Bob Dylan: "The sound of Hank Williams's voice went through me like an electric rod and I managed to get a hold of a few of his 78s... I played them endlessly... When I hear Hank sing, all movement ceases. The slightest whisper seems sacrilege." Read more musical excerpts from Chronicles, Vol. 1 on our Music You Should Hear page.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
How Can He Keep Doing It?,
By
This review is from: Street Legal (Hybr) (Audio CD)
For over forty years, Dylan has blessed this planet with his music - a special gift. It's amazing how one man can constantly reinvent himself, his music, and change so much just with his vocal inflection. Say what you will about Bob's voice - he's the only guy I've ever heard who can reinterpret a song (his own) and change everything based on his emphasis. Side commentary aside, this is about Street Legal - the hybrid SACD.I've never listened to Street Legal in its previous incarnations - my first listen occurred with this new version. Some people have said the sound in previous versions was muddy - not the case here. The instrumentation makes the record a bit crowded (or you could call it a full sound) - but the CD and SACD layers both are very clear. They sound excellent (the SACD versions of all the Dylan works sound magnificent, by the way). Technically, a superb recording that sounds very, very good. Great remastering job. As for the record, I really wish I hadn't taken so long to get it. It's one of the last Dylan records I've listened to (have yet to hear Knocked Out Loaded, Down in the Groove, or all of Empire Burlesque). I could say its one of the best - but the problem is that most all of Dylan's records can be one of his best for one reason or another. Each has a different sound and something very different to offer. In 1978, Dylan was in the midst of a recording period that, I believe, is greatly underrated. As far as I'm concerned, the period that began with Planet Waves in 1974 and ended with Infidels in 1983 contains output that is better than what he did in the 60s (Bob Dylan to Nashville Skyline - Self-Portrait and New Morning were 1970, the latter was pretty good and the former had its moments). The 70s-early 80s period was a time of great pain and rebirth for Dylan. Street Legal is the last of his pain records, preceding his Chrisitian Quadrology (I include Infidels in his Christian phase - and would argue that Oh Mercy and Under the Red Sky also fit in - those are several other reviews). There are a lot of great tracks here featuring the fullest sound Dylan has ever recorded (Though Oh Mercy, Time Out of Mind, and Love and Theft are close for fullness). It begins with "Changing of the Guards" - one of the best openers Dylan has ever recorded (and that says a lot for a man who's started albums with "Subterranean Homesick Blues", "Like a Rolling Stone", and "Rainy Day Women..."). The album is engaging from the get-go and is very dense lyrically. There's a lot to pick up here, and it will take many, many listens to put things together. New Pony is a great - and nasty - blues take. The rhyming schemes on No Time to Think are just amazing to listen to, and they keep your attention for over eight minutes. Baby Stop Crying is tender and catchy in the chorus. Is Your Love in Vain is a personal favorite - very sad and somewhat hopeless. Senor (Tales of Yankee Power) is yet another Dylan masterpiece (not the only on this album - Guards, In Vain, and Where Are You Tonight? all qualify on this record). It's hard to figure out what to say for every song - but this album is very sad and depressing, yet powerful because of it. There's not a bad track and Dylan's voice is in fine form. His expressiveness his in full force her and all the arrangements are interesting to listen to - especially since they often try to cover up the songs a bit (and I think this was intentional, putting on a false face). In short, get this record. You won't be disappointed. Heck, just buy all of Dylan's records. There've been a lot of great artists in the last 50 years - but none of them can equal Dylan. His musical, lyrical, and vocal power is amazing - Street Legal puts it all on display.
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
One of Dylan's most underrated...,
By
This review is from: Street Legal (Hybr) (Audio CD)
"Another Side of Bob Dylan", "Bringing It All Back Home", "Nashville Skyline", "Self-Portrait", "Street Legal"... what do these Dylan albums have in common? They've all been brickbatted by some fans and critics as "trash", "unsophisticated", "sellout", or simply met with a "What was he thinking?!?!?" Truth is, "Street Legal" carries on the oft-praised and oft-maligned Dylan tradition of reinvention as well as any of the other albums listed above. Dylan does reinvent himself. He's done it for 40 years, and he's still doing it. "Street Legal" represents just one more of these events in Dylan's repertoire.
In 1978 Dylan brought out the big, really big band ("Bob and his Large Band" would have been a good sub-title presaging Lyle Lovett by a decade or two). Gospel-esque backup singers, saxophones, a BIG production, and long songs with sometimes cryptic almost mythical sounding lyrics about embittered love or abuses of power. Once again, "Street Legal" sounds unlike anything Dylan recorded before or since. Why did he go in this direction? The theories abound: Dylan wanted to emulate Neil Diamond's stage act; Dylan wanted a cozy career in Las Vegas next to the Rat Pack; Dylan found inspiration from Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band. The real reasons were likely more prosaic. Dylan's "Chronicles, Volume 1" hints that the 1970s and 1980s were extremely rough times for him musically. The scene just didn't seem to inspire him anymore. So perhaps he was just trying out new things, as he's done his entire career. Whatever the reason, the results made for a very unique Dylan album. "Street Legal" contains undeniable energy. Not to mention some great songs. "Changing of the Guards" and "Señor(Tales of Yankee Power)" belong in the Dylan Hall of Great Songs. Still, the arrangement can at times sound sloppy (the drums sometimes plod along and the backing vocalists go out of synch, etc), and some have complained that Dylan wasn't into this album, or too coked up to notice its flaws. But Dylan, like Neil Young, has always been at his best and most passionate with a warts and all approach to recording and performance. Who could imagine a completely "slick" Dylan album where every note gets placed perfectly? Part of his legacy is the unprocessed sincerity that comes through in his voice and instrumentation. His earlier "great" albums (from the 1960s) contained spontaneous moments of laughter, hissing sibilance, microphone pops, missed timing, the occassional fretted note, etc. No one complains about the "flaws" on those albums. But for some reason critics find similar imperfections on "Street Legal" unforgivable. Dylan never really wavered from his one or two take philosophy for a reason. And it's part of what makes Dylan's music what it is. And once again, "Street Legal" showcases this unforgettable side of Dylan. The flaws are more than forgivable considering the energy this album puts out. In some ways the remaster may have redeemed this album. Many early reviews complained about the muddy and incomprehensible sound of the original 1978 release. Muddled sound can destroy any great music. In any case, someone performed some great clean up, because this CD release sounds crisp with well-separated instrumentation. In fact, it sounds incredible. So just ignore the bizarre photo of Dylan on the back cover (the one where he actually looks ready for Vegas stardom). And don't let the road-weary alley-inhabiting unkept Dylan on the cover make you think this album is full of raw acousticly-jaded music. This one's different. Just like all of the other ones.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dylan's single greatest song?!,
By
This review is from: Street Legal (Hybr) (Audio CD)
Buried on this weird semi-schlocky album is the closer, the epic "Where Are You Tonight? (Journey Through Dark Heat)." I'm gonna go out on a big limb here and say this may be Bobby's finest performance. The song is a tour of the living hell the man seemed to be living in c.1978; unlimited wealth, drugs everywhere, mansion in Malibu, surrounded by sycophants, a mere Rock Star haunted by memories of his heroic '60's past, making terrible music, coasting on his legend, as he lost the family he'd put ahead of his career since '67 (threw them away, really). For years I thought the despairing tone derived from the recent break-up of his marriage; now listening to the mixture of anguish and elation when he sings the final lines,
"I can't believe it, I can't believe I'm alive/But without You it just don't seem right/O where are You tonight?" it is clear he's singing about God, looking for an elusive salvation, and his embrace of Jesus is just around the corner. I'm no believer, but the sheer bereft agony in Dylan's voice on this song is so real, the imagery so searing ("If you don't believe there's a price/For this sweet paradise/Just remind me to show ya the scars")("I fought with my twin/That enemy within/Till both of us fell by the way/Horseplay and disease is killin' me by degrees/While the law looks the other way")I'm happy he found some sort of peace in religion, at least for a while. On the other hand, "Where are You Tonight" is living proof that misery probably breeds better art than solace. Great song to play when you feel like you're looking at the world from the bottom of a shot glass. There is real catharsis goin' on, a rare thing in a rock 'n roll song.
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