Customer Reviews

Real Live [In Europe, 1984]

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

At first glance "Real Live" might seem to be a total curiosity: a playlist featuring chestnuts like "Maggie's Farm" juxtaposed against (at the time) newer material from Dylan's brilliant "Infidels" album, and a version of "Tangled Up In Blue" that features a revised lyric. What's more, the fine band backing Dylan up is a veritable Who's Who of classic British rock: former Rolling Stone Mick Taylor on lead guitar, Ian McLagan of the Small Faces on keyboards, and ex-Focus drummer Colin Allen.

Sounds odd, but it all works, and wonderfully so. The band - Taylor's muscular blues-based guitar work is particularly inspired - provides wonderful textures and underpinnings to the songs, giving Dylan total freedom to employ his unique vocals in a more emotional and expressive way than is usual even for him. Dylan performs a few of the songs solo, accompanied only by his acoustic guitar and harmonica, and Carlos Santana is on hand to lend his guitar chops to the final cut, "Tombstone Blues".

If the measure of a live album is its ability to capture a "moment" from a performance, then "Real Live" succeeds, and then some, on the glorious crowd sing-along during "It Ain't Me Babe". Not to be missed.

Real Live is an album that seems to get a bad rap, that is, if people even know about it at all. But this reputation (or lack thereof) is unwarranted, as this is an extremely enjoyable album. There are two types of songs here: the acoustic numbers and the loud upbeat rockers.

The acoustic songs (It Ain't Me, Babe, Tangled Up in Blue, and Girl From the North Country) are for the most part very good. It Ain't Me Babe has the crowd singing along heartily, which is nice to hear. And Tangled Up in Blue, with alternate lyrics, is just amazing. I loved this tune when I heard the original but I just can't get enough of this one. Great. Girl From the North Country isn't quite as good, as Dylan's voice seems more strained.

As for the rockin' tunes (the rest of the album), they're almost all at a faster tempo than the album originals, and all feature great guitar work from Mick Taylor (formerly of the Rolling Stones); in fact, the band as a whole is very tight and Dylan is into it.

So while this album is hard to find and may be not as historically significant or (quite) as high quality as the Bootleg Series albums, it is nonetheless a good listen and I would recommend it to any Dylan fan.

I recommend this album to any Bob Dylan fan, it simply shows yet another of his live persona. The one thing you can never say about his shows is that they are predictable, you never know what you might get, and this live album shows a different phase in his career to that of HARD RAIN or BEFORE THE FLOOD. The song selection is a good mix, of old and (then) new. Some people feel that the Infidels tracks lack improvement over the studio versions, however I disagree, just listening to I and I you really get a feel for the song and the ambiance of the performance that simply isn't there on Infidels. The rest of the performances are all somewhat different to those heard before, but very rewarding. As for the sound quality it is good without being exceptional, but very much a live sound of the era and easy to listen to. The greatest feature is the performances delivered by the musicians on most tracks, with most songs given a full workout and stretched out nicely.

Mick Taylor adds the blues style that is a complete complement. Two legends play, making sure to not step on the other. Mutual respect can be heard by two of the greatest at their craft. This CD is a must for R&B fans.

Although the entire album is excellent, perhaps the most remarkable performance recorded here is the full, rewritten version of "Tangled Up in Blue." According to some sources, the version which appears on what is perhaps Dylan's consummate album "Blood on the Tracks" was not the complete version of the song. This is the "Blue" that Dylan wanted released and wanted heard. If the album was only this version of Blue and nothing else, it would be worth the 12 bucks it costs. But the stirring renditions of both "Masters of War" and "Highway 61 Revisited" make this disc a must have among all Dylan fans

From an uneven decade for Dylan (the 80s), this album stands as a testament to Dylan's unabated power as a performer, and the exciting intimacy of the live concert. Backed by name-musicians, well mixed and recorded, REAL LIVE is an album that holds up perfectly all these years later. It has energy, excitement, and DYNAMICS - that's to say that Dylan both rocks loud and also plays the quieter solo acoustic material. Yet, within both modalities, Dylan's sound expands to FILL the stadium. Overall, though, this is a hard-driving album and the band really shines as they rip through a superb playlist. Highlights include a lyrically reworked version of Tangled Up In Blue, a great version of It Ain't Me Babe (...and tell me if it doesn't give you the chills to hear the crowd come in to sing the chorus on this song, and also to hear their excitement build as Dylan's harmonica solo (more of a repetitious riff) escalates through the chord progressions) and a fantastic arrangement of Masters of War. An intriguing collage of classics and INFIDELS material (the album that was the basis for this tour, circa 1984), REAL LIVE stands tall among his live albums. Listen. Listen again. And see if this album doesn't inextricably take residence in your mind.

I ordered this album because it is one Dylan effort I did not own. So, I played it and was, frankly, lukewarm to it. But, knowing that most of Mr. D's stuff generally needs to grow on me, I waited and replayed it several more times. Each play managed to increase my appreciation, to the point that now I absolutely love this thing! I love every song version on this album, except for "Tangled Up In Blue", which I merely like. If only I could give it more stars!

Most reviewers have pretty much dismissed Real Live from the jump. It's true that song selection (& execution) on the A-side is a bit obvious (read: tedious), but one has the sense that these critical reviewers didn't bother flipping the wax over. I defy anyone to find a stronger, more fully-realized set of live B-side performances on any other commercially-released Dylan album or, for that matter, on any other commercially-released B-side at all. Crank it up (preferably on vinyl) and give it a listen. Way likely, for example, the side offers Bob's strongest "Masters of War" (no mean feat)--but all these new versions of older tracks are equally kickin'.

A classic example of live Dylan. This CD has all the energy and drive that Budokan lacks. This is what you hear at a live Dylan show. I can almost feel the buzz.

At first listen I didn't think much of this album. I thought Bob's singing was off, and all the new arrangements were inferior to their studio counterparts. But after a couple listens, I grew to like "Real Live" alot. As in most Dylan live albums, some experiments work far better than others.

Lets start with the good:

"It Ain't Me, Babe" - WOW! The audience singing on the choruses here is so strong it sounds like a professional backup chorus. Dylan chooses to go acoustic, stripped-down on this one. Similar to the original release but for a couple vocal twists every now and then.

"Tangled Up In Blue" - A great example of Dylan's reinterpreting his own lyrics. In fact, he has said in interviews that this version is more the way the song should be performed than the original "Blood on the Tracks" version. It doesn't matter which version is better; this is a great alternate version no matter what.

"License to Kill" - This song works better here than on it's "Infidels" studio release. The guitar riffs sound better and clearer, and Bob's singing is more forceful and his syllables better stressed.

"Girl from the North Country" - As usual, acoustic solo Dylan works far better than full band Dylan. This version is nearly identical to the original release 2 decades prior. The only major difference is Bob's voice, which sounds great here.

The bad:

"Maggie's Farm" - I usually skip this track. It was never one of my favorite Dylan tracks to begin with, so maybe I am already prejudiced against this track. But for whatever its worth, I don't like it here, either (or on "Hard Rain" for that matter).

"Ballad of a Thin Man" - A classic track off of "Highway 61" is kind of stumbled through here. Once again I recommend you skip it, although its not so bad as to be unlistenable.

The Rest:

"Highway 61 Revisited"/"Tombstone Blues" - 2 classic Dylan rockers are performed decently enough, but without enough spark to make them great listens. Give them a try and judge for yourself.

"I & I" - the 2nd "Infidels" track doesn't work as well as the first, but its not half bad. Dylan changes around the chorus vocals, for better or worse.

"Masters of War" - this is the track I am most conflicted about. Instead of the solo acoustic treatment he first gave this song, here it is a flat-out riff-driven rock song. I like the fact that it rocks more than most Dylan songs and it is great to listen to loudly. But the extended guitar solos, while played well enough, don't fit well with Dylan's songwriting or singing. I initially wrote this track off as a disaster, but I come back to it every now and then and even enjoy it sometimes.