Blood on the Tracks

Bob Dylan

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Original Release Date: January 17, 1975
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B00000253N
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (253 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #8,675 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording

Inevitably, when critics praise a new Dylan album, they label it the "best since Blood on the Tracks," and with good reason. Inspired by a crumbled marriage, and recorded after a tour with The Band had apparently re-ignited his creativity, Blood is among Dylan's masterpieces. The album's epic songs are well known, but its real high points are the shorter numbers--"You're a Big Girl Now," the flawless blues "Meet Me in the Morning," and the sweetly devastating "Buckets of Rain." These are songs of "images and distorted facts," each expressed through tangled points of view, and all of them blue. --David Cantwell

Product Description

Japanese remastered reissue packaged in a limited edition miniature LP sleeve. CBS/Sony. 2004. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Perfect 10: Dylan's heartfelt masterpiece, Dylan's Best, July 3, 2000

By	"foxinthebox" (Wheaton, IL United States) - See all my reviews

What is Bob Dylan's greatest album? Is it Highway 61 Revisited, an album that revolutionized rock and roll by combining the meaningful lyrics of folk with the rhythm of rock; or is it Blonde on Blonde, another mid sixties classic album with some of Dylan's best lyrics, epic songs, and vivid imagery; or is it Blood on the Tracks, a sweet unambitious album about a man's heart during his crumbling marriage? The answer is Blood on the Tracks, a simple but powerful masterpiece that captures the human emotions of love, anger, sadness, fear, regret, and hope. 'Tracks' doesn't take us into the mind of Bob Dylan, as 'Blonde on Blonde'and 'Highway 61' did, they take us inside Bob Dylan's heart, and inside our own. Dylan writes honest, emotional, beautiful lyrics. The album is the story of a man hanging on to his love, and at the same time letting it go. The album is a snapshot of Dylan's soul. The most beautiful song on the album that stands out is the least assuming. In 'Buckets of Rain,' Dylan's looking out into the rain, and reflects on life and love like no one else has ever done, and finally makes peace with his lonliness and longing for his love, moves on, but will always share a part of his heart for her. I could write for days about this album, but I'm sure you get this picture. Never before have I been moved by a piece of music like this album has, because we all know what Dylan is writing about is not only what's in his heart, but what's buried inside all of our hearts.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars flawless, April 27, 2000

By A Customer

Simply put, Blood On The Tracks is one of the greatest albums of the rock era and stands, arguably, as the greatest album in Dylan's long career.

It's an incredibly honest album, achingly so at times. Though Dylan has scoffed at the notion of Blood On The Tracks as a paean to his recently ended marriage to his wife Sara, it's hard to ignore the intensely personal nature of these songs - almost all of which deal with the loss of love.

The instrumentation is spare - guitar, drum, bass and, occasionally, harmonica. Somehow nothing else seems appropriate, as if anything more complicated would negate the power of these songs. Dylan has never sounded better, although arguments about his voice have always somehow missed the mark.

Which, of course, brings us to the songs. The record starts with one of Dylan's best and most loved story-songs, "Tangled Up In Blue," which manages somehow to be both joyous and tragic at the same time. For fans who were still listening by the mid `70s, this opening track must have signaled that the winds had changed.

Their hopes were borne out by the remaining nine tracks, all of which hit their mark. Both "Simple Twist Of Fate" and "You're a Big Girl Now" reveal Dylan to be a changed man from the youthful rebel of the mid `60s. Never an optimist, these songs show an even sadder, more resigned side of the songwriter.

"Idiot Wind" is perhaps the most bilious piece in Dylan's entire canon of work, but its power is impossible to deny.

"You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go" and "Meet Me In The Morning" are simple expressions of loss, pending and present, respectively.

"Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts" is another classic Dylan story-song, psychically akin to "Frankie Lee and Judas Priest" from John Wesley Harding.

"If You See Her, Say Hello," is quite possible the saddest song that Dylan ever wrote, and his vocal performance here is enough to draw tears from the attentive listener.

"Shelter From The Storm" offers a more positive theme, and it doesn't come a minute too soon. The album closes with the simple and sad "Buckets of Rain." By the time he sings "Life is sad/Life is a bust/All you can do is do what you must," you either believe him, or you weren't listening.

34 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Erm, could I have some extra stars to give this, please?, May 25, 2000

By	Jules (Birmingham, England) - See all my reviews

What to say about Dylan's masterpiece, arguably the finest album of my lifetime?

Yes, his mid-60s classics are 'hipper', but this is his creative pinnacle. The writing reaches unforseen hights of maturity, depth and soul-searching. Dylan never used to be this naked, this honest.

Highlights? Well, all of it really! "Tangled Up in Blue", "Idiot Wind" and the overlooked "Buckets of Rain" stand out for me, but everyone'll have their own favorites, usually for personal reasons - it's that kind of record.

Lennon gave us the raw PLASTIC ONO BAND, Townshend the bitter WHO BY NUMBERS, but Dylan's self-examination is more contemplative and more changeable - sometimes he sounds resigned, sometimes full of regret, sometimes angry.

Anybody who loves this album HAS to hear the unreleased original album takes too. Five of the ten tracks were re-recorded for BOTT at the last minute (the cover had already been printed up with liner notes making reference to lyrics that were no longer to be found on the album). Note: these are NOT the versions available on THE BOOTLEG SERIES 1-3, you'll have to seek out a REAL bootleg for all but "You're a Big Girl Now" which is on BIOGRAPH and is even more wonderful than the version you'll find here (BIOGRAPH also contains the excellent out-take "Up to Me"). These tracks, with their lyrical and mood variations give the listener an even greater insight into Dylan's finest hour.

Oh, and for the dissenters, he really sings well on this too!