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ALBUM REVIEW

BOB DYLAN

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BLOOD ON THE TRACKS

Released - 1975 on Columbia Records. Produced by Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan - Vocals, Guitar, Harmonica, Keyboards

With:

Tony Brown - Bass
Buddy Cage - Steel Guitar
Paul Griffin - Organ
Eric Weissberg -  Banjo
Bill Berg - Drums

All songs written by Bob Dylan

SONG RATING
Tangled Up in Blue     10.0
Simple Twist of Fate       8.4
You're a Big Girl Now       8.0
Idiot Wind     10.0
You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go       7.0
Meet Me in the Morning       7.5
Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts       9.1
If You See Her, Say Hello       8.6
Shelter from the Storm     10.0
Buckets of Rain       7.0
Ave.       8.6

REVIEW

Bob Dylan was sending out mixed signals to his fans at this point of his career with this release, but then again, that was something that Dylan always did anyway, fans never really knew what to expect with the next album that he would put out nor which direction he would be heading. With Blood On The Tracks, he seems to be heading back to his musical past.

Lots of acoustic guitars on this mellow sounding LP, with lots of stories in each song, but the stories are not happy ones for the most part, as Dylan was going through the end of his first marriage when he wrote most of these numbers and he wasn't to happy a guy. Not that all the songs are directly about that, but so many seem tied into all of it. In "If You See Her, Say Hello", he clearly is saying goodbye to somebody he still cares for, yet the goodbye to his love in "Idiot Wind" is nothing short of a hurtful putdown: "Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your teeth, you're an idiot, babe".

As far as the top songs on this album, well "Tangled Up in Blue" is the best one, it's also the lead-off song on the LP. Like most of the songs found on here, it's a sad story about past lost lovers. "Shelter from the Storm" is another winner, regardless of what the lyrics are about. "Idiot Wind", no matter how cold it may sound, has a way of calling me back to it for repeated listens. "Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts" is yet another interesting tale about the messed up lives of those in a honky tonk cabaret. But really, all the songs on this album are very good indeed. Sometimes it takes some painful events in one's life for some interesting lyrics to come from all of it, and that seems to be the case with Blood On The Tracks.

- Keno 2005

To listen to some soundclips from BLOOD ON THE TRACKS or to purchase it, click on any of these links:Blood on the Tracks

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