Battle of the Super Duper Groups

[Julio3000]

Bob is a legend. A deity among musicians. That said, I've seen him a couple of times and my experience is that he's bad in concert. Good band, though.

Saying that his shows suck now isn't to say that it's always been so, and there's plenty of documentary evidence to the contrary.

[DjGrizz]

Bob Dylan is trash

[zitothebrave]

Bob Dylan is trash

Throw in a few adjectives and we'll be sure to get Keith Lockhart to take good care of you

[jpx7]

I thoroughly enjoyed Dylan in concert, old and gravely as he was.

[Tapate50]

Van Morrison?

Where does he land?

[DjGrizz]

Throw in a few adjectives and we'll be sure to get Keith Lockhart to take good care of you

I don't mind if people like him, I just can't fathom it. He sounds so terrible in my opinion. And in all honesty are you impressed with his harmonica playing?

[zitothebrave]

I don't mind if people like him, I just can't fathom it. He sounds so terrible in my opinion. And in all honesty are you impressed with his harmonica playing?

In the context of his songs? Yes. I don't think I've ever heard a better folk song than Blowing in the Wind. Dylan isn't technically perfect and he has a roadgrater of a voice but his songs possess a total simplistic brilliance and have deep song writing.

To date i've not heard any song better written than either Tangled Up in Blue or Like a Rolling Stone.

[Julio3000]

I thoroughly enjoyed Dylan in concert, old and gravely as he was.

I saw him twice within a relatively short period of time, so he might have been mailing it in for health or personal reasons on that particular tour. All of the arrangements were super-fast, and seemed to be designed that way so he could speed-mumble through them as fast as humanly possible.

That doesn't change the fact that he is an all-time great. Too many outstanding songs to list, spanning decades.

[DjGrizz]

In the context of his songs? Yes. I don't think I've ever heard a better folk song than Blowing in the Wind. Dylan isn't technically perfect and he has a roadgrater of a voice but his songs possess a total simplistic brilliance and have deep song writing.

To date i've not heard any song better written than either Tangled Up in Blue or Like a Rolling Stone.

Song writing isn't my beef. I just hate his sound. I could see me enjoying some of his songs if someone else would sing it.

[zitothebrave]

Song writing isn't my beef. I just hate his sound. I could see me enjoying some of his songs if someone else would sing it.

And you're entitled to your opinion. Just a vast majority of people in the business and fans would disagree with you.

[jpx7]

I could see me enjoying some of his songs if someone else would sing it.

They often do.

[jpx7]

I saw him twice within a relatively short period of time, so he might have been mailing it in for health or personal reasons on that particular tour. All of the arrangements were super-fast, and seemed to be designed that way so he could speed-mumble through them as fast as humanly possible.

That doesn't change the fact that he is an all-time great. Too many outstanding songs to list, spanning decades.

I saw him late-autumn 2005, I believe, in a nice venue downtown, the Auditorium Theatre. Certainly his older songs were very accelerated – Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again, for instance, which is one of my absolute favorites, was virtually unrecognizable until about a minute into his performance of it – but I attributed this fact as much to (a) his being bored with performing his 1960s/1970s tracks in "standard studio style," having performed them thousands of times at this point, and (b) his lacking the vocal range he used to have and which his older tunes necessitated, than to any designed short-shrift on his part. Meanwhile, when he played a couple tracks from Love and Theft, the current state of his voice lent itself to much more straight-up interpretations of his studio work.

It also seems a bit rich to judge the career of a 72-year-old man based on his live-performances in the last ten or twenty years (and obviously you're not guilty of this, but others seem to be). I once watched Stephen Stills and David Crosby sweat and heave their way through a three-hour concert with Graham Nash (who's in relatively much better health), but I'm certainly not going to judge the career of Crosby, Stills, & Nash (or Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young, for that matter) based on that data-point. Moreover: Dylan's copious live-albums and filmed performances from the 1960s and 1970s are testaments to his skills and merits as a performer (without even mentioning his compositional genius).

[zitothebrave]

Makes it all the more amazing that guys like the Boss can put on shows that are as amazing as they were 30+ years ago.

Some guys have whatever it is to be amazing performers their whole careers.

[jpx7]

Now I get to be the one going against conventional wisdom: I don't much care for Bruce Springsteen's music. In fact, I don't care for it at all.

He seems like a cool enough dude, though, once you get past his musical output.

[zitothebrave]

Now I get to be the one going against conventional wisdom: I don't much care for Bruce Springsteen's music. In fact, I don't care for it at all.

He seems like a cool enough dude, though, once you get past his musical output.

While I respect everyone's right to their own opinion. My urge is to stone you in front of the Stone Pony. The boss is awesome. I don't know if anyone captured life in the north east in the 70s as well as him.

[Julio3000]

Now I get to be the one going against conventional wisdom: I don't much care for Bruce Springsteen's music. In fact, I don't care for it at all.

He seems like a cool enough dude, though, once you get past his musical output.

I was a long time coming around to Springsteen. I did come around, at least partially. I like Nebraskaa lot, and some of the more elemental acoustic stuff he's occasionally done more recently. He's written a few truly great pop songs, some of which I really like, and some which aren't my cup of tea. He ventures into self-parody (unintentionally) a little too often for my taste.

He's got a sense of humor about himself, if his (this time intentional) self-parody with Jimmy Fallon's Neil Young was any indication.

[jpx7]

I don't know if anyone captured life in the north east in the 70s as well as him.

But we have to ask ourselves: Is that really something that needed to be captured?

More seriously: my father came of age during that decade, in the north-east (Boston suburbs and, for college, Vermont), and he's never noted feeling a great affinity for Springsteen, so I think you may mean "captured life in the greater New York City / New Jersey area in the 70s."

[zitothebrave]

But we have to ask ourselves: Is that really something that needed to be captured?

More seriously: my father came of age during that decade, in the north-east (Boston suburbs and, for college, Vermont), and he's never noted feeling a great affinity for Springsteen, so I think you may mean "captured life in the greater New York City / New Jersey area in the 70s."

Does anyone care about the north east aside from New York Metro and Philly Metro? That's like talking about catching the california scene and saying Sacramento wasn't like that. No one has time for that ****. haha.

And I dare anyone to listen to Thunder Road or Born to Run and not fall in love with it. If you don't then you sir have no soul.

[Julio3000]

I saw him late-autumn 2005, I believe, in a nice venue downtown, the Auditorium Theatre. Certainly his older songs were very accelerated – Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again, for instance, which is one of my absolute favorites, was virtually unrecognizable until about a minute into his performance of it – but I attributed this fact as much to (a) his being bored with performing his 1960s/1970s tracks in "standard studio style," having performed them thousands of times at this point, and (b) his lacking the vocal range he used to have and which his older tunes necessitated, than to any designed short-shrift on his part. Meanwhile, when he played a couple tracks from Love and Theft, the current state of his voice lent itself to much more straight-up interpretations of his studio work.

It also seems a bit rich to judge the career of a 72-year-old man based on his live-performances in the last ten or twenty years (and obviously you're not guilty of this, but others seem to be). I once watched Stephen Stills and David Crosby sweat and heave their way through a three-hour concert with Graham Nash (who's in relatively much better health), but I'm certainly not going to judge the career of Crosby, Stills, & Nash (or Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young, for that matter) based on that data-point. Moreover: Dylan's copious live-albums and filmed performances from the 1960s and 1970s are testaments to his skills and merits as a performer (without even mentioning his compositional genius).

"Stuck Inside of Mobile..." is one of my all-time favorites. By anyone.

I agree with you. Unfortunately, when I saw him he was touring on "Love and Theft" (which I think is terrific) and those excellent songs got the same treatment. Still, I'd recommend that album to anyone.

[jpx7]

Does anyone care about the north east aside from New York Metro and Philly Metro? That's like talking about catching the california scene and saying Sacramento wasn't like that. No one has time for that ****. haha.

And I dare anyone to listen to Thunder Road or Born to Run and not fall in love with it. If you don't then you sir have no soul.

Boston Metro >>> New York Metro >>> Philly Metro

I'll get back to you on the soul issue.