Has Bob Dylan ever released a 'bad' album?

My bad

 

only street rock:

 

More like ringing the doorbell and leaving a bag of flaming crap on the porch. It's a phenomenon of internet message boards I'll never understand -- why even enter a thread if you have absolutely no interest in the subject and nothing to offer? I don't go into Steely Dan threads and say "I never listen to them, so they suck!" The way I look at it, I have no right.

 

Point taken, apologys to all

 

I figured you were joking; my comments were aimed only at maccafan.

 

I wonder if there are demos or alternate takes of this classic. Perhaps we'll get them on Bootleg Series 3000.

 

How is Ginsberg a "pedo" and what does that incredibly reprehensible criminal violation have to do with "red diaper baby"??

 

I was wondering the same thing. He was openly homosexual for decades, but I've never heard pedophilia associated with him. Nor do I know what the diaper nomenclature is nor want to.

I think Ginsberg had a brilliant mind, and what he had to say about Dylan was spot on in important ways.

 

That sure sounds pedo.

As for "red diaper baby," which speaks for itself:
http://books.google.com/books?id=pbaJVzdNMGgC&pg=PA85&lpg=PA85&dq=allen ginsberg red diaper baby&source=bl&ots=5hHrxpSdPV&sig=kDni4EM1tkMN34E8LBHHc4Yv6kY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=92TpUY7INOni4APo9IC4BQ&ved=0CEwQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=allen ginsberg red diaper baby&f=false


If there are 60's hippy rejects feeling the need to comment, please do not alert me. Done discussing it here. You can lionize that filth all you want.

 

I haven't viewed this thread in a day or two, no idea how it got to the point about the comment posted just above, but dude, you don't have to come back to the thread. I'm not sure what the hell "60's hippy rejects feeling the need to comment" means either. What is a hippy reject and what does it have to do with anything??

 

The book he's using as a primary document should speak volumes...

 

Been so long since I've played any of those three that I don't remember a lot about the production of DOWN IN THE GROOVE and KNOCKED OUT LOADED, but EMPIRE BURLESQUE was such a mess that I still remember how much I disliked what it sounded like. And I agree, the songs themselves weren't that strong, as a whole, on this trio.

JcS

 

Boy you have an attitude. Have fun hating others.

 

Deal; we'll just be grateful that your original hit-and-run calumny along with this respectful response are all you have to say on the subject. Best o' luck.

 

I was wondering when Bob would do a rap album. He'd be good at it. Maybe that's next. He's done XMAS music. What gaps are still left in his repertoire?

 

Yes, he has.
the "religious" albums are quite awful

 

yes, but not sir paul bad

 

Well, he's tackled Gershwin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRpkB_BHuBU

And he's been part of a performance of "Hava Nagila" in Hebrew on TV 10 years after becoming a "Born Again" Christian:



What IS left?

 

Probably some "internet sarcasm" in there, but somehow my wounds will heal. Unfortunate that you and your buddy there can't seem to comply with a simple request.

 

Saved is not strong, though it has the wonderful "Pressing On," but I think Slow Train Coming is a good solid album, better than quite a few of Dylan's secular albums.

 

I thought Empire Burlesque had a couple of good songs on it: "When the Night Comes Falling from the Sky" and "Dark Eyes"; though I agree that the big '80's production was painful. I think Down in the Groove might be Dylan's single worst album (outside of Dylan), but it does have one canonical song on it, "Silvio." Knocked Out Loaded is weak, but it has one truly great piece on it, "Brownsville Girl," and one decent little rocker, "Got My Mind Made Up," so not a total loss and I didn't think the production on that was bad at all.

 

"Probably some "internet sarcasm" in there, but somehow my wounds will heal. Unfortunate that you and your buddy there can't seem to comply with a simple request."

To quote my favorite 80's hippie reject, Neil Pye, "You don't have to get all uncool and heavy".

 

I would cautiously defend Self Portrait. It's reception in 1970 was entirely predictable (I've always felt the untold story behind the album's release was Dylan's desire to hasten the end of his Columbia contract and any commitments he had to Albert Grossman) and it doesn't really work as a double-album; but if you listen to it in short bursts (say, five tracks at a time), it's not that bad, IF you're not expecting Blonde On Blonde. The IoW tracks, though, are unlistenable.

In fairness, Nashville Skyline should have warned people to expect something like S/P.

The 'Jesus Trilogy' is also OK: hard-line atheists find those albums deeply offensive, but agnostics can enjoy them.

Budokan I've always liked: the 'big band' arrangements don't always work but most of the time, they do; and the band is fabulous (how the hell did Dylan persuade/find the money to get Steve Douglas to go on the road with him?).

I'd argue that the REAL DUDS are:

Knocked Out Loaded
Down In The Groove
Dylan And The Dead

These albums were greeted with dismay when they were released and the passage of time has not delivered any re-evaluation: they are poor albums by a disengaged artist. End of.

Under The Red Sky: not a bad album but not what Dylan fans wanted, especially not after the supposed 'return to form' of Oh, Mercy. Apparently, he wanted to wanted to do some songs that would appeal to his small (and, at that point, not publicly known) daughter: it makes more sense when you think of it like that.

Christmas In The Heart: not heard it, but a good cause and, I suspect, not to be taken that seriously.

Dylan has made several over-praised albums: Infidels, Oh Mercy and Time Out Of Mind - significantly, all three of these were released after he'd supposedly hit a creative low/polarised his audience. The same applies to the (over-praised at the time) New Morning.

Off topic, but his last album was very good indeed

 

Honestly, I think those three albums are his three best during the last 30 years. Even more so if you throw in the outtakes from each of those recording sessions. However, you make a good point about perceptions and the potential for over-praise when disappointment is happily followed by exceeded expectations.

 

i can find at least something redeeming on everything (even on "Dylan"), but i'd readily concede that he's made several clunkers. I can take or leave most of the 80s (Oh mercy excepted). I like Saved a lot, but i wasn't a Dylan fan at the time it was released. Had I been, and been expecting something else, I probably would have been steamed.

yeah, the guy that wrote some of the most important songs of his time also went on to write wiggle wiggle like a bowl of soup (arguably for his grandkids, but c'mon ... "heeeyyyyy slassssssh, good to see you mann, you come in with your solo after "soup").