Bob Dylan - Tempest, Sept. 11, 2012

Lex I think writing about things you love brings out way better qualities of your writing, for me at least.....also it's pretty hard to believe you came to this album and writing this piece with anything other than a takedown in mind before your heard a note

Also it's not like this album is being met without criticism in the dylan fan camp

I’m a huge Dylan fan — and I like the album, although it doesn’t compare to Love and Theft or Modern Times — but I have no problem with Lex’s review. Most critics are far too reverential when it comes to reviewing Dylan (the 5-star RS review was as ridiculous as it was predictable).

What exactly do you think the Guardian were expecting when they commissioned him?

SOMETHING IS HAPPENING HERE, BUT YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS, DO YOU, MISTER MACPHERSON?

What exactly do you think the Guardian were expecting when they commissioned him?

― Matt DC, Thursday, September 13, 2012 10:03 AM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Of course! That's why the whole thing is so boring

At least the npr interns thing had the charm of young kids that genuinely seemed to engage

all the guardian has got left is trolling its ageing beardie readers, basically

The way the question is framed is kind of interesting, I think.

I mean the Lex likes Leonard Cohen so it's not as if he's entirely opposed to engaging with literate old folky dudes who can't really sing.

Still, lyrics have always been key to my love of music – the deftly drawn character sketch, the well-chosen phrase that turns a song's narrative inside out, the intoxicating love of language, all excavating emotionally resonant insights out of words and melody

The thing is lex, Dylan used to be able to do all those things. He can't any more, admittedly, but there are plenty of examples of that kind of thing in his back catalogue

Haha and Tom Waits for that matter.

i dunno, i don't mind the "guy who doesn't care about bob dylan, what do you think about the new bob dylan album" approach, but this seems more like "guy who does not care about the last 80+ years of American music, what do you think about this album that is steeped in that music". (maybe i'm wrong, maybe lex is a huge carter family fan)

and that one (1) nick cave album

guy who does not care about the last 80+ years of American music

but i love nicki minaj

Today I learned that dylan isn't a very good singer and sometimes critically overpraised....man hard lessons....gotta pick up the pieces and start all over....*throws coat over shoulder, walks away down dirt road*

Well, Nicki Minaj doesn't seem to care about 400+ years of American slavery so it all fits.

Lex, with all due respect, is about the last person on the planet I'd turn to for an informed commentary on Bob Dylan.

or indeed on any planet

Tyler, lex likes a lot of the early old school hip hop singles too, like ”the rain” by missy elliot

what a completely worthless article!!!!

It is really amusing watching people attempt eyerolling boredom when they're clearly really annoyed.

Dude in the comments box has ruined the thread by claiming Dylan used to be the vocal equivalent of Marvin Gaye and Dusty Springfield, a challop so big that even the Dylan fans are pointing and laughing.

xxp yeah haha, i meant to write american folk/blues/country/rock n roll/r&b/jazz etc. whatevs! i think it's ok for some people to not like bob dylan. even if it makes you a bad person deep down.

I am absolutely sure that lex meant to set the matter definitively to rest.

I mean I think he was (was) a great vocalist in his way, not remotely a great singer

But he works with what he's got pretty well still

I cannot listen to cohen anymore

With waits, it's like if you sing in a fake voice for so long it becomes your real voice

Dylan's focus on set design and costumes at the expense of his principals' internal motivations and emotions leaves me cold

lex, how don't set designs and costumes reveal motivations and emotions?

"Dude in the comments box" double-ruined thread by dissing Celine Dion.

i intend to listen to no further b-dyl songs in my life i have sacrificed enough years on this

that's fine, but you shouldn't say things that are demonstrably not true just because they flesh out the number of un-nice things you want to say. your remark about meter is an "either this is true or untrue" one; it's untrue, not a matter of opinion.

I can't remember where, but there's a thread on ILX where someone drops the truth bomb that hardcore stans of people with 'difficult' voices (Cohen / Waits / Dylan / Reed / Murdoch) will always go "no you don't understand, the voice is the best part!"

Hefty dose of "lady, if you have to ask" as well.

Damn. I'm traveling now and this is the thread that will get 600 updates in two hours :(

who's murdoch? the dude from belle and sebastian?

lex, how don't set designs and costumes reveal motivations and emotions?

you tell me! in film, they are not things i've ever paid much attention to

great metaphor, bro

xpost i see how that's a fun observation but do you think stans lie when they say that the voice is the best part?

how do you love cohen/waits/dylan/reed/young without loving the voices?

I can accept that a lot of people do love the voices (I like early Dylan and late Cohen vocals a lot) but a) they're clearly not for everyone and b) most of those stans wouldn't care that much in the first place were it not for the quality of the songwriting.

hmmm...I dunno. Usually with Dylan it's (a) voice (b) musicians. For me.

Haha Young = I only really love the Dead Man soundtrack.

I think that 'lie' is completely the wrong way to look at it - they may are probably 100% right that it's what they prefer, but convincing someone that they have to get further than 'tolerate the voice' to start getting into the rest of the package is not generally helpful.

I really revel in Dylan's set designs and costumes whenever he's on stage. I understand a production of Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid On Ice is currently in preparation.

I don't give a damn if somebody's a skeptic tbh. Right now it's the aging hippies and lit majors who piss me off more than the skeptics (e.g. Christopher Ricks and his damn Eliot analogies).

a) they're clearly not for everyone
are there any vocals that are "for everyone"?

Al Green?

No idea. Champ Butler maybe?

I think we can all agree on blaming lit majors

and the sixties

the wussies and the pussies

gimme a lit major over a Nikki Minaj fan any day of the week

what's Edwina Currie got to do with all this?

countdown to the bob dylan vs. nikki minaj poll starts now

i think there are maybe lit majors who are nicki minaj fans out there - they'd probably know how to spell her name anyway

i love björk but her voice is so obviously "not for everyone"

Gotta love Nicki Minaj's forthcoming Empty Chair album.

I know of no dylan fans who claim his voice now is ideal