Oh Mercy

Bob Dylan On the Brain: My Top Ten

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 1 Comment

I’m sure all of you Bob Dylan fans have a list of your favorite Dylan albums. I personally discovered several websites that ranked all his albums from best (in their opinion) to worst.

I’m not that dedicated, but I do have my own personal top ten favorites. Here they are ranked from #10 to #1 (more or less).

10. Oh Mercy (a bright spot in an otherwise less-than-stellar period from about 1983 to 1990)

9. Another Side of Bob Dylan/The Times They Are A-Changin’ (I picked both because hey, this is my list and I can do what I want)

8. Time Out of Mind (produced by Daniel Lanois, this one has a very unique vibe that I really like)

7. Desire

6. Saved (the second of Bob Dylan’s Christian albums and also the second to feature the famed Muscle Shoals sound)

5. Blood on the Tracks

4. Blonde on Blonde/Highway 61 Revisited/Bringing It All Back Home (again, I cheated a little because I like all three of these and they are pretty much around the same time period)

3. The Freewheeling Bob Dylan (it may not be his first album, but it’s the one that put his name on the map)

2. Slow Train Coming (the first and best of his Christian albums)

1. John Wesley Harding (maybe the first Americana album ever?)

Cover Front

I’m sure some of you who are more seasoned Dylan fans may take umbrage to my selections and rankings. Some of you reading this may think Bob  Dylan is the worst artist ever. That’s because art– any kind of art– is subjective. What some people consider a masterpiece may be what others might call garbage or noise.

But I like what I like (as I’m sure you like what you like). I realize that ol’ Bob is not the greatest singer I’ve ever heard, but I like his masterful way of penning lyrics that can be challenging, confronting, convicting, and at the same time, poetic and, for me at least, cinematic.

More Bob Dylan on the Brain

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 3 Comments

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“Oh, the tree of life is growing
Where the spirit never dies
And the bright light of salvation shines
In dark and empty skies

When the cities are on fire
With the burning flesh of men
Just remember that death is not the end
And you search in vain to find
Just one law-abiding citizen
Just remember that death is not the end
Not the end, not the end
Just remember that death is not the end” (Bob Dylan)

I’m still on my Bob Dylan kick. By now, I’ve listened to all my Dylan CDs up to Oh Mercy, the Daniel Lanois-produced 1989 album that marked a sort of artistic comeback for him in the eyes of many.

I also know most people consider this a low point in Dylan’s career. If you go to amazon.com or any other music site, you’ll find that most people revile such albums of his as Empire Burlesque, Knocked Out Loaded, and Down in the Groove.

I don’t think they’re bad albums. I have to admit the songs aren’t quite up to the standards of his amazing output in the 60’s, but I think that if these albums had anybody else’s name on them, they might be looked at differently. I also think that part of the problem is that the CDs are poorly mixed (in this writer’s opinion) and Bob’s vocals get buried in the accompaniments sometimes. I definitely think remastering these albums would help immensely.

But I also think that many of these songs, although they are good, aren’t just that memorable. They don’t linger in my mind like “Blowin’ in the Wind” or “My Back Pages” do.

I’d say that there is still a fair amount of spirituality in these albums. It’s not so overtly stated as in his Christian albums, but it’s there for those who know what to listen for.

Oh Mercy is probably my favorite album he did in the 80’s, largely in part to one Mr. Lanois who knew what he was doing when he produced this album.

I still have eight albums to go. I also must confess that I don’t own every single album of his (gasp!) I’m actually missing albums entitled Self-Portrait, Dylan (not the one with the red cover), one or two live albums, and the newest release– Strangers in the Night, an album of standards made famous by Frank Sinatra and others.

More to come later. Stay tuned.