Thoughts on Bob Dylan's "Desire"

I just picked up Bob Dylan's Desire LP today at the record store, and I have to say I am really impressed with it. One of his more underrated LPs, I think, maybe because it was the first one released after Blood on the Tracks, and perhaps rightly so, since I don't really think Desire is as amazing as that one, but I still think this is a very great job by Dylan. It's so interesting. I like the fiddle playing on all the tracks, and the female vocals add a nice change from his other stuff. Also, the songwriting is brilliant, as usual. What do you think of it?

 

The recent BOOTLEG SERIES release of this album's tour, LIVE 1975, is even better.

 

LOVE IT! Hurricane is a wonderfully melodic song even if the subject matter sucks...GREAT ALBUM...bested by the SACD!

 

If you read on of the Dylan Bios there are some interesting stories about these sessions. For example, the first song that drummer Howard Wyeth played on was "Mozambique". He was still setting up his kit when they started the song, which is why he comes in late. That is the take that was used. (I can't remember the book I read - there is a web site with the sessionography). Since these were recorded on the quick, the live versions on "Rolling Thunder" are better (and "Isis" from "Biograph"), but I'm kind of used to the unpolished/under rehearsed sound of the original album - I think the only one who was unhappy was Emmy Lou Harris.

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=43892&highlight=desire

It is a favorite, but I haven't listened to it much in the past couple of years. I'm really into "Saved" at the moment.

How is the SACD compared with the original CD?

Found my own answer:http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=21799&highlight=desire

Hey NorwegianWood65, have the Gorts add "Beatles" to the thread title and you will get more response.

 

I like a lot of DESIRE--"Hurricane," "Isis," "Sara," and if pressed to name ONE, my favorite Dylan track of all, "Black Diamond Bay." It's burdened with "Joey"--I can't sit through it any more, and there are a couple of others I can do without, but all in all, it's in my top 8 Dylan albums.

The nudge to LIVE 1975 is a good one, by the way.

JcS

 

One of my favourites mainly because of Emmylou Harris

 

Everytime I hear "Mozambique" it's stuck in my head for days.

Mozambique
by Bob Dylan and Jacques Levy

I like to spend some time in Mozambique
The sunny sky is aqua blue
And all the couples dancing cheek to cheek.
It's very nice to stay a week or two.

There's lots of pretty girls in Mozambique
And plenty time for good romance
And everybody likes to stop and speak
To give the special one you seek a chance
Or maybe say hello with just a glance.

Lying next to her by the ocean
Reaching out and touching her hand,
Whispering your secret emotion
Magic in a magical land.

And when it's time for leaving Mozambique,
To say goodbye to sand and sea,
You turn around to take a final peek
And you see why it's so unique to be
Among the lovely people living free
Upon the beach of sunny Mozambique.

Copyright © 1975 Ram's Horn Music

 

I like Desire a lot. I think Dylan had a string of great albums in the mid-70's: Blood on the Tracks, Desire, Street Legal. An excellent run.

 

I also like Desire, but I've always thought it sounded as if it was recorded/mastered "hot," as in distorted, overdriven, in the red -- something. I was hoping the SACD would correct this, but maybe I'm finally realizing it's just the intended sound of the album. Does anyone have any thoughts on that particular point? Do the other layers sound this way too?

Jason

 

When it came out I found it disappointing coming on the heels of Blood on the Tracks. But lately, I've listened to it and quite liked it. It is true that there are some killer live versions of some of the tracks on Live 1975 and Biograph.

 

My favorite Dylan album. Especially "Black Diamond Bay"

 

I love "Isis". It took me close to 15 years to really enjoy it. I had the LP since I was little, but the song didn't hit me until much later. It doesn't look brilliant on paper, but I like the way it flows in the song.

 

I love Desire, and I don't say that because my sister dated Jacques Levy back then.

Here's a nice article about the recording of "Hurricane":
http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=15277

 

Especially the Bootleg Series/Rolling Thunder version: "I said, If you want me to, YYYESSS!"

 

If you have the version with the DVD included there is a performance of this song. It also has an audio only "Biograph" version IIRC.

My favorite "Desire" song is "One More Cup Of Coffee (Valley Below). I prefer the studio version on this one.

 

I don't know but that damn melody is so catchy.

 

I love Dylan's "Desire." One of his best during the 70's, hands down!

My favorites are "Isis" and "Hurricane"

A very atmospheric record...that said, why oh why was so much echo on everything?

 

If it was released dry, IMHO, it would be an even better record.

 

Sckott - I tend to agree with you, here!

 

I like this album too-- although I prefer the albums that came before and after Desire, it has such a wonderful atmosphere with the violin and female backing vocals. "Hurricane" is a killer. I love the twist at the end of "Black Diamond Bay", with Dylan sitting with a beer watching Walter Cronkite tell the story on the 7 pm news.

Isis is by far my favorite song on the album-- I like the Rolling Thunder version, but the slow, piano-driven dirge from Desire is still my favorite. That song has such evocative lyrics, and is one of Dylan's three-chord wonders. The back and forth dialog between the narrator and Isis in the penultimate verse is pure Dylan. Dylan gives such a great vocal performance on Isis: "What DRIVES me to YOU is what DRIVES me INSANE"

 

Great album, but the Rolling Thunder Bootleg Series gives me a whole new appreciation for it. Especially Romance In Durango.

 

It was the first Dylan LP that i really got into, since then I have grown to love almost all of his work. 30 years later I still enjoy it, it has a feel very different to his other albums. I never fail to enjoy it, and feel that it is often misjudged my many.

 

Hurricane, Isis and joey are my favourite of this long album. Hurricane project me in a movie, Isis its a mix between a poem and a dream...

A man in the corner approached me for a match.
I knew right away he was not ordinary.
He said, "Are you lookin' for somethin' easy to catch?"
I said, "I got no money." He said, "That ain't necessary."

...

I picked up his body and I dragged him inside,
Threw him down in the hole and I put back the cover.
I said a quick prayer and I felt satisfied.
Then I rode back to find Isis just to tell her I love her.

friends this is real poetry...

 

Hi all,

I think this and "Blood On The Tracks" are the best '70's Dylan albums. Hurricane, Isis, and Mozambique are fave cuts. I feel like this was the return of a new powerful Dylan.