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23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Defending Empire Burlesque, January 1, 2003
Empire Burlesque has one thing in common with Self Portrait, Street Legal and every other Bob Dylan album that is panned more often than not: If it had been released by an little known upstart, it would have been accepted, maybe even acclaimed. The expectations are so perennial high for Dylan to produce another Blood on the Tracks that average, decent or even good albums he releases are often condemned to a negative responce because they do not stand-up to his highest accomplishments.Empire Burlesque rattles the expectations critics continuously hold for Dylan in two specific ways: 1) Instead of poetry, it features mostly simple, straight-forward rock lyrics. 2) Instead of an unadorned, organic feel, it possesses a slick, well-produced atmosphere. Although, we all would prefer another "Gates of Eden" or "I Shall Be Released," the love and relationship-centered songs of Empire Burlesque are nothing to scoff at. Clever, true and free of clichés that would trap lesser songwriters, songs such as "Tight Connection to My Heart," "I'll Remember You" and "Emotionally Yours" are excellent representations of Dylan's more pop-orientated prowess. Granted, the thick production and hefty accompaniment are a bit much. Every song on Empire Burlesque, with the exception of the gorgeous finale, "Dark Eyes," which Dylan performed unaccompanied, could have benefited from being giving some breathing room with the elimination of one or a few back-up vocals or instruments. A complete stripping, however, would rob the album of the instances in which such sonic density work. On "Something's Burning Baby," the heavy accompaniment, especially Anton Fig's jangling drums, bolsters the song's sense of power and urgency and on the spicy "Clean Cut Kid," Dylan mirrors the success of the large ensemble with which BB King usually plays. Although far from perfect, Empire Burlesque is a fine addition to Dylan's discography.
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
My favorite Bob Dylan album, August 20, 2005
When Green Day changed up their sound around the mid-90's and came through with a more slickly produced, commercial sound, a lot of their loyal fans didn't like it. But what they seemingly forgot to look at amidst their curious anger is that Green Day's new stuff sounded really good ('Warning' especially), even though, yeah, it sounded quite a bit different.
When it comes to Bob Dylan, die-hard fans compare an album like Empire Burlesque (and probably a couple before it) with the likes of Highway 61 Revisited and Bringing It All Back Home, and a lot of them not only don't like the change but are agitated with their sneaky hero, though his status as 'constantly-looked-up-to' remains in tact.
Granted, as much as I like Empire Burlesque, it has to be careful with itself because as it goes from one song to the next you almost feel like you're going to hear this as a soundtrack for a really syrupy Cameron Crowe movie, and that's no good. But Dylan's sensibilty doesn't go quite that far down the wimpy direction as he remains hard-hearted and overly introspective, even if fairly non-sensical at times.
I love songs like 'Tight Connection to My Heart' 'I'll Remember You' 'Emotionally Yours' and 'Never Gonna Be The Same Again.' Though the disk sounds slicker than usual, it's a mistake to think the authenticity level dropped at all. If anything, he seems to be connecting with these songs at a higher degree than what is usual with him.
Another great thing about this album is that it's pretty consistent. A couple of the tunes are slighter but none of them are bad and they're all at least a litte above mediocre, with a high portion of it ranging from good to excellent. And that's saying a lot for someone like Dylan, who is so terribly inconsistent. Not long ago I listend to Planet Waves and there are 2-3 outrageously listenable songs there but so much of it is so mediocre.
I've always thought Dylan likes being disliked and that's why he puts out such terrible songs intermingled with all the stuff that's good. He doesn't want people coming too close and that desire of his seems to draw his fans near all the more.
I saw Dylan in concert last year and he was on keyboards due to some kind of arthritis, or something. There was a guitar planted on the center of the stage and after every song Dylan walked over, with his back hunched over and his shoulders sulking, his white warm-up suit and cowboy hat making him look like a modern-day Texas circus hand. Once there he would walk around the vicinity of the guitar and oftentimes the crowd's screaming would peak, but every time Dylan did not pick up the guitar and instead slowly meandered over to his keyboards. Not once did he pick up the guitar that night but he led the audience to believe he would about 15-20 times. What a tease.
On Empire Burlesque he seems to have softened up and not minded creating something nice all the way through. And those strange actions of his which somehow draw his worshipers ever nigher are absent here, and I'm thankful for that.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Contrarian's View of Dylan, November 5, 2004
Usually the nicest thing anyone can say about Empire Burlesque is that the songs would've been pretty good without Arthur Baker's production. In fact, bootlegs of pre-Baker-ized tunes would fetch a pretty penny. But personally, I think the synthesizer-laden sound actually adds a lot to the album. Maybe it's just because I was ten and totally unaware of the album when it first came out, that I am able to see it as not so much of a crass commercial attempt to jump on the latest fad. For me the cheesy `80s production is no more anachronistic that his `60s sound. Of course, his `60s sound wasn't exactly the dominant style of the period, especially the anti-psychedelic John Wesley Harding. But that's what makes this album so fascinating, never had Dylan tried so hard (and failed) to pander to his audience. Check out the Miami Vice threads on the cover. It certainly shows the most time and care spent in the studio since Self-Portrait. Just take a look at "When The Night Comes Falling From the Sky" (my favorite track on here). Now compare it to the E-Street Band backed version on The Bootleg Series 1-3, which is far closer to the kind of arrangement you would expect from Bob, without being nearly as good. But thanks to Arthur Baker, the song becomes far more memorable and fascinating (and not just like a car crash that you can't help but look at). Just listen to those octagonal electronic drums! You can also do a side-by-side comparison of "Tight Connection To My Heart (Has Anybody Seen My Love)" with the earlier unreleased "Someone's Got A Hold Of My Heart". In my mind, there's no contest. One of the biggest disappointments of Infidels was despite having Sly and Robbie produced by Mark Knopfler, you don't really get a Reggae-Dire Straits sound. It just sounds like any other Dylan album. At least he's trying something new here. I love "Tight Connection", "Seeing The Real You At Last", "Clean Cut Kid", "Trust Yourself", "Something's Burning, Baby" and "When The Night Comes Falling". And I don't know how much I would've without Arthur Baker. They are kind of part of the Planet Waves mold. Only the slower songs "I'll Remember You", "Emotionally Yours", and "Never Gonna Be The Same Again" suffer from this high-paced sleek design. Actually the biggest drawback to the album is everyone's sole favorite, "Dark Eyes". In returning to the solo acoustic guitar format, it reminds most people of Bob's entire back catalog - something no one Dylan album can stand up to - instead of forcing the listener to accept the "new" Dylan. "Dark Eyes" hedges Bob's bets, and Empire Burlesque suffers because of it.
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