porkchop

Writing this review as I listen to the album in it's entirety for the first time, only song I have heard off of it is Hurricane. First time writing a review while listening to the album as I hear it, so bear with me. Constructive criticism appreciated.

Of course the album opens up with Hurricane. Who couldn't love such a classic? The melody and rhythm Bob Dylan weaves always gives me the chills. Not to mention it is a shining example of his story telling of the times. You can almost feel like you're back in the time period and you connect with the characters he paints.

It's followed up by Isis. I am really digging the intro piano and bass line. So far it has classic Dylan vocal style and structure. The beat of the drums is a bit rough to me, but it goes quite well with the track.

Track 3, Mozambique is clearly somewhat of a filler track, nothing too special about it. However, according to wikipedia, the track started off as a game between Dylan and Jacques Levy to see how many rhymes they could make with -ique. So, as much as a filler track as it seems, it can be quite catchy and perhaps shows a lighter side to Dylan's music.

One More Cup Of Coffee and Oh, Sister did not appeal to me so much, quite standard Dylan songs, and appear to be fillers on the album. Though Oh, Sister did become a concert favorite.

Required for this track to let you guys know I am not a huge fan of most songs past the 5-7 minute mark so as I listen to Joey, I expect there might be a negative aspect to the review, but who knows.

Again, Dylan's knack for storytelling is apparent in Joey. As I stated, I am usually not for longer songs. However, Joey has kept my attention. Which I attribute to Dylan being able to not only tell a story of the time, but tell it well. The rhythm keeps me interested as well, if I were to listen a couple times, the lyrics would be memorable. Certainly a song I would listen to more. While the instrumentation is good throughout the song, I feel some of the quiet passages could have been taken out to shorten the song. Upon reflection of that statement, perhaps it is those passages that glue the track together and really make it stand out.

To me Romance In Durango and Black Diamond Bay were just songs before the closer, nothing too special. Nothing wrong with them either.

The closing song Sara was a decent closer. It was relaxing and told yet another story. However it wasn't a particular favorite. I couldn't connect to it at all, and granted it is personally about his soon to be ex-wife Sara. So it makes sense I wouldn't connect to it, he is pulling from his personal life in this one. So I have to take it for what it is, a decent closing track.

With Hurricane and Joey, I understand they are about actual people of the time period and storytelling for these songs were needed. I feel the way they were written was something only Bob Dylan could pull together. Someone else could not have written songs about these people as amazingly as he did.


Overall, I rank this album as a whole, somewhere within my top 100 albums. I give it an 8/10. I would gladly listen to it again.

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