Posted on 08/22/2006 10:20:10 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
Whether you like Dylan or not is neither here nor there. That does not change the fact that he is the most profilic and talented song writer of the Twentieth century. I don't particularly care for opera but I understand that Pavarotti is a great singer. I don't care for Hitchcock movies much but cannot deny he is one of the greatest directors ever.
Sinatra virtually invented modern pop singing!
And Lennon had fantastic range. It's hard to be belive that 'Twist and Shout' and Imagine is the same vocalist.
About 95% of Dylan's lyrics are apolitical.
Joel is the closest we have to Irving Berlin.
That's a classic folks!
Just out of curiosity--what do you make of Dylan's comments? In general, I mean, not in the particular. The way I see it, what he has stated more or less goes along with what I am saying. We all have our opinions.
My view of aesthetics is that it is subject to more objective standards than you appear to accept. To me Truth is Beauty and Beauty Truth.
In answer to your question I have only listened to Rap as the most recent music genre and had not noticed any reduction in production values or the sound per se. Most of the music I buy is older than that and I know that most is of terrific sound quality. Re-issues sound better than when they were first releashed. For example, the recordings of Sinatra with Dorsey are fantastic as are those of Jimmy Reed, the delta bluesman whose sound Dylan imitated in Highway 61 Revisited.
However, as to artistic creativity in general it appears to have vanished in the West generally replaced by a cynical contempt for traditional standards and an attempt to outrage. New Music is generally derivative and unimpressive when compared to periods of tremendous vitality. New Latin music has much greater appeal to me than new Rock or Jazz though Blues still retains some vitality. Visual art appears to be more fraud than inspiration as it has turned to open worship of Evil and ugliness. Movies are particularly perverse as they pursue the spread of depravity and anti-Americanism or attempt to dazzle with frensies special effects. Literature is characterized by such frauds as Gunther Grass with few glimmers of spiritual insight.
When Nietzsche declared God to be Dead he was speaking of for the the European Man. That spiritual death has unleashed the demons of nihilism into the Political World (another of Bob's fine songs) as well as the Cultural. You know something is happening but you don't know what it is.
Hi. Thanks. I "discovered" Dylan when I was in high school, maybe sweet sixteen...? Wore out The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan and became familiar with many, many subsequent tunes though I do not own any of his music at present.
I must check out that Love and Theft CD...
;^)
But it does sound like old music played very well. I liked it better than his past two.
Monty Python's Flying Circus -
"Four Yorkshiremen"
[ from the album Live At Drury Lane, 1974 ]
The Players:
Michael Palin - First Yorkshireman;
Graham Chapman - Second Yorkshireman;
Terry Jones - Third Yorkshireman;
Eric Idle - Fourth Yorkshireman;
The Scene:
Four well-dressed men are sitting together at a vacation resort.
'Farewell to Thee' is played in the background on Hawaiian guitar.
ROFL! That's gonna be Bob Dylan and his buddies in the Old Folks Home talking about the old days!
Dylan was more of a poet than a singer ; a disciple of jack Kerouac who loved America , as did Jack .
Van Morrison - another Kerouac fan .
" Dylan's got a voice that sounds likes fingernails on a chalkboard.
"
Maybe you can SING like Bob , but can you WRITE like Bob ?
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