Why is Bob Dylan good?

[Winston]

-> Music Forum

Being named Bob is the only redeeming quality I can spot. It's hard to get really pissed off at a guy named Bob, no matter how awful he sounds.

[Dis]

I'll take Bob Marley over Bob Dylan. I would say it's an era thing, but I do like some other music from way back then. It's just a musical style I don't care for.

[Hercules]

Re: Why is Bob Dylan good?

Originally posted by Dis
I don't get it. What am I missing?

A simple twist of fate.

[bipolarbear]

Re: Re: Why is Bob Dylan good?

Originally posted by LordShiva


The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind.

[Bkeela]

Highway 61 Revisited and Blood on the Tracks are works of genius. The imagery he paints with his lyrics is sublime. They are albums I can just lie down and lose myself in.

I love all of his 70's albums, especially Desire (which features surely one of his greatest songs - Hurricane) and Street Legal.

I even love his 80's Christian rock albums, but after Under the Red Sky things start to go downhill for me. His latest albums are critically acclaimed, but they do nothing for me at all.

[bipolarbear]

The Freewheeling Bob Dylan, and his first album 9though mostly covers) are pretty awesome too.

[Cort Haus]

Jimmy Hendrix made Bob Dylan's existence worthwhile IMO.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Originally posted by SlowwHand
If he has a "role model", it's Woody Guthrie.
How can one criticize that influence in music?

Commie lover.

[Jaguar]

First of all, the lyrics. I'd consider him the best lyricist ever. His lyrics rarely form a clear narrative, but he can evoke images really effectively and his rhymes always seem to come easily.

You said you'd never compromise
With the mystery tramp, but now you realize
He's not selling any alibis
As you stare into the vacuum of his eyes
And ask him, "do you want to make a deal?"

Obviously, his songs are just really good in general. That explains why Johnny Cash, Joan Baez, Judy Collins, Jimi Hendrix, the Birds, Guns N Roses, Peter Paul and Mary, etc have chosen to cover them. A lot of well-loved musicians in several different genres became popular by covering Dylan.

And then there's the whole cultural icon and blah blah blah thing, which I don't really care about, but it does mean he's pretty significant.

If you don't like his voice, fine, but he is the greatest songwriter ever.

[Drake Tungsten]

He wasn't even the best songwriter of the '60s. Paul McCartney was...

[Jaguar]

I'm willing to admit that it's pretty close.

[Nostromo]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten


He wasn't even the best songwriter of the '60s. Paul McCartney was...

McCartney is certainly one of the best songwriters of '60s. But the best? He has strong competition from John Lennon. Anyway, most of my favorite Beatles songs are from Lennon.

[Jaguar]

McCartney > Lennon. - FACT!

[Drake Tungsten]

Jaguar just regained my love.

[Ninot]

Lennon was better than McCartney, and without each other, they were both far worse off.

but Lennon wrote far better songs than McCartney post 1970