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Dylan: Disc by Disc
Covering each of Bob Dylan’s 36 studio LPs, this book brings rock ‘n’ roll musicians, songwriters, and critics together to sound off about each release, discussing and debating not only Dylan’s extraordinary musical accomplishments but the factors in his life that influenced his musical expressions.
- GenresMusicNonfictionHistory
Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 2015
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December 27, 2015
This was a Christmas present but it’s okay, the person who gave it to me never reads these reviews, so I can speak freely.
If ever there was an unnecessary book in the world, it could be this one, in which a flock of Dylan commentators, two by two, waffle and witter inanely about each and every studio album, in exactly the same witless tones as I and my friends have been known to babble. In our case we are forgiven because our trite secondhand insights will not be typed up and printed in a coffee table book with shabby chic pre-dinged pages.
Bryant : What did you think of the new Dylan album?
Friend of Bryant : It’s okay. But I don’t think it’s quite as good as the other one.
Bryant: Which other one?
FOB : You know, the other one.
Bryant: You mean the one I lent you?
FOB: No, not that one, the other one. I forgot its name.
Bryant: Well there’s a lot of other ones.
FOB : Yeah, he sure has made a lot of albums now. Wow.
Bryant: Yeah. What is it, around 350? I can’t keep up.
FOB : Yeah, he’s 86 and he don’t stop going.
Bryant: I got to get the annex finished this year.
FOB : Just for the Dylan?
Bryant: No, for the Neil Young as well. He’s another one. He doesn’t stop. Do you think these bastards will ever die and then I can stop buying their records?
FOB: No, they got a stockpile so that even if they do die which they won’t they’ll be issuing new albums for 30 years to come, you see.
Bryant: Wow, I bet you’re right. Our generation has been cursed with these guys. All these cds and then all the books too.
FOB : You don’t have to buy the books, just the records.
Bryant: Well, I think you do. You have to buy the books to express solidarity with the people who have the same affliction. You don’t have to read them though, that would be taking it too far.
Etc etc
Now I know you think I am joking – surely the dialogues in this book are more interesting and thoughtful? Let’s see:
Ocasek: He seems like he could play probably a thousand songs and get all the lyrics right…
Reilly: What’s cool, it’s just a guitar. I’m not a guitar specialist, but it seems like there’s some weird tunings. (p 32)
DeCurtis: “It’s Alright Ma”, the whole song is like an explanation of “it’s life and life only”. I can only do what I can do. ( P 41)
Henry (talking about “Ballad of a Thin Man”) : I’ve always been inclined to think that Mr Jones is not a particular person, but the point of the song is nothing is as we perceived it necessarily. Everybody is going to have to reimagine their own reality. (P46)
Chapman : I know critics thought Dylan was taking a step back with this but I thought he was taking a step forward. (p64)
Ruehl (on “Self Portrait”) : It doesn’t flow together well. It feels a lot like putting something on random play. You have to stop and really listen to it. (p72)
Atkins (answering the question why is the record called Desire?) : It sounds like sex and murder and want and travel. Those are all things that people desire. (p113)
Light: The other thing about this record, it’s really short. Like thirty-one minutes or something. (p159)
Honestly, you can open this book at random and come up with these priceless pronouncements on any page. My toes were curling and my eyes were rolling and my jaw was dropping as I read, if anyone had been around they would have called for an ambulance.
Also, would it be churlish for me to point out that they missed out a song in their tracklisting of Bringing it All Back Home on page 36? Yes, I guess it would, so I will refrain from such nitpicking.
But I will say this : the photos are wonderful, loads of unusual ones here. One whole star for those.
If ever there was an unnecessary book in the world, it could be this one, in which a flock of Dylan commentators, two by two, waffle and witter inanely about each and every studio album, in exactly the same witless tones as I and my friends have been known to babble. In our case we are forgiven because our trite secondhand insights will not be typed up and printed in a coffee table book with shabby chic pre-dinged pages.
Bryant : What did you think of the new Dylan album?
Friend of Bryant : It’s okay. But I don’t think it’s quite as good as the other one.
Bryant: Which other one?
FOB : You know, the other one.
Bryant: You mean the one I lent you?
FOB: No, not that one, the other one. I forgot its name.
Bryant: Well there’s a lot of other ones.
FOB : Yeah, he sure has made a lot of albums now. Wow.
Bryant: Yeah. What is it, around 350? I can’t keep up.
FOB : Yeah, he’s 86 and he don’t stop going.
Bryant: I got to get the annex finished this year.
FOB : Just for the Dylan?
Bryant: No, for the Neil Young as well. He’s another one. He doesn’t stop. Do you think these bastards will ever die and then I can stop buying their records?
FOB: No, they got a stockpile so that even if they do die which they won’t they’ll be issuing new albums for 30 years to come, you see.
Bryant: Wow, I bet you’re right. Our generation has been cursed with these guys. All these cds and then all the books too.
FOB : You don’t have to buy the books, just the records.
Bryant: Well, I think you do. You have to buy the books to express solidarity with the people who have the same affliction. You don’t have to read them though, that would be taking it too far.
Etc etc
Now I know you think I am joking – surely the dialogues in this book are more interesting and thoughtful? Let’s see:
Ocasek: He seems like he could play probably a thousand songs and get all the lyrics right…
Reilly: What’s cool, it’s just a guitar. I’m not a guitar specialist, but it seems like there’s some weird tunings. (p 32)
DeCurtis: “It’s Alright Ma”, the whole song is like an explanation of “it’s life and life only”. I can only do what I can do. ( P 41)
Henry (talking about “Ballad of a Thin Man”) : I’ve always been inclined to think that Mr Jones is not a particular person, but the point of the song is nothing is as we perceived it necessarily. Everybody is going to have to reimagine their own reality. (P46)
Chapman : I know critics thought Dylan was taking a step back with this but I thought he was taking a step forward. (p64)
Ruehl (on “Self Portrait”) : It doesn’t flow together well. It feels a lot like putting something on random play. You have to stop and really listen to it. (p72)
Atkins (answering the question why is the record called Desire?) : It sounds like sex and murder and want and travel. Those are all things that people desire. (p113)
Light: The other thing about this record, it’s really short. Like thirty-one minutes or something. (p159)
Honestly, you can open this book at random and come up with these priceless pronouncements on any page. My toes were curling and my eyes were rolling and my jaw was dropping as I read, if anyone had been around they would have called for an ambulance.
Also, would it be churlish for me to point out that they missed out a song in their tracklisting of Bringing it All Back Home on page 36? Yes, I guess it would, so I will refrain from such nitpicking.
But I will say this : the photos are wonderful, loads of unusual ones here. One whole star for those.
August 5, 2016
It’s no secret that I am a fan of Bob Dylan. Okay, so he doesn’t have the soulful voice that I usually love but he has words that he combined into poem and song. His words have changed over the years, just as he has changed. At first they were in protest, then became electric, religious, etc.
I was disappointed when he became a born again Christian, not that I have anything against it, as long as people don’t preach it to me. That was just it, I was worried he would be preachy about it. He wasn’t after his first album after converting and in fact, I even liked that album. It wasn’t a favorite, but it was good. I don’t even know if he still considers himself religious be it Jewish or Christian.
I thought it a bit funny that he was considered “born again” because he was raised Jewish. In fact, there was a rumor that he went to the same summer camp my parents forced me to go to in Minnesota, Herzl. I remember my last year going there a boy snuck me into his cabin to show me where Bob carved his initials in a bunk bed. “B.Z.”. Were they really his initials, who knows but it was still thrilling for me!
Now flash forward, back to today and I am still a fan. So, when I saw ‘Dylan: Disc by Disc’, I had to have it. Luckily the publisher was happy to send me a copy for review. First let me say this is a beautiful book in terms of the cover and photos within. I am now proudly displaying it on my coffee table. In fact, last week we had friend over and one asked to borrow it. Ha, I told him, “not my Dylan”. He understood and promptly ordered a copy for himself after just browsing through mine.
The book is set up for some well known, some not so well know critics to discuss each album Dylan has done to date. I have every album up to 2012. In fact, we saw a Bob Dylan special on PBS in 2013 and they had a box set of 40 cds during a pledge drive on offer. We bought it, so we even have some duplicates. LOL!
I agree with some of the commentary for each album discussed in the book and also disagree with some. It was really set up a lot like a conversation a bunch of friends would discuss some of their favorite performers except most of those friends have the discussion in their writing, rather than verbal. At first I really liked the writing style but did tire of it, at times. However, that said, I still adored this book, mostly for the photos. It’s just beautifully put together and a nice keepsake for a Bob Dylan fan. I highly recommend it for fans or as a gift to the big Dylan fans in your life!
I received this book for my honest review.
I was disappointed when he became a born again Christian, not that I have anything against it, as long as people don’t preach it to me. That was just it, I was worried he would be preachy about it. He wasn’t after his first album after converting and in fact, I even liked that album. It wasn’t a favorite, but it was good. I don’t even know if he still considers himself religious be it Jewish or Christian.
I thought it a bit funny that he was considered “born again” because he was raised Jewish. In fact, there was a rumor that he went to the same summer camp my parents forced me to go to in Minnesota, Herzl. I remember my last year going there a boy snuck me into his cabin to show me where Bob carved his initials in a bunk bed. “B.Z.”. Were they really his initials, who knows but it was still thrilling for me!
Now flash forward, back to today and I am still a fan. So, when I saw ‘Dylan: Disc by Disc’, I had to have it. Luckily the publisher was happy to send me a copy for review. First let me say this is a beautiful book in terms of the cover and photos within. I am now proudly displaying it on my coffee table. In fact, last week we had friend over and one asked to borrow it. Ha, I told him, “not my Dylan”. He understood and promptly ordered a copy for himself after just browsing through mine.
The book is set up for some well known, some not so well know critics to discuss each album Dylan has done to date. I have every album up to 2012. In fact, we saw a Bob Dylan special on PBS in 2013 and they had a box set of 40 cds during a pledge drive on offer. We bought it, so we even have some duplicates. LOL!
I agree with some of the commentary for each album discussed in the book and also disagree with some. It was really set up a lot like a conversation a bunch of friends would discuss some of their favorite performers except most of those friends have the discussion in their writing, rather than verbal. At first I really liked the writing style but did tire of it, at times. However, that said, I still adored this book, mostly for the photos. It’s just beautifully put together and a nice keepsake for a Bob Dylan fan. I highly recommend it for fans or as a gift to the big Dylan fans in your life!
I received this book for my honest review.
February 5, 2017
The idea behind this book, which after all is the umpteen millionth Dylan book, is fairly promising: what if we sit down a couple of potentially dissenting and opinionated experts to shoot the breeze over each and every one of Dylan's 37 albums? And while there are some suitably august critics, musicians and collaborators joining in the truth is that it is a pretty sterile affair. Firstly, even though there is a certain consensus about "the Dylan canon" (basically Freewheelin', the mid-60s trilogy and Blood on the Tracks on the top shelf, John Wesley Harding, Time Out of Mind, the Basement Tapes, "Love and Theft" and Desire on the second, and then the others on a third, ranked according to sometimes wilful taste…) it would still be nice to hear some of these people avoiding the unison choruses they serve up.
It is in fact bracing to read/hear Robert Christgau, self-avowedly not a big Dylan fan, giving Nashville Skyline a thumbs up (which I in fact disagree with) while scoffing at the comment that Dylan's phrasing is better than Sinatra's. He naturally gets the idea that these discussions need to leave the gloves behind.
In fact the only point behind this kind of arrangement is if the invitees find a few things to disagree about. But in this book that happens only rarely and the book thus descends into snoozeville territory. A couple of veins are picked out and almost explored, like for example the fact that Dylan's "born again Christian" did not end with Shot of Love, but just buried itself deeper in the lyrics and concerns. But then they disappear.
If this were any other artist, we might forgive the chorus effect, but since this is Dylan, about whom so many millions of words have been published, there is just no excuse.
For the record, in listening to the albums more or less concurrently with the reading of this rundown (while otherwise working on completely unrelated projects, in the interests of full disclosure), I have the following comments to throw out there, since throwing comments out there about Dylan seems to be becoming rather less than optional:
-Saved holds up much better for mine than its reputation would have it - the gospel element he was striving for comes across particularly well in the title track and Solid Rock. It makes a good argument, together with Slow Train Coming, that this was a fertile time for him. Where Slow Train is tight and funky, Saved is ragged and soulful. Primal Scream on Movin On Up and Nick Cave on There She Goes My Beautiful World (not to mention Spiritualized on several tracks)attempted something similar to what Dylan is doing on the best tracks on Saved. Shot of Love, to my ears, has not aged quite as well as the other two.
-Empire Burlesque gets worse with every listening and I believe that as of today I would actually place it at the bottom of the pile, barring the barrelscraping, unofficial 1973 release Dylan. Knocked Out Loaded is worse in spots, but at least has Brownsville Girl.
-The Bootleg Series managed to achieve a critical reevaluation of Self Portrait, and it's true that it is a little better than people were willing to hear, but the truth is it is still a little like a drunk giving a long-winded explanation to the joke that was perhaps a touch funnier than it seemed, but not much.
-The two Lanois albums hold up really well because a sound was created. The songs were even sketchy, but they were brought across the divide and they last.
-The Basement Tapes is a little overrated as an album in my opinion, although its influence seems undeniable in the return to grass roots that fuelled several movements. File under cultural artefact.
-I have searched diligently for redeeming features in Down In The Groove and Under The Red Sky - whether in lyrics, mood or context - and I have failed to find them.
-The debut album still holds up well, albeit short of Dylan-penned tracks.
-Blood on the Tracks is just as brilliant as its legend would have it.
-John Wesley Harding is an argument-starter of an album. Even within the same listener.
It is in fact bracing to read/hear Robert Christgau, self-avowedly not a big Dylan fan, giving Nashville Skyline a thumbs up (which I in fact disagree with) while scoffing at the comment that Dylan's phrasing is better than Sinatra's. He naturally gets the idea that these discussions need to leave the gloves behind.
In fact the only point behind this kind of arrangement is if the invitees find a few things to disagree about. But in this book that happens only rarely and the book thus descends into snoozeville territory. A couple of veins are picked out and almost explored, like for example the fact that Dylan's "born again Christian" did not end with Shot of Love, but just buried itself deeper in the lyrics and concerns. But then they disappear.
If this were any other artist, we might forgive the chorus effect, but since this is Dylan, about whom so many millions of words have been published, there is just no excuse.
For the record, in listening to the albums more or less concurrently with the reading of this rundown (while otherwise working on completely unrelated projects, in the interests of full disclosure), I have the following comments to throw out there, since throwing comments out there about Dylan seems to be becoming rather less than optional:
-Saved holds up much better for mine than its reputation would have it - the gospel element he was striving for comes across particularly well in the title track and Solid Rock. It makes a good argument, together with Slow Train Coming, that this was a fertile time for him. Where Slow Train is tight and funky, Saved is ragged and soulful. Primal Scream on Movin On Up and Nick Cave on There She Goes My Beautiful World (not to mention Spiritualized on several tracks)attempted something similar to what Dylan is doing on the best tracks on Saved. Shot of Love, to my ears, has not aged quite as well as the other two.
-Empire Burlesque gets worse with every listening and I believe that as of today I would actually place it at the bottom of the pile, barring the barrelscraping, unofficial 1973 release Dylan. Knocked Out Loaded is worse in spots, but at least has Brownsville Girl.
-The Bootleg Series managed to achieve a critical reevaluation of Self Portrait, and it's true that it is a little better than people were willing to hear, but the truth is it is still a little like a drunk giving a long-winded explanation to the joke that was perhaps a touch funnier than it seemed, but not much.
-The two Lanois albums hold up really well because a sound was created. The songs were even sketchy, but they were brought across the divide and they last.
-The Basement Tapes is a little overrated as an album in my opinion, although its influence seems undeniable in the return to grass roots that fuelled several movements. File under cultural artefact.
-I have searched diligently for redeeming features in Down In The Groove and Under The Red Sky - whether in lyrics, mood or context - and I have failed to find them.
-The debut album still holds up well, albeit short of Dylan-penned tracks.
-Blood on the Tracks is just as brilliant as its legend would have it.
-John Wesley Harding is an argument-starter of an album. Even within the same listener.
May 4, 2017
The concept revolves around two critics/musicians/academics discussing the significance and merit of each Dylan record, while also explaining a bit about the recording and writing process. This tires quickly and would be best read as a coffee table book; Something you just pick up, read a bit, put down, etc. I read it cover to cover as if it were a novel and it eventually became both repetitive and exhausting. You can only read so many pages about what X and Y think about World Gone Wrong.
If nothing else, this book made me want to go back and sort of "rediscover" records in Dylan's back catalog that I've neglected, and there's something about this book that makes you listen very closely when you hear those albums again - You want to pick everything up, hear the details and not just the foreground. I thoroughly enjoyed listen to some of Dylan's overlooked albums while giving them my full attention, and the book is worth a read for that if nothing else.
If nothing else, this book made me want to go back and sort of "rediscover" records in Dylan's back catalog that I've neglected, and there's something about this book that makes you listen very closely when you hear those albums again - You want to pick everything up, hear the details and not just the foreground. I thoroughly enjoyed listen to some of Dylan's overlooked albums while giving them my full attention, and the book is worth a read for that if nothing else.
August 26, 2017
Periodistas, académicos, músicos, fotógrafos, activistas, amigos, fans, ensayistas y un largo etcétera comentan cada uno de los 36 discos de la discografía oficial de Dylan. Desde su primer álbum hasta el Shadows in the Night de 2015.
Como terapia grupal de amor a Dylan está imperdible y resulta impresionante cómo marcó de distintos modos a un espectro tan amplio y variado de personas cada LP de este genio. Un must para devotos.
Como terapia grupal de amor a Dylan está imperdible y resulta impresionante cómo marcó de distintos modos a un espectro tan amplio y variado de personas cada LP de este genio. Un must para devotos.
March 20, 2022
I don’t know Dylan’s body of work well and LOVED this book as a way of understanding it better…from start to finish. It took me months to get through because I tried to find each album online - or at least a few songs - to play as I read the appropriate chapter. Really insightful and includes terrific color photos.
August 25, 2020
I've heard his horable voice, but I think he was an iconic legend, and still is in the world of rock and role, and folk music.
October 26, 2018
Pidän periaatteessa kirjoista, joissa käydään artistin koko tuotanto albumi albumilta läpi. Laitan kuulokkeet korville ja kuuntelen samalla levyä, josta luen. Näin saan artistin koko tuotannosta hyvän kuvan.
Jon Bream on tehnyt Dylanista kirjan siten, että hän haastattelee jokaisen albumin kohdalla kahta muuta ihmistä, joille Dylan on merkinnyt paljon. Haastateltavat ovat muusikoita (Suzanne Vega taisi olla ainoa, jonka tiesin), musiikkikriitikoita ja -toimittajia ja tutkijoita, jotka ovat jollain tapaa Dylania tutkineet ja opettavat häneen liittyviä kursseja.
Tuloksena on sillisalaatti kokoelma ihmisten mietteitä ja mielipiteitä, jotka eivät kuitenkaan juuri syvennä mitään itse albumista, sen teosta tai sen soittamisesta livenä. Ja aina lopussa keskustellaan siitä, mihin kohtaan albumi sijoittuu Dylanin kaanonissa ja lopuksi albumit jopa asetetaan haastateltavien toimesta paremmusjärjestykseen. Kirja kattaa albumit vuoden 2015 Shadows in the Night -levyyn asti.
Isokokoisessa kirjassa on kultakin aikakaudelta erittäin hienoja kuvia, joten se puoli on kunnossa. Mutta tulipahan kuunneltua melkoinen osa Dylanin levytetyistä studiobiiseistä. Olin ajatellut kuunnelleeni kyllä herran tuotannosta valtaosan, mutta etenkin 80-luvulta löytyi useita minulle vieraita tekeleitä. Tosin ihan syystä. Tuskin tulee kovin moneen niistä enää palattuakaan.
Jon Bream on tehnyt Dylanista kirjan siten, että hän haastattelee jokaisen albumin kohdalla kahta muuta ihmistä, joille Dylan on merkinnyt paljon. Haastateltavat ovat muusikoita (Suzanne Vega taisi olla ainoa, jonka tiesin), musiikkikriitikoita ja -toimittajia ja tutkijoita, jotka ovat jollain tapaa Dylania tutkineet ja opettavat häneen liittyviä kursseja.
Tuloksena on sillisalaatti kokoelma ihmisten mietteitä ja mielipiteitä, jotka eivät kuitenkaan juuri syvennä mitään itse albumista, sen teosta tai sen soittamisesta livenä. Ja aina lopussa keskustellaan siitä, mihin kohtaan albumi sijoittuu Dylanin kaanonissa ja lopuksi albumit jopa asetetaan haastateltavien toimesta paremmusjärjestykseen. Kirja kattaa albumit vuoden 2015 Shadows in the Night -levyyn asti.
Isokokoisessa kirjassa on kultakin aikakaudelta erittäin hienoja kuvia, joten se puoli on kunnossa. Mutta tulipahan kuunneltua melkoinen osa Dylanin levytetyistä studiobiiseistä. Olin ajatellut kuunnelleeni kyllä herran tuotannosta valtaosan, mutta etenkin 80-luvulta löytyi useita minulle vieraita tekeleitä. Tosin ihan syystä. Tuskin tulee kovin moneen niistä enää palattuakaan.
January 21, 2024
Well, Jon Bream's name is on the cover, but most of the prose is actually by veteran music writer Richie Unterberger - you've probably read him at allmusic.com at some point in your life. And the rest of it is Bream moderating two-person discussions by a total of 55 critics, musicians, professors, and fans of each of the then extant 33 studio albums by Bob Dylan.
So, you've got a whole lot of smart people talking about what works and doesn't work on records which range from among the most remarkable ever made to some that are stunningly weak. I loved every page of this book, because I'm practically the platonic ideal of the target audience for it. I love when smart people notice things I hadn't noticed before about records I know intimately, and that happens many times here. I also love gaining insights into records I don't know as well - while I've heard every Bob Dylan studio record (and many live ones, and more than a few of the Bootleg Sessions), it's not as though I've got Saved or Down in the Groove on speed dial in my mental recall.
I was pleasantly surprised to see that my friend Dan Durchholz got to cover one of Dylan's weakest records - the record label cash in called simply Dylan - and another that happens to contain what I've long considered his worst song ever - the album Shot of Love with "Lenny Bruce" on it. I mean the pleasure was that I didn't know Dan was in the book until I got that far, not that he had to listen to music I don't like (or that mostly, he doesn't seem to like, either). Also my old friend Randall Roberts gets quoted in the book, though I would like to have seen him get a chance to cover an album in it.
I enjoy the disagreements people have across these pages - some casually dismiss records or songs that others praise. I like the different ways people deal with Dylan's singing - many acknowledge his phrasing without appreciating his vocal tone; some recognize his melodic approach under circumstances others don't note; several are surprised at how musical they find his vocals at times when others might not accept he can still sing at all. It's also true that many of the people here are willing to forgive musical mistakes - bad notes or out of tune instruments - in ways that they might not accept in other circumstances. I do that too for Dylan, though "From a Buick Six" still makes me wince every time I hear the way the guitar and bass aren't in tune with each other.
How come nobody knew "Must Be Santa" was entirely based on the Brave Combo version? There is a lot of discussion about the questions of plagiarism and lyrical and musical borrowings, especially in the last third of the book. That's a big one. Though I love both takes on that arrangement, I have to give Dylan's vocals the nod as putting his over the top.
Also, I remain adamant that "Wiggle Wiggle" is a much better song than every writer about Dylan except me has ever given it credit for being.
So, you've got a whole lot of smart people talking about what works and doesn't work on records which range from among the most remarkable ever made to some that are stunningly weak. I loved every page of this book, because I'm practically the platonic ideal of the target audience for it. I love when smart people notice things I hadn't noticed before about records I know intimately, and that happens many times here. I also love gaining insights into records I don't know as well - while I've heard every Bob Dylan studio record (and many live ones, and more than a few of the Bootleg Sessions), it's not as though I've got Saved or Down in the Groove on speed dial in my mental recall.
I was pleasantly surprised to see that my friend Dan Durchholz got to cover one of Dylan's weakest records - the record label cash in called simply Dylan - and another that happens to contain what I've long considered his worst song ever - the album Shot of Love with "Lenny Bruce" on it. I mean the pleasure was that I didn't know Dan was in the book until I got that far, not that he had to listen to music I don't like (or that mostly, he doesn't seem to like, either). Also my old friend Randall Roberts gets quoted in the book, though I would like to have seen him get a chance to cover an album in it.
I enjoy the disagreements people have across these pages - some casually dismiss records or songs that others praise. I like the different ways people deal with Dylan's singing - many acknowledge his phrasing without appreciating his vocal tone; some recognize his melodic approach under circumstances others don't note; several are surprised at how musical they find his vocals at times when others might not accept he can still sing at all. It's also true that many of the people here are willing to forgive musical mistakes - bad notes or out of tune instruments - in ways that they might not accept in other circumstances. I do that too for Dylan, though "From a Buick Six" still makes me wince every time I hear the way the guitar and bass aren't in tune with each other.
How come nobody knew "Must Be Santa" was entirely based on the Brave Combo version? There is a lot of discussion about the questions of plagiarism and lyrical and musical borrowings, especially in the last third of the book. That's a big one. Though I love both takes on that arrangement, I have to give Dylan's vocals the nod as putting his over the top.
Also, I remain adamant that "Wiggle Wiggle" is a much better song than every writer about Dylan except me has ever given it credit for being.
December 24, 2016
A simple concept: Pair two commentators for each Dylan studio album (36 as of 2015), let them discuss the record for an hour, then edit. I'm sure it wasn't that simple in execution, but the strain doesn't show. And the rotating cast of critics, academics, writers and songwriters keep things interesting. Especially revelatory is singer Wes Stace (aka John Wesley Harding) and Questlove of the Roots shared fondness for "Saved," the least loved of Dylan's born-again trilogy. Really well done.
September 4, 2015
Ha! I searched for this as "Dylan: Album by Album". Ain't it funny how time slips away?
Anyway, this is one of the better Dylan books on the shelves, and I've read way too many of them. All of the studio albums discussed/critiqued by two people, always a musician paired with a critic, or academic, or writer of some sort. No axes to grind, no highfalutin literary theories, no gossip. Structure of lyrics, quality of music and musicianship, studio techniques, some cultural commentary. Quite refreshing and occasionally illuminating. Jason Isbell's comments are really down to earth as a songwriter about a songwriter.
Takes us up to the most recent Shadows in the Night.
I'd have it on my shelf if I hadn't sworn off buying these things.
Anyway, this is one of the better Dylan books on the shelves, and I've read way too many of them. All of the studio albums discussed/critiqued by two people, always a musician paired with a critic, or academic, or writer of some sort. No axes to grind, no highfalutin literary theories, no gossip. Structure of lyrics, quality of music and musicianship, studio techniques, some cultural commentary. Quite refreshing and occasionally illuminating. Jason Isbell's comments are really down to earth as a songwriter about a songwriter.
Takes us up to the most recent Shadows in the Night.
I'd have it on my shelf if I hadn't sworn off buying these things.
March 21, 2016
An interesting approach to a Dylan book whereby each studio album is discussed by two people (generally writers, critics or musicians) with the author as moderator. The discussions are fun to read albeit brief, they seem to end just as they're getting going. Often I wished I could be there to put my two cent's worth in, especially when taking exception to certain opinions or remarks. Which is a sign of a good debate, engaging the reader. Not a book I would return to, but if you're a Dylan fan and familiar with all or most of his oeuvre you'll enjoy the journey through his diverse catalogue and undoubtedly revisit the music once again.
August 7, 2015
Catnip for a Dylan fan like me. Four or five pages of a discussion between a couple of critics or artists, moderated by Bream, for each Dylan studio album. No mindblowing insights here, and a few of Dylan's obvious clunkers get soft-pedaled. Nonetheless, thoroughly enjoyable. The book itself is beautifully produced with glossy pages and excellent pictures. Perfect for a quick refresher on an album or, no disrespect intended, a bathroom read.
January 24, 2016
I like the idea of a Dylan coffee table book. Each album gets five or six pages devoted to it, always presented as a dialogue between two critics. The chapters range from mildly valuable to pretty worthless; I got four or five insights total, and was frustrated by it more often than not. Then again, I got to spend days geeking out over Dylan and revisiting many albums both storied and marginal. Something to be said for that.
March 26, 2016
The second Bob complete disc by disc tome of the year-- this is the far superior of the 2, a beautiful coffee-table book that has 2 different commentators discuss each album for several pages (and cool pictures too). I didn't learn that much, but the conversations are smart and send you back to the records. This is a great gift for Bob fans.
December 31, 2016
Not exactly what I hoped it would be, though it's fine as a coffee table book and reading the selections before or after listening to one of Dylan's albums occasionally yields interesting insights. The quality of the discussions varies wildly across albums, and some contain outright inaccuracies that go unedited.
July 3, 2015
For a Dylan fan, it's like candy—you can't put it down. Watch for this book to be featured as the September pick in The Current's Rock and Roll Book Club!
February 29, 2016
Very interesting history of all his albums
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