1. Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde 2. The Beatles - Revolver 3. The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds Honestly, it's a coin toss on the top two. Revolver is monumental and revolutionary: you can hear the boundaries of what pop music can be simply evaporating on some of those songs. But Blonde on Blonde is arguably the greatest collection of songs ever from arguably the greatest songwriter ever, and it's the one I'm feeling just a tad more today. Pet Sounds trails behind the other two a bit, for me, but that's no slight. Its highlights are some of the best pop songs ever. (Also, the Pet Sounds bit is my favorite running gag on the Chorus.fm boards.)
Listened to The Supremes other record from 1966, The Supremes A’ Go-Go. I knew a handful of these songs already, but don’t think I’d heard this album from them. They were just effortlessly great, consistent and just the easiest music to listen to. Beautiful voices and arrangements, with perfect production for them. Find it hard to imagine them doing anything ever that wasn’t, at absolute worst, a pleasant listen. Didn’t look at the track list before I hit play, so I had a massive grin as soon as I heard the first few notes of I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch) play. A very safe choice for my first new listen from 1966, but I loved this.
1966 in Music Best Albums 1. Pet Sounds - The Beach Boys 2. Revolver - The Beatles 3. Fresh Cream - Cream Best Songs Good Vibrations - The Beach Boys You Can't Hurry Love - The Supremes Tomorrow Never Knows - The Beatles Eleanor Rigby - The Beatles Sloop John B - The Beach Boys Monday, Monday - The Mamas & The Papas Wouldn't It Be Nice - The Beach Boys Reach Out, I'll Be There - Four Tops I Feel Free - Cream You're Gonna Miss Me - The 13th Floor Elevators Gimme Some Lovin' - The Spencer Davis Group Paperback Writer - The Beatles God Only Knows - The Beach Boys Along Comes Mary - The Association Hazy Shade Of Winter - Simon & Garfunkel Armee Guineenne - Bembeya Jazz National Eight Miles High - The Byrds Summer In The City - The Lovin' Spoonful You Keep Me Hangin' On - The Supremes We Ain't Got Nothin' Yet - The Blue Magoos Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) - Nancy Sinatra Making Time - The Creation Bus Stop - The Hollies Shapes Of Things - The Yardbirds These Boots Are Made For Walking - Nancy Sinatra 96 Tears - ? & The Mysterians I'm A Believer - The Monkees Last Train To Clarksville - The Monkees Sugar Town - Nancy Sinatra Get Ready - The Temptations River Deep, Mountain High - Ike & Tina Turner Mercy, Mercy, Mercy - Cannonball Adderley Psychotic Reaction - Count Five Monk Time! - The Monks Sunshine Superman - Donovan Good Lovin' - The Young Rascals Rainy Woman #12 & 35 - Bob Dylan Season Of The Witch - Donovan Sunday Morning - The Velvet Underground Wild Thing - The Troggs Knock On Wood - Eddie Floyd Honorable Mention The Good, The Bad & The Ugly (Score) - Ennio Morricone
I understand that it comes down to a matter of preference in style/bias ... but is there a song on Blonde on Blonde that can make a serious solid argument for being better than “Here, There, And Everywhere”? I say this as someone that has heard Revolver probably 100+ times and Blonde on Blonde maybe 5 times.
I looked at the track listing for Blonde On Blonde and realized I recognize zero of the tracks. And I’ve listened to it front to back at one point in my life. Not a Dylan hater, he just isn’t for me. The tracks I do like from him are on other albums.
yeah I think that’s a good take - it’s fair to say he’s an acquired taste and The Beatles are more “immediate”.
This is where to me, it’s beautiful that music is subjective. Everyone can take away their own experience from hearing a song. I’m listening to both of these as I type this. And I totally enjoy it, respect it, and even hear melody in Dylan’s voice (which is more than you’d an say for much of his later work). In fact, my boy Adam G from War on Drugs is clearly aping this vocal style in many ways, and I LOVE me some WOD. But overall I just don’t get the same FEELING I get when I hear songs from Revolver. They don’t hit me the same way. I know a lot of that is nostalgia and it’s entirely subjective. I also think it’s fair to say that The Beatles are easily digestible for the masses, and Dylan is at least partly revered by critics because many of the masses don’t ‘get’ him. Any way I look at it, it’s all beautiful music and we are splitting hairs here. I’m thankful for all of it.
Just Like A Woman is gorgeous. I love the structure of it. A lot of Dylan songs just sort of repeat verse verse verse another verse. This one changes it up more.
1. The Beatles - Revolver 2. The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds 3. Bob Dylan - Blonde On Blonde Honorable Mention (alphabetical order): The Animals - Animalization Buffalo Springfield - Buffalo Springfield The Byrds - Fifth Dimension Cream - Fresh Cream Donovan - Sunshine Superman The Kinks - Face To Face Love - Da Capo The Mamas & The Papas - If You Can Believe Your Eyes & Ears The Mamas & The Papas - S/T The Monkees - S/T The Rolling Stones - Aftermath Simon & Garfunkel - Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, & Thyme Simon & Garfunkel - Sounds of Silence The Sonics - The Sonics Boom The Who - A Quick One The Yardbirds - Roger The Engineer The Young Rascals - S/T Listening This Week: The Animals - Animalism The Association - And Then...Along Comes 13th Floor Elevators - The Psychedlic Sounds Of... The Lovin' Spoonful - Hums of The Lovin' Spoonful The Mothers Of Invention - Freak Out! Otis Redding - Dictionary Of Soul Sammy Davis, Jr. - Sammy Davis, Jr. Sings and Laurindo Almeida Plays The Supremes - I Hear A Symphony Them - Them Again The Troggs - From Nowhere Singles: The Beatles -"Paperback Writer" The Beatles - "Rain" (easily one of the most underrated Beatles songs) The Beach Boys - "Good Vibrations" a lot more I'm forgetting.... It's already getting difficult to take in a year in a week hahaha. Work getting in the way!
See, the thing with Dylan is that you almost have to commit yourself to an extremely focused listen (or 50!) to really get to the bottom of what makes him so spectacular. Blonde on Blonde is a very musically accomplished record, with (IMO) a lot of great melodies, but it's his lyrical work that makes those songs some of the best ever written. Like, just take a read through "Visions of Johanna." It's so staggering and so unique, with this enormous depth of emotion and scene setting that is so rare in songwriting. "Just Like a Woman" is a little bit different, because I genuinely think it's a spectacular pop song. But "Johanna" and "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands" and a few other songs on there are just so layered and interesting. I've heard that record a lot of times and still feel like I find something new in the lyrics every time. And that's no slight at all to The Beatles, to Revolver, or to "Here, There and Everywhere," which is absolutely one of the most gorgeous songs of all time. If I had to pick one favorite song from The Beatles' or Dylan's remarkable 65-66 runs, it would probably be "In My Life." Funny story: I first heard "Just Like a Woman" from a Something Corporate cover, and it remains amazing to me how well that song could become a 2000s emo-pop anthem. Like I said, I think it's just a great pop song.
plenty! visions of johanna and temporary like achilles come to mind immediately they appeal to different parts of music though. production mastery vs. lyrical/songwriting mastery though if I'm being honest, I don't think here there everywhere would be a top 5 song for me off revolver
Yes! Seriously I will admit a massive flaw in my music fandom - to you and @Craig Manning ‘s points, I never put much weight on lyrics. So I can understand completely how that impacts or lessens my appreciation of Dylan’s craft. I would love to have the time to give Blonde on Blonde 50 listens or more. I’m sure in my lifetime I will but damn!
So well said, man- I will make a point to do a read-along with lyrics this week to as much of the album as possible, or at least these songs we’ve been discussing. It’s actually one of my favorite things to do with new songs as it has irked me (like I mentioned) that intrinsically I don’t put as much importance on lyrics in music.
also i'd rather take robbie robertson's playing that album over anything from, honestly, any beatles album. no disrespect.
always a curiosity for me and I haven’t read or watched anything that deep dives into Dylan’s records or anything, so forgive me if I sound naive. But The credits for Blonde on Blonde list 6 guitarists (besides Dylan himself) that contribute to the record, so I always struggle with knowing who did what. It even goes as far to say as : “The personnel involved in making Blonde on Blonde is subject to some discrepancy.” Doesn’t take away from the brilliance necessarily - just a curiosity - do you actually know which guitar parts are Robertson’s ? Can you kind of just TELL from his style? Again my takeaway is I just need to listen more. LOL
“Taxman” is one of those songs that rarely comes to mind for me but whenever I listen to it I’m all in. Great opener
I might have to do one of those rankings of every song on the album like we do in the Weezer threads now for Revolver.