Emily: On an album like Blonde on Blonde, you can't help but be blown away by Bob Dylan's songwriting. The instrumentation is simple, just an acoustic guitar and harmonica solos. While sometimes the harmonica was a bit screechy for my taste, the overall subtlety and simplicity allow the lyrics to shine through. Dylan is a storyteller through and through, and here we get elegantly painted stories inspired by and with a backdrop of the blues. Rather than exploring social messages and issues, Dylan takes us through the stories of individuals, of cities, of love, of loss - beautiful stories of humanity. I guess I can't count myself in the anti-Dylan cohort anymore, because I know I'll return to Blonde on Blonde again and again.
Favorite Tracks: Visions of Johanna; Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again; One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)
Zack: I meant to relisten to Highway 61 Revisited
before listening to this because I know that both take place in Dylan’s random
electric phase and I wanted to compare them.
But then I decided just to listen to it with my brother instead because,
hey, screw it. I’m kind of glad I did because it allowed me to appreciate
Blonde on Blonde by itself in a vacuum of harmonica solos and screechy vocals.
And damn, it was great. It was a double album, but it never seemed to get old
or lag or anything. Every song felt fresh and unique from all the others. From
reading Wikipedia’s helpful breakdown of each individual song (really useful on
Dylan albums because it can give you a snapshot of what he’s talking about –
not exactly easy when really compelling instrumentation meets classic Dylan crytpiticism,)
I learned that this variation was caused mostly from different blues
influences. Some were Memphis blues, some were Delta blues (hell yeah,
Lightnin’ Hopkins!), some were Chicago blues, and so on. All of it was
fantastic. Now that I’ve finished, I think I’d like to go back and listen to
both Highway 61 and Blonde on Blonde back-to-back to get an idea of which I
like better. But both definitely stand apart as really great albums.
Favorite Tracks: Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat; Pledging My
Time; Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again
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