Expecting Rain

Always thought it was great and really liked it, but the debut; Bob Dylan has really grown on me. It's a great album, and it's show how much he learnt from the time he was New York when he first went.

So far albums have stayed rather settled from first listen to fifteenth or whatever—all except for New Morning, which has grown significantly in my estimation since my first encounter with it in March. It's still not one of my favorites, but in the intervening four months it's shot past Self Portrait, Nashville Skyline, Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid, and even Highway 61 Revisited in the ranking (which last I don't enjoy nearly as much as most, though).

When I first purchased Dylan music I got Bob Dylan, Bringing It All Back Home and Blood on the Tracks.
I found some of the harmonica on BIABH very grating. Maggie's Farm specifically if I recall correctly. Almost couldn't stand it. But it grew on me

The album as a whole I loved.

I don't know why, but Modern Times took some time to grow on me, but now I absolutely love it. I've had that happen a lot with Dylan albums. I know it is very 80s sounding, but, in my opinion, Empire Burlesque doesn't deserve the horrible rating it normally gets.

Most of his later stuff. I couldn't stand it at first, but the more I listened, the more I liked.
Now I love it.

simply put - all of them. none have them have gotten worse with subsequent listens. they've only grown richer.

the only one that you have to be careful with is Blonde on Blonde - when you start at perfection, it's hard to improve...



this is true -but i haven't seen EB get a beating around here in a very long time - i think it is safely out of the knocked out loaded/down in the groove territory around these parts...

New Morning MEZ

Another superb choice!

planet waves and self portrait. i made a 11 track
compilation of self portrait tracks that's pretty
listenable.

Planet Waves fills the bill for me. At first back in 1974, excited by its existence[probably hyped by the tour that year with The Band] it was regularly played but over the years it fell into listening limbo within my albums. Rarely played and little talked about amongst friends. It has had a resurgence in my listening ear over the past five years and I must admit a higher presence in my evolving estimation of his body of work- if only for the fact that it contains "Dirge".

The minor ones tend to be the growers because they get neglected for a while. Planet Waves certainly, also New Morning, and especially the wonderful (I know think) Street Legal.

Did you see Bobby on 74' tour? One of my favourite tours. What was it like?

Did you see Bobby on 74' tour? One of my favourite tours. What was it like?[/quote]

Yes I did at the Capital Centre in Maryland early in 1974. The later "Before the Flood" album is a good testament as to how that concert was for me. Not wooden, but yet a certain perfunctory reading of the songs. I was so excited because this was my first chance to view him in a full fledged concert[I had been fortunate to see his appearance previously on that New Year's Eve night in NYC a few years previously]. Time has softened my feelings about the show. It will always be a good memory because it was my first real full concert with him and I had The Band, to boot. But if I am honest there was a harshness to the presentation and a certain prickliness to the memories these days. It was also the height of Watergate so certain songs had an emotional charge that they no longer carry for me- I do remember that the audience responded directly to the references. Subsequent shows have retained a greater aura in my memory.

Yes I did at the Capital Centre in Maryland early in 1974. The later "Before the Flood" album is a good testament as to how that concert was for me. Not wooden, but yet a certain perfunctory reading of the songs. I was so excited because this was my first chance to view him in a full fledged concert[I had been fortunate to see his appearance previously on that New Year's Eve night in NYC a few years previously]. Time has softened my feelings about the show. It will always be a good memory because it was my first real full concert with him and I had The Band, to boot. But if I am honest there was a harshness to the presentation and a certain prickliness to the memories these days. It was also the height of Watergate so certain songs had an emotional charge that they no longer carry for me- I do remember that the audience responded directly to the references. Subsequent shows have retained a greater aura in my memory.[/quote]

Wow, thats great mate. Just Like A Woman from that acoustic set on Before the Flood is my second favourite version of the song, the Rolling Thunder version is just too good I'm only 14 so I was nowhere born, I've seen him in recent years and they was really great, but to see him then would've been magical. Did you see the Rolling Thunder shows by any chance?

Yes, I was fortunate to catch the show in Waterbury, Ct on 11/11/75 at the Palace Theatre. Memorable for me because it was the only time I ever heard "I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine" live. I have fond memories of the carnival aspect of that tour- the ensemble playing. He also seemed to be fully engaged on the stage if I remember properly.

The best tour ever done! Wow, your really lucky. Everything about that tour is perfect, the face paint (75'), the carpets, the guitar sounds, his voice, the song choices. Very magical tour that was 75'/76'.

What was the best and favourite Bob gig you've been Augstine?

That is very easy for me. Though technically not a Dylan concert, that late evening of 12/31/71 when he walked out onto the stage in NYC. I never thought I would ever see him perform live as he seemed to have given up live performing. That night was special.

Of a real concert experience. The one about 8 summers ago when he graced the stage of my local minor league ballpark in my town, Dutchess Stadium. Though not in his best of voice- his band and arrangements were power house and he could feature new material from Love and Theft and Modern Times. He still had the power to hold a stage for me.

At first I wasn't extremely impressed with John Wesley Harding beside All Along The Watchtower and The Ballad Of Frankie Lee And Judas Priest, but once I started listening to it more, it became one of my favorites!

The times they Are A Changin' believe it or not. I remember thinking how boring it was when I first got it. I was pretty young then. Didn't take to long to come around to it though, but I remember those first few listens being really dissapointed. Now it's one of my favorites.

Oh yeah! I liked the album right away (side one especially), but was confused why Clinton Heylin (among others) called it Bob's "most perfect album"; didn't seem anywhere near perfect to me. By now, of course, I've seen the light, and it's currently my favorite Dylan album.

"Time Out of Mind".

I deemed it unlistenable for two years until some of the songs finally started clicking with me. I still can't get through the whole darn thing but some of the tracks are marvelous.

Time Out of Mind also fell a little flat for me on the first couple of listens. It was just too swampy and same-y, but I grew to love it. Standing In The Doorway, Not Dark Yet, Make You Feel My Love and Highlands are superb. I really love all of the songs but I like listening to them separately as opposed to the entire album at once. I also prefer the M&A version of Cold Iron Bounds way more than the album version.

"L&T" on the other hand has such variety and I loved it instantly. I think on TOOM, Lanois boxed in the songs to achieve that sound he was going for.

^
Yeah, like why did he leave off the wonderful Can't Wait that's on TTS?

Yeah and I had a similar problem with Another Side Of Bob Dylan, but have since realized its one of the best albums ever made!!