Customer Reviews

Street Legal (Reis)

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"Street Legal" is a pivotal album in Dylan's career. If you want to get autobiographical about it, it marks the final coming to terms with his broken marriage after the turmoil of the two previous albums ("Blood on the Tracks", "Desire") and the beginning of his turning to God which was the subject of the next three ("Slow Train Coming", "Saved", "Shot of Love").
But it is MUCH more than a personal chronicle. Musically and lyrically, it is his most complex and in some ways his best work. The three long songs, "Changing of the Guards", "No Time to Think", and "Where Are You Tonight (Journey Through Dark Heat)" have the richness of imagery of Dylan's best albums from the 60's ("Highway 61 Revisited", "Blonde on Blonde"), the emotional power of "Blood on the Tracks", the spiritual awareness (though implicit rather than explicit) of "Slow Train Coming", and a degree of formal poetic unity and discipline greater than any of them. Dylan is the only songwriter in the world even capable of such control of rhyme, meter, and diction.

Also first-rate are the nasty blues "New Pony" and the beautiful "Is Your Love In Vain?"; but every song is strong.

Dylan's singing also reaches something of a peak on this album -- with the agility of "Blood on the Tracks" and "Desire" and the exuberant emotion of "Saved". On the whole, I'd have to put this one in the top 5 (along with "Blood on the Tracks", "Highway 61", "Bootleg Series Vol 3" and "Time Out of Mind").

The band larger than Dylan usually works with, and he makes the most of it; also of note is the cover photo, which has a coded key to the whole album that also explains the album's title (hint: tan line).

The lilting ballad Changing Of The Guards opens this underrated 1979 album. The female backing vocals lend a soulful tone to the music here and throughout the album. This R&B/Gospel feel is what sets Street Legal apart from Dylan's more familiar spectrum of styles.

New Pony has an even more authentic R&B air about it, whilst the beautifully tuneful No Time To Think is more in his folk-rock vein, but still embellished by the soulful backing voices. It is my favourite and a definite highlight of the album.

Baby Stop Crying is a rock ballad with tempo variation and stirring organ, Is Your Love In Vain? is a tender love ballad with a melancholy undertone and Senor is a slow, meandering folk number. The next track sounds the most like early Dylan with those characteristic vocal inflections; True Love Tends To Forget is a mournful lament with an impressive arrangement.

The theme on We Better Talk This Over remains mistrust and lost love, but it's a very catchy pop song with hypnotic appeal. The album concludes with a tour de force: Where Are You Tonight?, a flowing uptempo ballad with gripping imagery and an exquisite arrangement.

Street Legal is quite underrated in Dylan's body of work. There is no weak track and there are many memorable songs like the aforementioned No Time To Think, Is Your Love In Vain?, True Love Tends To Forget and the final track.

Some Dylan fans and critics might have been prejudiced against the R&B sound but it is most authentic and has stood the test of time. Street Legal has definitely improved with age and I consider it to be amongst Dylan's Top 10 albums.

The first time I listened to this album, I was immediately put off by the female background singers. I thought they completely overpowered the music, and it sounded like it was the first time they had heard each song. They didn't sound tight at all, and I swear they sound out of key half the time. I don't mind gospel background singers at all, but I thought they made a mess out of every song they sang in. What's so good about people repeating what Bob just sang 2 seconds ago? They should reinforce the singing, not repeat it. I was fuming through every line.

The second time I listened to this album, I was suddenly floored by how great each and every song was written, and I started wondering if maybe there was a mix of this album without the background singers, because with them out of the way, this would be some of his best music for sure! The words were sharp, the music was tight, and his voice was great, and not just for Bob Dylan, his voice sounds as good as it did on Blonde on Blonde.

The third time I listened, I started blocking out the singers, because this was some really good music. I found myself already singing along to a good part of it, matching the somehow already familiar melodies. I knew this album would be one that I would go back to.

I still haven't gotten used to those background singers, and I probably never will. If there is in fact a remix of this album without the singers, I'd buy it in a second, because this is a great, great album with some of Bob's best songs ever. "Where Are You Tonight?" is one of my favorite Dylan songs, and as most other reviewers would note, "Changing of the Guard", "No Time to Think", and "Senor (Tales of Yankee Power)" are also highlights of the album. Just about every song is catchy and well-written, nothing worth skipping over. I would recommend it to any Bob Dylan fan, and suggest that they ignore the background singers as much as possible.

Bob Dylan's Street Legal (1978) has a lot in common with his Blood On The Tracks album. No, they don't sound anything alike; one is country-folk and the other is gospel/R&B rock with a Spanish flavor. What connects the two albums is Dylan's commitment to the music as a singer, and that both albums feature the best musicians he has ever worked with. On both albums, Dylan is on his best behavior, rising to the occasion and delivering the best vocal performances of his career.

Street Legal is a metaphor-filled, emotional, enigmatic and mystical journey of urgent and profound requests for information. My favorite song on the album is the hypnotic Senor (Tales Of Yankee Power). Starting out like an atmospheric sequel to Knockin' On Heaven's Door, it's a southwestern tale of intrigue and a one-sided conversation with "Senor". As the song progresses, it becomes apparent that Senor is God.

Let's overturn these tables, disconnect these cables
This place don't make sense to me no more
Can you tell me what we're waiting for, Senor?

God is also mentioned in the rockin' blues New Pony, with a sharp Dylanism.

That God you been praying to is gonna give you back
What you been wishing on someone else.

No Time To Think is a Spanish horn-filled warning of political/personal calamity.

Lovers obey you, but they cannot sway you
They're not even sure you exist

The songs weave in and out of colorful historical yarns and current personal issues that don't always seem connected. Street Legal isn't always easy to piece together, but it's always a pleasure to listen to.

There is plenty of excellent electric guitar, Hammond B-3 organ and saxophone on the album, and nearly every song includes prominent soul-singing female background singers which creates an R&B/gospel atmosphere.

Personally, I place Street Legal in my own "Bob Dylan Top Five Albums". It's that good, especially if you're able to adjust to the unique and interesting song arrangements. Street Legal is Bob Dylan as you've never heard him before, and it's also Bob Dylan at his very best.

When Street Legal was originally released in 1978, it was blasted by critics and labeled as a "Dylan gone Vegas" album. To add further insult, Dylan was accused of ripping off Bruce Springsteen by having the great saxophone player Steve Douglas play on the album. I found both of these criticisms to be ridiculous as I gave Street Legal a listen. I found it to be his most underrated, misunderstood album. It is also unique, as no other Dylan album sounds like it. Personally, I found it to be a much more enjoyable album than Desire. Granted, the one criticism of Street Legal that made sense was that it suffered from a bad mix. The sound of the original lp was low and muffled, obviously a rushed job that should have been handled with more care. When selected albums from the Dylan catalogue were being remastered in 2003, Street Legal was thankfully remixed as well, finally giving it the proper sound. Those who dismissed Street Legal back in '78 will now discover a much improved album that sounds excellent.

As for the tracks themselves, "Changing of the Guards" has to be one of Dylan's top ten greatest songs, a lyrically complex series of narrations covering several stories, each filled with imagery inspired by (among many other things) Tarot cards, Greek mythology, and the Bible - all leading to an apocalyptic "climax". The song does not begin or end. Like the wind, it fades in and fades out. I got the impression that Dylan wrote it as a never-ending song, with new lyrics always being added as it continues to drift until the end of time.

The rest of Street Legal is also amazing, however not to the same extent as "Changing of the Guards." "No Time to Think" is superb, but probably should have been moved to side two of the album, as it is very long and only the third track into the record. "Senor (Tales of Yankee Power)" is also a highlight.

Ignore the critics. Street Legal is definitely worthy of reassessment and praise. Buy it and you'll discover yet another Dylan masterpiece.

There are already many excellent reviews of this album here, but Street Legal is such a great one that I feel the need to add my voice. When this album first came out (in 1978) I remember it really confusing people, especially reviewers, who gave it very mixed notices, not because they disliked it, I think, but because they simply didn't know what to do with such a work--it really doesn't sound much like anything in Dylan's previous output. This situation is really sad, for it helped sink the record, to the point where it's still not given anything approaching its due.

The album is basically a big funky brew of r&b, blues, soul, gospel, folk, rock-n-roll, and even a little Tex-Mex, that might best be described as a very hard-edged version of the Mussel Shoals sound (a softer, less effective version of this sound emerges on later albums such as "Slow Train Coming"). Most of this edge comes from Dylan himself, who is singing ferociously throughout, as well as deftly leading a fascinating band that features, in addition to the biting guitars and swirling organs one would expect, sax (Stephen Douglas, if I remember correctly) and a line of excellent gospel backup singers.

None of this would matter much of course if the songs weren't up to snuff--and luckily the writing on this album is excellent from beginning to end. Other reviews here have done a good job of going thru each song, so I'll just say that Dylan's never written a more fascinating batch of tunes, or at least not ones with such breadth, which range from lilting ballads to brilliant, deliberately unwinding midtempo pieces to grinding blues. One song I will mention by name is "Senor (Tales of Yankee Power)", a truly spooky border ballad that ranks amongst Dylan's best and most head-scratching tunes.

The only real problem I have with this album is the production, which is a bit muddier and more dense than it probably should have been. That said, I own the 1990 disc and the 2004 remaster may be better.

If you're into Dylan and don't have this album buy it! It's a damn good piece of music making.

There are two songs on this disk that exemplify the "what planet did this guy come from" type of songwriting and delivery that Dylan, at his best, can conjure.

First, New Pony- gritty, dirty, mean- straight blues- delivered with a kind of nasty gutsiness that's very rare. Lyrically obscure, haunting, very powerful. Has to do in some way with fatal attraction- push and pull of sexual attraction- but elevated into some mystical realm that only Dylan walks in- welcome to the tour, please keep your hands inside the shuttle at all times.

And then to what is, IMHO, the best Dylan song of all time- the harrowing, hallucinatory Senor. This is like an epic dream, vivid and crisp, but only loosely remembered. We're dropped into the middle of a tight situation- dripping with atmosphere- there's a monstrous ominous looming *something* and the threat of violence just around the corner- but also the possiblity of salvation- not sure what any of it's really about, but we've all been there at one time or another. Some for months or years at a time.

I don't think for a second that everyone, or even most, will agree with me on these two songs. Don't see how, but neither of these are ever mentioned in Dylan's best.

This record got a lot of bad press when it came out in the middle of 1978. Bob Dylan had a lot going on at the time. His custody battle with Sara, putting a band together, money problems (or so I've heard), getting his Rundown Studios up to snuff, but through it all, he put out this masterpiece. Yeah, I said masterpiece. I just love this record. The nay sayers are just wrong. I think they were just looking for a reason to criticize Dylan. But think about it, they'd been doing that since the man was a kid. Just when they think they've got him pegged, just when Dylan has turned them onto a new style, a new sound, he goes and changes on them. Well, if they didn't like this change, imagine what they were in for in just a little over a year. Yes, I'm talking about Slow Train Bob Dylan's overtly Christian album. Now that was a change.

The opening song, "Changing of the Guard" tells the listener straightaway that they are hearing a brand new Dylan sound. Bob's gone and got himself a big band, complete with female backup, harmonizing singers. I love this sound, love the poetry of the lyrics, even love the Biblical references. This is Dylan at his best, doing what he loves best, delivering a new sound with new and original lyrics. This is another one of those must have records for any Dylan fan.

I was still in elementary school during Bob Dylan's 60s heyday, and didn't discover his work until I went to college in the mid-to-late 1970s. (I attended Oberlin, where Dylan, not surprisingly, was among the most requested artists on the college radio station.) As a result of my somewhat belated introduction to the canon, I experienced "Street Legal" as my first "new" Dylan album, and more than thirty years later, it remains one of my absolute favorites. Unfairly criticized at the time of its original release for its use of gospel elements--notably, a trio of backup singers--it is one of Dylan's richest and most satisfying sets, both musically and lyrically. The opening track, "Changing of the Guards," awash with compelling imagery, may be read on a number of levels. A brooding epic in the tradition of the artist's mid-60s classics, the song is by turns mythic, wildly romantic, and political, and has as good a claim to being serious poetry as anything Dylan has ever written. Three other ambitious narratives, "No Time To Think," "Senor (Tales of Yankee Power)," and "Where Are You Tonight? (Journey Through Dark Heat)," are every bit as rewarding. At the same time, the disc offers up scorching soul ballads like "Baby Stop Crying" and "Is Your Love In Vain?," where the music itself sends chills down your spine. Add to the pot the blistering electric blues of "New Pony," and the result is as eclectic as it is brilliant. Throughout, the singing ranks among Dylan's most raw and passionate. When it first appeared in 1978, "Street Legal" marked a new direction for Dylan--one that foreshadowed the more overtly religious outings to come, and one with which not everyone was comfortable. It continues to age well, however, and the somewhat muddy original mix is greatly improved by the recent remastering. "Street Legal" deserves to finally be accorded "classic" status. Such recognition is long overdue!

Not necessarily a 5 star album--maybe almost a 4, but not one to pass over either. I think I made a mistake giving it only 3 stars but they won't let me change it. The sound has been remastered and the sound is GREAT--you would never think that this album HAD TO BE remastered. I agree with one of the reviews from one of the books I have at home that Bob's voice is a bit nasal in this one. HOWEVER, New Pony (a put down on one of his girlfriends?) is REALLY a VERY GOOD one and WORTH listening to. It is not an enlightened piece of poetry, but it is good and when Bob sings, he hits all the difficult notes and passages with ease--that is amazing to me!!! It has a good twang to it, a good beat to it and it is a great song. In fact, it is one of my favorites. Maybe this slight nasal sound to this song adds in a positive way to the back alley sound. I have filed away a couple of his earlier albums, but not this one. Just keep your expectations in check--that's all.

I still think Bob Dylan is an amazing composer-song writer and equally a good singer since I never heard him off key at any time--truly amazing that he has it all.

New Pony is not the ONLY good work in this album! There are a few more that are GOOD that have been indicated on the other reviews. I have no regret buying this album as ANY GOOD SONG DISCOVERED is a good deal. You can never go wrong buying Bob's CDs at these prices.

However, you may find this one CD super great as some of the others--you be the judge.