Expecting Rain

Welcome to a new Wikialty.

This is from the Wikipedia, so it must be true.

"However, in the two decades since its release, [Knocked Out Loaded] has undergone critical revision in some circles. The album has a thematic cohesion not understood or noticed by most at the time, a kinetic Southwestern feel and understated beauty that even has a few fans placing the album at or very near the top of Dylan's recorded achievements."

Could anyone explain to me, what exactly is a kinetic southwestern feel?

It is certainly more cohesive than Empire Burlesque, but who really listens to anything other than Brownsville Girl?

Who even listens to Brownsville Girl?

I listen to Brownsville girl.

I think it's one of his best "epic" songs.

But I also think Empire Burlesque is WAY more cohesive.

I mean that in the sense that EB is like a big bag of, say, Golden Retriever crap, where KOL is a bag of all different kinds of crap, beagle, Siamese, hamster, racoon, etc.

In both bags there's one diamond ("Brownsville Girl" & "Dark Eyes") but you have to be careful when you pick them out and wash your hands really good later.

And be especially careful not to get any [shudder] "They Killed Him" on you. You'd have to burn your clothes:P

I'm not sure what a kinetic southwestern feel is. However:
"You said you were going' to Frisco, stay a couple of months.
I always liked San Francisco, I was there for a party once" from Maybe Someday. That's a start on the whole southwestern thing I guess. I think Knocked Out Loaded is better than Empire Burlesque. I feel that there are a couple of good songs on it, not just Brownsville Girl.

I've never picked up Knocked Out Loaded, and I don't plan on it until I've picked up all of his other albums. I don't like Brownsville Girl. At all. I just fall asleep every time I listen to it. And I figured if I can't stand that, I probably won't like the rest too much. I'll probably pick it up eventually just because someday I'd like to own Dylan's entire discography. But I'm not in a rush.

I have a confession to make. I kind of like “Under Your Spell”, the song he wrote together with Carole Bayer Sager. The song contains the line “I was knocked out and loaded in the naked night”.

I also like “Brownsville Girl” but not the way it is arranged.

The rest of the album is crap though.

What do people like about Brownsville Girl? Just curious. I never found anything remotely interesting about it.

Two of the century's best writers seem to have each written a story and at various points these two stories seem so similar that verses create a third, albeit accidental narrative. I can listen to it 10 times in a row and never hear the same song twice.

The flow of the narrative in New Danville Girl seems slightly less fractured, which is why I like it slightly less.

It is a serious buzz for fans of post-structuralism.

And I also really like Gregory Peck.

I've always had a sweet spot for "Under Your Spell."


-Delvis-

I do, I like the album quite a bit.

You know what? I've never given this album a proper go. Too many preconceptions. I'm gonna try and love this motherf***er!

Haha, it might take some doing. I know it took me a good 6 months before I could enjoy it, but I find it pretty enjoyable now.

The children's choir on They Killed Him is pretty priceless

"There was a man named Mahatma Gandhi, my God, they killed him?"

They Killed Him is the only track on the album that I skip.
It might even be the worst Dylan recording ever.

You've got good taste Sonny....Whatever made Dylan do a cover of that song...and add a childrens choir...is a mystery....and I thought it completely destroyed an already poor version of the song.

I like Empire Burlesque. There are some pretty good songs on there and his singing is just stunning. It definitely has an 80's sound that some people can't get over but that is their loss.

Knocked Out Loaded, on the other hand, is just not very good at all. Maybe Someday is alright I guess, and Brownsville Girl is interesting in a flat, one dimensional sort of way.
That being said. I would rather listen to knocked out loaded than anything being played on Top 40 radio.

You Wanna Ramble, Driftin' Too Far From Shore, Brownsville Girl, Got My Mind Made Up, and Under Your Spell are the good songs on KoL. I like Driftin' especially (I never could guess your weight, baby).

Under Your Spell seems to foreshadow the love songs on Love and Theft and MT for me.

That said, I think that one pretty good album can be culled from EB, KoL, and DitG and it would cohere pretty well, as they all sport that "contemporary" 80s sound and none of these albums have anything close to cohesive theme or sound on their own (unlike Infidels or Oh Mecry, which bookend this era).

That would be (without a running order)...

Tight Connection to My Heart
Seeing the Real You at Last
Trust Yourself
Dark Eyes
You Wanna Ramble
Driftin' Too Far from Shore
Brownsville Girl
Got My Mind Made Up
Under Your Spell
Ugliest Girl in the World
Silvio
Rank Strangers to Me

That's 12 songs. I'd make a nice running order out of those and not want to skip a song. High points are Dark Eyes, Brownsille Girl, and Silvio.

Opinions are like a$$holes, right?

After a few days reconsideration, my views on Knocked Out Loaded have indeed changed. No, I don't think it's a forgotten gem but it does get too much bad press; there are definitely worse albums in the catalogue.

You Wanna Ramble - Certainly not bad. A simple rockabilly number to begin things.
They Killed Him - Okay, this is just plain bad. The choir are unbearable. But what do you expect from a Kris Kristofferson cover?!
Driftin' Too Far From The Shore - Some nice lines in here. Sadly ruined by hideous production.
Precious Memories - Not too bad. Nice mandolin. Notably the only Dylan song with steel-drums!
Maybe Someday - Drifted by me a little too easily, but no bad song.
Brownsville Girl - You don't need me to tell you how great this is.
Got My Mind Made Up - A good song. We can hear the Wilburys on this prematurely.
Under Your Spell - Truly the hidden gem of the album. I can honestly say I've never noticed it up to this point! It is haunting with a beautiful arrangement.

I'm in the process of filling the last holes in my Bob Dylan collection (collection of studios albums, anyway) and picked up Knocked Out Loaded today. Along with New Morning and the Times They Are A-Changing...anyway, Knocked Out Loaded. I wouldn't label it a southwestern masterpeice (I'm not sure I even know what that means), but I think I quite like it. This is only based on the first listen, but I don't feel like I want to stick it away in a dark corner and forget I ever bought it or anything. I'm not proclaiming it to be one his better works, but it seemed alright. Listenable. Well, aside from They Killed Him, which is quite awful. I really like Brownsville Girl. Drifting Too Far From The Shore is nice. As an album it's not breaking the mold or setting the bar in any way, but it's alright. Definatley a worthwhile addition to the collection. Although to be honest even if it was garbage I'd still think it was a worthwhile addition to the collection, just for the sake of completing the collection.

How'd you like New Morning? That one's special, I think. Day of the Locust is, to me, announcement. "I'm back."

TimesChangin is a masterpiece, IMO. A stunner. Hollis Brown. Whew.

KoL is probably one of his worst ever... and I like it...

I've not listened to New Morning yet. I'm curious about that one, because I hear hardly anything about it. So I don't quite know what to expect. I've not listened to The Times They Are A-Changin' yet either. I'm not quite sure why I've left it so long to get hold of that one, because everyone always says it's ace.

I'm nearly all done now...just Down In The Groove, The Basement Tapes, Saved and Self Portrait. And then onto all the live albums.

I just checked the OED. Under masterpiece its says 'Not Knocked Out Loaded.'

I'm always up for reappraising a lost classic. I've got KOL on now, trying to see if there is anything redeemable about it (apart from Borwnsville Girl). I confess, It's not the unlistenable garbage I thought it was. But it's still pretty bad. I can't find much to say good about it. Dylan sounds bored, the songs are weak, it's his poorest album in almost every respect.

Except the respect in which it isn't Empire Burlesque, Dylan & The Dead, or Dylan.

Outside of Brownsville Girl..the best song on there is Under Your Spell....and that was a cover.