bob dylan

[deadbeatriot]

love him? hate him?

i appreciate what he did for music. but i just can't really get into his stuff. i like a couple of songs, but when i tell people i don't really like him they look at me like i'm a leper or something.

[Bellyheart]

Do not like him. I may later in life, but for the past 6 or so years I've not been able to get into it...Lay Lady Lay is fun.

[dubkitty]

used to think really highly of him, am kind of tired of him now. Dylan wrote some really interesting lyrics, but as a songwriter he's a good lyricist; his melodies are usually awful unless they're stolen from folk songs. i also think that his influence on rock, and on popular music in general, was more negative than positive. after Dylan everyone was expected to write their own material, when few possess that ability; lyrics became over-emphasized relative to musical content; and songwriting followed modern art into reductionist abstraction. i still enjoy certain periods of his work for their biting and aggressive style--particularly the 1965-66 albums and tour recordings and the Rolling Thunder Revue concerts--but i think he's been incredibly overrated compared to, say, Leonard Cohen, who i think is a far superior songwriter. and any honest observer can see that he's been coasting on his reputation since at least 1980.

[Bellyheart]

He's a bit overrated indeed. Also the bad taste comes from going to countless shows on a large and small scale and witnessing acts of people trying to replicate Bob Dylan over and over again. It starts to get really annoying. I think it may be my reason for hating on the acoustic at times.

[Ghost Hip]

I'm all for mysterious lyrics, but I can't really dive into his. I love some of his popular songs and respect him for catching people off guard every now and then. I guess I kind of like his personality and story rather than his music.

[aen]

I really like the idea of Bob Dylan. I like movies about Bob Dylan. I lIke to cover "like a rolling stone." I dont listen to Bob Dylan.

[nieh]

I love Bob Dylan. I've seen all of the movies about him.

[mauerkraut]

my definition of cool.

[Mudfuzz]

I like him.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtW6crUOFQs[/youtube]


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBFsg93xtq0[/youtube]

[The4455]

I like Bob Dylan. I know all the words to "Stuck inside a mobile with teh Memphis Blues again," it's almost 8 minutes.
In my Opinion he is the greatest songwriter ever!

[snipelfritz]

I like Bob Dylan. I like his voice and melodies. He took folk music to it's zenith. Then he looked down on what he had done, realized nothing new or interesting could come from the genre ever again, and went electric. 45 years later, many people have still failed to take the hint.

I like Bob Dylan. I know all the words to "Stuck inside a mobile with teh Memphis Blues again," it's almost 8 minutes.
In my Opinion he is the greatest songwriter ever!

That's a great song, but it doesn't need to be that long. Besides new lyrics, it doesn't go anywhere new. That's my real qualm with Dylan and his legacy: It's more about the songwriting than the song itself. Lyrics are just one part of music not all of it.

[daydreamer]

he has some great stuff but a lot of it i can't stand. I have some Greatest Hits CD of his and I really can't stand any of the songs

[andtheLiquidmen]

1:22 pretty much sums up my thoughts on Bob Dylan. Though a joke, that's the nuts and bolts of what I hear whenever I've been subjected to his music.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IudPPlBmJs4[/youtube]

[imonthestereo]

I think Bob Dylan deserves some respect for his songwriting ability. While at times obtuse, he has some great lyrics. However, it's definitely not thinking-man's music in terms of the orchestrations, instrumentation, chord progressions and song structures, general sounds, timbres, and textures, etc. I'm probably generalizing, but most people seem to appreciate him for his lyrical profundity more than his melodic writing chops or compositional skill. The singing style doesn't bother me; I think he has a good unique approach.

That said, I don't listen to him at all. I don't hate his music, but I figure he's one of those people who has a pretty big catalog which is probably really hit or miss and I haven't invested time into figuring it out. I know the landmarks like Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde somewhat.

[imonthestereo]

P.S.

A songwriter who in my opinion has similar lyrical skill (if not better, since he shares some of the obscure metaphors and references in Bob's style but seems to try harder at his craft consistently) but is also a great writer of melodies is John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats. I'm sure some are familiar with them, but I've just recently become a convert. I'm always skeptical of simpler, stripped down things like this, as I'm more for experimental-ish stuff (Liars, Deerhoof, Lightning Bolt, Animal Collective, etc.) but the guy just writes great songs. He really balances all of the facets of the craft, making catchy tunes, good orchestrations, varied feels and textures, and lyrics that are both eloquent and consistently meaningful, since they are either based on semi-fictional characters with ongoing narratives throughout his career or are just straight up autobiographical.

Check him out. Tallahassee and Sunset Tree are two pretty accessible and less lo-fi releases.