‘Shelter from the
Storm’. Each song contains his trademark wit, and despite the subject
matter, there’s no soppiness to be found.
There isn’t a dud note on the whole album. Which means that,
as well as being the first artist to have a second album on this blog, Dylan
also becomes the first to receive the perfect ten. Congratulations indeed.
Albumaday... rating: 10/10
1. Tangled
Up in Blue – 5:42
2. Simple
Twist of Fate – 4:19
3. You’re
a Big Girl Now – 4:36
4. Idiot
Wind – 7:48
5. You’re
Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go – 2:55
6. Meet
Me in the Morning – 4:22
7. Lily,
Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts – 8:51
8. If
You See Her, Say Hello – 4:49
9. Shelter
from the Storm – 5:02
10. Buckets
of Rain – 3:22
Listen to ‘Idiot Wind’:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdmH3y3AxY0
Also released on the 14th January:
1966: Simon & Garfunkel – Sounds of Silence
|
Also released on the 14th January:
1974: Joni Mitchell – Court and Spark |
Also released on the 14th January:
2003: The Knife – Deep Cuts
|
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