john wesley harding opens with the song of the same name, a simple melody with simple backing, with a very literal lyric, sung with understated emotion by bob. it's a good song. and as such, it sets the tone for the entire album, with the obvious exception of the last two tracks. the whole ... Read review
Bob Dylan's remarkable first album after his debilitating 1966 motorcycle accident isn't ... more
as urgent as the ambitious folk and rock songs he wrote earlier in the decade. Even considering the rocking "All Along the Watchtower" (covered famously by Jimi...
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Advantages: a rootsy, bluesy, folksy, transition record. Disadvantages: maybe the running order...
john wesley harding opens with the song of the same name, a simple melody with simple backing, with a very literal lyric, sung with understated emotion by bob. it's a good song. and as such, it sets the tone for the entire album, with the obvious exception of the last two tracks. the whole album is good.
on first listen, that's all that you get from it, but with each subsequent listen, every track throws up nuances and subtleties ... ...from a dylan album. the best known song from the album is a little misleading though, "all along the watchtower" sounds like a song that would've fitted in on highway 61 revisited (if of course it had been electrified) and it's lyrics don't match up to the rural tones of the rest of the songs on offer. it's not one of my favourite tracks from the album.
"the ballad of frankie lee and judas priest" is a song that ... more
john wesley harding opens with the song of the same name, a simple melody with simple backing, with a very literal lyric, sung with understated emotion by bob. it's a good song. and as such, it sets the tone for the entire album, with the obvious exception of the last two tracks. the whole album is good.
on first listen, that's all that you get from it, but with each subsequent listen, every track throws up nuances and subtleties you had no idea were there, but were secretly expecting from a dylan album. the best known song from the album is a little misleading though, "all along the watchtower" sounds like a song that would've fitted in on highway 61 revisited (if of course it had been electrified) and it's lyrics don't match up to the rural tones of the rest of the songs on offer. it's not one of my favourite tracks from the album.
"the ballad of frankie lee and judas priest" is a song that i really really recommend you download from napster to get a taste of the album, and if you like that song, then the album is for you, if you don't like it, listen to it again. it's a song with, again a very simple melody, and a storylike approach to lyrics, that manages to affect you in a way that "all along the watchtower" fails to, it's a multi layered song, silly and sombre in one.
the other highlight of this album is the exceptional "dear landlord". a piano driven lament of the narrator's melodramatic troubles, a very straightforward vocal delivery. every verse starts with "dear landlord..." which is a very effective lyrical tool, it immediately creates a sense of desperation. it's a great song.
the rest of the album is individual songs that are in the same vein as the three i have discussed in depth. except of course for the last two songs.
these are uptempo numbers, and really change the pace of the album, and i can't decide whether io like it. the songs themselves are fairly good, nothing special though. it's just tagging them on the end of the album like this makes them feel like second rate songs... i would've opened with "all along the watchtower", gone into these two tracks, and then had the rest of the running order unchanged... but what do i know?
Advantages: Thematic, Basic and Brilliant. Disadvantages: Short-ish, and a bit odd.
A truly exceptional album.
There are those upon this earth who may desire their melodies graced by string, brass and choir; but by the gentle hand of chance I am not one of them. Many a fine song has been meddled with for ill, many a gem has been soiled by fiddling.
The beauty and magic of this album, however, is that it simply lets the songs do the work.
Yes, granted, the biblical references, guarded metaphors and blinding imagery are some of ... ...musicianship is second to none. (If you don't believe, me, check out the drums on 'Down Along The Cove'). (Also, don't try telling me that Dylans' deft use of his limited vocal skills is anything but a masterstroke).
But the raw, dusty, earthen quality that makes this album so lucidly thematic and gives it that utter brilliance is the instrumentation.
Guitar, Bass, Drums, Vocals, Lap Steel.
That's it, pretty much.
When you strip a band down, ...
passtheparsley 27.11.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of John Wesley Harding - Bob Dylan
Advantages: Great Songs Disadvantages: You'll want to keep playing it.
The best Bob Dylan album ever? Probably not, but it was the first Dylan album I bought so it will always have a soft spot in my heart. Having said that I still think this album can hold its own against "Blonde on Blonde" or "Blood on the Tracks".
This was the album after "Blonde on Blonde" and was written while Dylan was recovering from his near fatal motorcycle accident. A sombre mood prevades all but the last 2 tracks on the album. Dylan songs ... ...(Piano, Bass and Drums) is simple and beautifully understated.Dylan's voice sounds very natural, and the whole album sounds as if they recorded it in one session.
The most famous track here is "All Along The WatchTower", but every track is a gem. If you have'nt got this album get it, Now!.
ps. If you can get hold of the original LP sleeve you can see The Beatles hidden in the bark of the tree. ...
alecshort 26.04.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of John Wesley Harding - Bob Dylan
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revolutionary thing about Highway 61 Revisited ? it proved that rock & roll needn't be collegiate and tame in order to be literate, poetic and complex.
BobDylan returned from exile with JohnWesleyHarding, a quiet, country-tinged album that split dramatically from his previous three albums. A calm, reflective album, JohnWesleyHarding strips away all of the wilder tendencies of Dylan's rock albums ? even the then-unreleased Basement Tapes he made the previous year ? but it isn't a return to his folk roots. If anything, the album is his first serious foray into country, but only a handful of songs, such as "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight," are straight country songs. Instead, JohnWesleyHarding is informed by the rustic sound of country, as well as many rural myths, with seemingly simple songs like "All Along the Watchtower," "I Dreamed I Saw St ...
Advantages: Two seminal albums from rock's greatest singer-songwriter Disadvantages: Rather an odd coupling
culminates in a descent into a world of dark imagery and startling happenings in the 11-minute magnum opus "Desolation Row".
'JohnWesleyHarding', recorded nearly three years later after Dylan's period of hibernation (the story at the time was that he had an almost fatal motorbike accident, but now it seems that may have been a smokescreen), is a more reflective, relaxed piece of work. Mainly acoustic, with little more than bass and drums accompanying his vocals, harmonica and acoustic guitar, its themes are steeped in Biblical and religious imagery on songs like "All Along the Watchtower" (immortalised by Hendrix a few months later) and "I Dreamed I Saw St Augustine", wild west mythology in the title track, and what many take to be an autobiographical lyric, "Drifter's Escape" - in other words, his escape from the punishing schedule of his ...
Advantages: the songs man, the songs! Disadvantages: it would be nitpicking.
NB...
this is an opinion on Highway 61 revisited. not the double album. i have reviewed JWH separately. but ciao so far have refused to move this op.
a major major step onward and upward from "bringing it all back home" (AKA "subterrranean homesick blues"), this album has a very similar musical feel, but the lyrics are quite a few notches above those of its predecessor. for the most obvious examples of this being the powerful opening track, "like a rolling stone" and the closing track, "desolation row"...
now the scope of this album is set out by those two tracks framing the album... it's ambitious to lead and end with amazingly strong tracks if the filler is just filler. but bob has not become the most respected songwriter ever for producing just filler... the songs in between these majestic highlights are all highlights ...
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