Bob Dylan - Tempest, Sept. 11, 2012

also, are they trying to write Christmas in the Heart out of the history books!??!!

Shoulda gone with this for the cover:
http://www.atarimania.com/goodies/hi_res/atari_tempest_patch.jpg

http://www.bootlegzone.com/beatleg/discs/scans/tst12.jpg

http://mrsgrapevine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Tempestt-Bledsoe-Naked-Skin-Cancer.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/58/Tempest_arcade.png

You know, if it said "Tampax" in that same font with that cover pic I wouldn't have blinked.

http://www.tempestmusic.com/images/AD.jpg

http://images.ohioeventfinder.com/79851/Tempest_web-medium.jpg
hopefully this is his backing band...!

New andoriginal songs!

What is it with Dylan and 9/11 release dates?

http://img122.imageshack.us/img122/9838/76dz.jpg

xp i know, i'm dreading the inevitable, ponderous essay about "THE LAST TIME DYLAN RELEASED AN ALBUM ON SEPTEMBER 11 DO YOU REMEMBER NEVER FORGET LOVE AND THEFT"

http://metal.musiclog.in/images/img_37318.jpg

looks like the 80s-design wall 'art' that was hanging in a pizzeria i used to go to

http://www.tinietempah.com/wp-content/themes/tinietempah2011.jan20/_site/images/skin/tinie-temper.jpg

It's kind of like this:

https://encrypted-tbn2.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTbgMmoyN2mfcfkap3a42-8EzpXsZHIN7f5sRdTTOFOLFNA1foyUA

Plus this:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/bc/New_Order_Technique.jpg/220px-New_Order_Technique.jpg

But terrible.

tracklisting omg

1. Duquesne Whistle
2. Soon After Midnight
3. Narrow Way
4. Long and Wasted Years
5. Pay in Blood
6. Scarlet Town
7. Early Roman Kings
8. Tin Angel
9. Tempest
10. Roll on John

IMPORTANT TO NOTE: kind of rare for dylan to have a title track. sort of!

"Duquesne Whistle" is a dope song name

I love the cover art, hoping it indicates some sleaze on the record

cover art is rad imo. it looks like it belongs in a scratched plastic jewel case in a box of old forgotten possessions, but that isn't nec a bad vibe for a new dylan record. it just reminds me of a zillion tasteful but not artful '90s book jackets.

damn that tracklist is awesome

early roman kings!

i actually like the sleazy Cinemax After Dark way that "Tempest" is written....but what's up with the Microsoft Word straight up Times/Times New Roman way Dylan is written?

Also turning 50:

http://www.autobooksbishko.com/products/stdImages/4976.jpeg

i actually like the sleazy Cinemax After Dark way that "Tempest" is written....but what's up with the Microsoft Word straight up Times/Times New Roman way Dylan is written?

― wack nerd zinging in the dead of night (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, July 17, 2012 12:16 PM (33 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this. would be awesome w/o his name

It's pretty close the Bringing It All Back Home font!

I really hope the lyrical content matches the cover and merits a review headline like 50 Shades Of "Lay Lady Lay"

think there were some rumours about this record a while back; the one of the los lobos guys was playing on it, more mariachi vibes, &c.

i like his name!, i think that's part of it

http://www.travel2austria.com/i/parliamentvienna4.jpg

the one of the los lobos guys was playing on it

David Hidalgo's been on his last few records iirc (he's definitely on the Xmas one)

here are the rumors:

The sessions are reported to have begun in January 2012 at Groove Masters, a semi-private studio facility owned by musician Jackson Browne. The studio, on Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, is where Dylan recorded both “Together Through Life” and “Christmas In The Heart”. He is said to have spent up to two months working on the album.

David Hidalgo revealed to The Aspen Times that he had been involved with the recording of a New Dylan album and that whilst he had been brought in primarily to play accordion and guitar, he ended up adding Mexican instruments, including tres, to some tracks. Hidalgo said the recording sessions were nothing like the earlier ones he had done with Dylan. He had previously played accordion and guitar on “Together Through Life” and accordion, guitar, mandolin and violin on “Christmas In The Heart”.

If our previous information is correct, the 10-song album is 68 minutes long and contains songs about Titanic and John Lennon.

that cover rules

the 10-song album is 68 minutes long

oh nooo

http://www.rso.wmich.edu/ultimate/random/kool-aid-man.jpg

so it's about ALL the early roman kings

celebrating today's news by listening to a Dylan show in Dresden from a couple weeks ago. Pretty good! Totally weird re-do of "Hattie Carrol" which gives the song an inappropriately bouncy, happy feel.

Reportedly he is playing grand piano these days!

yeah he is! sounds better than the kinda rinky dink organ he's been using of late. though it's mixed pretty low on the thing i'm listening to.
http://www.rockcellarmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/bob-dylan-hop-farm-grand-piano.jpg

interesting that he's really kinda bypassed the together through life material onstage -- barely plays any of it, while modern times and love and theft songs get plenty of outings.

it's weird to think how old love & theft is! he's been playing a lot of that album as a core part of his setlists for over a decade now.

So,

Are

We

Doing

This?

interesting that he's really kinda bypassed the together through life material onstage -- barely plays any of it

same as his fans, I reckon.

Is this the first time in quite a while that newer albums fill most of Dylan's set lists?

since time out of mind, he's dug pretty deep into the new records.
guess he plays forgetful heart on the regular, here's his last setlist

1. Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat
2. It's All Over Now, Baby Blue
3. Things Have Changed
4. Tangled Up In Blue
5. Honest With Me
6. Spirit On The Water
7. The Levee's Gonna Break
8. A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall
9. High Water (For Charley Patton)
10. Simple Twist Of Fate
11. I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
12. Highway 61 Revisited
13. Forgetful Heart
14. Thunder On The Mountain
15. Ballad Of A Thin Man
16. Like A Rolling Stone (Bob on grand piano)
17. All Along The Watchtower (Bob on grand piano)
18. Blowin' In The Wind

it's funny cuz he digs so deep and plays so many songs compared to most classic rock touring artists but then he TOTALLY ALWAYS PLAYS watchtower, blowin' in the wind, and like a rolling stone

That has more 'old faves' than I would have expected.

when I saw him in '05 he played "I'll Remember You"! My heart leapt.

I re-discovered the mp3's I d/l of the "hears a who" set. Made a nice sleeve and label for a burned CD..

I guess he's not going to do "Green Eggs and Ham"

i've been looking at dylan setlists for like, most of my internet life, so sometimes i wish he'd dig a little deeper, play some things from Infidels or New Morning or something. but this show i just listened to sounded pretty cool.

I figure he played piano on the original therefore it's easier for him.

http://www.moviegoods.com/Assets/product_images/1020/240999.1020.A.jpg

it's funny cuz he digs so deep and plays so many songs compared to most classic rock touring artists but then he TOTALLY ALWAYS PLAYS watchtower, blowin' in the wind, and like a rolling stone

OTOH, they're probably not often recognizable as such- at least until he gets to the chorus (or mumbles a few consecutively intelligible lyrics).

The first time I saw him, mid-80s, he did an acoustic set including Blowin and Times They Are a-Changin, and it felt like Fogey Central. Saw him like 15 years later, and he did this mournful, bluesy version of Blowin' that was just gorgeous. So, yeah, unpredictable.

I don't think 68 minutes is necessarily a bad sign. For one thing, that could mean a 17-minute epic in there, and his track record on those is pretty good. But also, the longer songs on Modern Times completely trump the short ones on Together Through Life.

i get it -- there are certainly tiny things bob could adjust in his live shows that would make them a hundred times more crowd-pleasing. he's really the weirdest dude to have such a mass audience. i dunno though, i think i'm just invested enough in dylan's whole career that it's always interesting to me. and fun! i was grinning most of the time during the show this week. maybe i'm an enabler!

If the name "Bob Dylan" wasn't on the ticket stub, I can't imagine he would have gotten a positive live review in the last, I dunno, decade.

Since you've caught all his shows in the last, I dunno, decade.

I know what he's getting at. Dylan is easily the weakest link in his shows, and it's come to the point where his erratic performances have perversely become an attribute. Ergo, you can't tell what song he's singing=Dylan is radically rearranging his songs. He doesn't play guitar=he's willfully subverting expectations. He doesn't play anything off his new, well-reviewed album=he's being contrarian. He does a little jig=he's placing himself in the tradition of American song and dance men. I've been guilty of this myself. But then I go back and listen to shows from the guy back when he was on fire, and the current Dylan just doesn't cut it when, as per Tyler, with just a few adjustments he probably would. And with a few major adjustments, he could be as radically exciting as he once was. But the reason Dylan doesn't do that it as mysterious as the reasoning behind the Never Ending Tour itself. The man is clearly compelled, yet not compelling. His current mode, as thrilling as its recorded highs have been, is starting to seem like a safe haven for him, a sort of creative purgatory. I wonder if we'll ever get another radical revision of the Dylan persona?

He's had dry spells before, prob waiting, looking for another spark.

Or, Josh, you could just be talking out your ass and Dylan is still doing just fine, with as many on and off nights and individual song performances as always. Based on my personal experience, I'm going to believe the eyes and ears that caught his excellent show last night.

Sorry for being rude, but I think your going too far in your dismissal of Dylan's current production. I understand feeling taken in -- I've seen plenty of disappointing shows from many artists over the years -- but I have to say the chances he took last night he didn't take a decade ago, and the returns were much higher than in the incredibly solid but predictable show I saw in 2001, or in many of the boots I've heard from across the last 20 years. He can still astound, even without playing new songs or the guitar.

Taking it back to Tempest, I'm not that crazy about some of the lyrics, but musically it's tight, at least some of which comes from keeping that band (and himself) working dang near every night. Lotta good studio albums have appeared during the Endless Tour. Also too many live boots to keep up with, so what else can you trust but your own ears, on whatever enchanted,disenchanted or quirky evening.

Perfect summation, dow.

Josh is my personal friend and my bro and I love him, but ... yeah he kind of is being a tool on this thread about this issue. Josh, I love you to death but your attitude here seems almost willfully militant about your, i dunno, "distrust" of Dylan I guess. Specifically this "won't be fooled" comment. I dunno what to tell you, you either enjoy what he does now or you don't. You don't have to come on the thread and poo-pooh him and assert that he tries to "fool" people. God that's just weird. He is what is he is now. He is an old man. I still think he does a fantastic job, but then I've always dug weird-ass voices. Don Van Vliet. Jimmy Scott. John Lydon. Hell, even Steve Marriott in his prime had one of the weirdest voices in rock when you really think about.

Is Dylan's voice diminished right now? Of course it is! I still feel like he has a lot of fun with it, and he brings the best "A" game he can, every night. But the main thing I would want to emphasize is how *INCREDIBLE* his band is. I mean they are just such a joy to watch. I've seen them like 12 times since 2005. I see every single show in the area, and in fact I road tripped to Fort Wayne earlier this summer to see them at the minor league baseball stadium. I did a road trip back in 2009 to his Dayton and Cleveland shows. The one thing I will say is that, yeah, I am 100% disappointed in Bob for not playing 'Tempest' songs right now. I mean that really is nuts and kind of against his nature! When 'Modern Times' came out he featured it extensively. Then when 'Together Through Life' came out he played a bunch from it too! Like, actually, at that aforementioned Dayton show that I attended, I believe that was the actual live debut of "If You Ever Go To Houston". "If You Ever Go To Houston" was my absolute favorite track from 'Together Through Life', so I can't tell you how thrilled I felt to be there at the Dayton Dragons stadium watching Bob and his band perform it. Unreal. They also did a fucking amazing "Cold Irons Bound" on that wonderful Friday night

But this brings up the thing -- his band is really amazing right now. well, for the last decade of working together, and understanding the material as intensely they do. I mean there is absolutely nothing more pleasing to me in the world than watching George Recile and Tony Garnier interact with each other. There is a reason why his tours are billed as "Bob Dylan AND HIS BAND". This particular group of men -- Receli, Garnier, Sexton, Kimball and Heron, they deserve to be grouped as their own unit, I mean it should be "Bob Dylan and the Seahawks" or "Bob Dylan and the Chargers" or whatever the hell; whatever, the guys seem cool with being relatively anonymous at this point. It really is an incredible ensemble. And there was a palpable difference when Charlie Sexton rejoined them in 2010. like, big time. But whatever Josh, go ahead and poo-pooh, I will be there at the United Center on Friday, and I cannot fucking wait

i mean the thing worth noting is that, yeah, ok, if you are not down with the sound of Dylan's voice, that is fine, whatever, but you still get to see an amazing rock and roll band -- these guys have made a career decision to stick with Dylan and play with him, and they are fantastic at it. I dunno, you either like live music or you don't I guess. By the way, the idea of belittling the way Bob is rearranging these songs is also a joke. It absolutely IS fascinating and contributes to how great his current shows are

I dunno, you either like live music or you don't I guess.

whoa -- that's not how I interpreted Josh's demurrals.

I love Dylan's last few albums. I have no problem with the voice on record, and certainly not the songs. And I've seen the guy been good, and his band is always great. Always. But the last couple of times I've seen him he has simply not been up to snuff, even taking into account various handicaps. In fact, I think it's the quality of the band that has kept me interested, which is why I called Dylan the weakest link. I'm not sure what he's bringing to the table beyond being Bob Dylan, which, granted, is a considerable attribute! But I still can't wrap my head around the idea of people actually preferring current Dylan the live performer - not the band, not the albums he's touring behind - to numerous previous Dylans. Having a good time, sure - it's live rock and roll! But giving the guy a total pass? More power to you folks. I don't distrust Dylan, but I don't believe he's fully committed to what he's doing, either. Not exactly. Which of course is part of Dylan's appeal, and as long as he keeps putting out good records I'm cool with that. But live - I dunno. I'm perfectly willing to admit my frustration stems from not getting the transcendence I expect from an artist of this peerless skill, but then again, delivering total satisfaction has been the antithesis of Dylan from the beginning.

I'm also perfectly willing to admit that maybe I've simply seen him too much lately! I mean, I literally fell asleep twice, not just because I was tired, but because his awesome band wasn't doing anything new with the songs. I'm super glad Sexton in particular has brought the spark back, but I still have doubts how well Dylan will go over at the United Center, where he hasn't played since ... 2002? I want to say almost ten years ago to the week. I remember, because I left early to see the Drive-By Truckers do "Southern Rock Opera" in its entirety at the Hideout that same night. And they killed it.

(I'd also be lying if I claimed I wouldn't be at the Friday show if I did not have Louis C.K. tickets. Louis C.K. these days is like '65 Dylan)

want to hear Lex's take on this: Nicki Minaj incensed at Steven Tyler's suggestion that she wouldn't appreciate Bob Dylan
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1697941/nicki-minaj-steven-tyler-cornfield-diss-racist.jhtml

cornfield!

american idol, so quick to generously propel and reward idiosyncratic talents like bob dylan until they ruinously handed the keys to nicki minaj

cornfield

Racist.

isn't that a Twilight Zone reference?

I think the perfect condensed 40-minute LP version of this would have tracks 1-4 on the A side, then "Pay in Blood" and "Tempest" on the B side.

In an unusual response to provisions in a new European copyright law, scheduled to take effect by 2014, Sony Music has released a compilation of early Bob Dylan recordings that is bound to become one of his most collectible albums. “The 50th Anniversary Collection,” which carries a subtitle — “The Copyright Extension Collection, Vol. 1” — that explains its purpose, was rushed to only a handful of record shops in Germany, France, Sweden and Britain just after Christmas.

Only about 100 copies of the four-CD set were produced, with sparse packaging and an insert listing the details of the set’s 86 tracks, all previously unreleased studio outtakes and live recordings from 1962 and 1963. It also comes as a downloadable version, available through the singers’s Web site, bobdylan.com, but only to fans who log on from France or Germany. (Prices for the CD set vary from country to country, from the equivalent of $39 to, in Britain, $138).

at first i liked tempest
then i didn't really like it
but i'm listening now again and it sound great

dylan albums are weird, they go up and down for me in weird ways. i need a dow jones dylan index or something.

but yes anyway tempest closing high in the asian markets, up 20 on the NASDAQ today

whoa -- listened to it yesterday morning on the drive to work. I skipped the slow ones.

haha, yeah i'm having a hard time deciding on this one too... sometimes it sounds awesome, sometimes i feel kinda bored. he's playing more of these songs live now, interested in hearing some of the arrangements.

he's really playing a bunch of these songs now (and really, a bunch of 21st century songs, too) -- check out the setlist from last night. premiered "roll on john" too.

Blackpool, England
Opera House Theatre
November 24, 2013

1. Things Have Changed (Bob center stage)
2. She Belongs To Me (Bob center stage with harp)
3. Beyond Here Lies Nothin' (Bob on grand piano, Donnie on electric mandolin)
4. What Good Am I? (Bob on grand piano, Tony on standup bass)
5. Duquesne Whistle (Bob on grand piano, Tony on standup bass)
6. Waiting For You (Bob on grand piano)
7. Pay In Blood (Bob center stage)
8. Tangled Up In Blue (Bob on grand piano)
9. Love Sick (Bob center stage with harp, Donnie on electric mandolin)
(Intermission)
10. High Water (For Charley Patton)
(Bob center stage with harp, Donnie on banjo, Tony on standup bass)
11. Simple Twist Of Fate (Bob on grand piano)
12. Early Roman Kings (Bob on grand piano)
13. Forgetful Heart (Bob center stage with harp, Donnie on violin, Tony on standup bass)
14. Spirit On The Water (Bob on grand piano, Tony on standup bass)
15. Scarlet Town (Bob on grand piano, Donnie on banjo, Tony on standup bass)
16. Soon After Midnight (Bob on grand piano)
17. Long And Wasted Years (Bob center stage)

(encore)
18. All Along The Watchtower (Bob on grand piano)
19. Roll On John (Bob on grand piano, Tony on standup bass)

maybe i'm the only one impressed with it, but seems impressive that he's barely leaning on the 60s-70s these days. anyhow, here's a recording of a show from last week:
http://bigozine2.com/roio/?p=1651

nah that's totally impressive, might download that set! Bob's 21st century is better than his 80s and 90s & I might take it over his 70s too

to the delight of millions, he's finally playing that song from the ya-ya sisterhood soundtrack

Ha ha. I assume he is still mumbling/vocalizing in a cigarette-stained voice. Is he changing the arrangements of these more recent songs too?

The Tempest songs seem to be sticking to the original arrangements for the most part, and Bob actually sounds pretty good vocally -- check out "soon after midnight" - http://www.bigozine2.com/TRK/BDglasgow/BDglasgow207.mp3
i mean, he's not smooth or anything, but...

I love gravelly Bob. Gonna have to check out that show.

I love Roll On John, strongest song on the record for me initially

Really into this tonight as well.

Interesting read:
http://www.thenation.com/blog/170289/bob-dylans-tempest-qa-greil-marcus#

still so disappointed it's not

EACH OF 'EM BIGGER
THAN ALL OF 'EM PUT TOGETHER

all the evil cartoon plutocrat stuff in "early roman kings", and for how well it works Primary Dylan Gimmick of collapsing image systems, maybe a polite phrase for cliches, into each other, so that american-progressive-era robber-baron caricatures and modern conspicuous consumption and the tarquins and the caesars and rock stars and finally bob dylan are smeared across each other into a single big hallucination

been thinkin on today's listen that my 80s-pizzeria joke abt the album artwork upthread is actually onto something - the band is working similar territory to their past few albums together, sure, but somehow i get a faint 80s vibe from it, like that stretch of 80s rock syncretism that wasn't into looking forward and had come into some kind of double-triple-quadruple vision nostalgia from being made by old rockers who used to be young rockers who remembered the blues, but now streamlined and modernized for kind of functional purposes (fits in with the bob's-backing-band vibe). but now the incorporation includes all these older and more recent preoccupations of dylan's, so the banjo stuff, americana twinges, riverboat music, whatever, isn't being assayed for genuine performances of the original musics so much as it's just being fused into a vision/auditory hallucination of all these pasts. thus the weirdness of the songwriting/lyrics, too - a lennon assassination song at THIS point, the titanic ballad, the plutocrat/gangster/rome fusions.

It's got at least one other thing in common with his '80s albums - it's uneven as hell. I still like "Tempest" (the song) and "Pay in Blood" quite a bit.

Some misses, yes, but I like it way more than any of his other third act albums.

Long too

I also like Duquesne whistle and Roll on John

doesn't it seem like the fade on the titanic song is wrong

it should be him starting up more verses and it fades anyway like a cane-reaching-onto-the-stage kind of thing

haha

it's such a weird song, seams like Dylan saw Titanic and liked it enough to paraphrase it in a 14 minute long song?

funny stuff, referring to DiCaprio's character as "Leo" and all:

Leo took his sketchbook
He was often so inclined
He closed his eyes and painted
The scenery in his mind

His story in Chronicles of writing "Dignity" was about watching the news about Len Bias's death, so maybe he has a four-track near his TV chair.

Ronnie James Dio had stories about writing his big songs while watching NFL games.

Also, love this album's last track, "Roll On John."

I forgot that anecdote, need to reread Chronicles soon

Roll On, John is great

listening to "tempest" (the song) this really is a kooky thing

"Petals fell from flowers
'Til all of them were gone
In the long and dreadful hours
The wizard's curse played on"

it's somewhat similar to lily rosemary and the jack of hearts in its failed attempt at telling an epic tale on an epic scale