As Magnificent As It Is Powerful

This is Bob Dylan at his most raw, and most beautiful. The power he controls is nothing short of amazing. I need to swim in this music at least once a year. Bob is not an opera singer, but this isn't opera either. Still, his voice seems o have the power to move mountains, if not souls. Several other have mentioned how intense the version of Idiot Wind is. They weren't exaggerating. There are a number of other gems though, Shelter From The Storm, You're A Big Girl Now, One To Many Mornings stand out in my mind. Really, there isn't a bad track in this collection.

Get it today, you won't be disappointed!!!

Great live album

This album gets a bad reputation. Why? It's a very good live album with some really good songs.



The album kicks off with "Maggie's Farm". I've heard "Maggie's Farm" has been done to death by Dylan. Even if that is true, I really like this fast-paced version. It reminds me of one of Mr. D's best songs, "Subterranean Homesick Blues".



Dylan slows it down a bit with a mournful take of "One Too Many Mornings". While it's majorly different thatn "Maggie's Farm", it's just as good.



I was, however, kind of disappointed with this version of "Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again". I love that song, in it's original version. However, this feels like a cover by some idiot rocker who wanted to be Dylan. I mean, he skips three verses! How can you do justice to "Mobile" without the lines about the senator, preacher, and rain man?



The next couple of songs are disappointing. Maybe I need to hear the original take of "Oh, Sister", but I don't like this cut because Dylan whines his way through it.



"Lay Lady Lay" also was deteriorated. The fine original version is thrown out and replaced by an inferior, hard-rock take.



Thankfully, side two saves the album. A rock version of "Shelter From the Storm" starts the side. I find this take to be better than the acoustic original. And "Shelter from the Storm" is one of my favorite songs from Blood on the Tracks.



"You're a Big Girl Now" is kinda disappointing. While the version on Blood On the Tracks is excellent, this got the extreme country take, was made three minutes longer, and suddenly became a snooze. I love the original, but why did this have to be countrified? He should've thrown in "Tangled Up In Blue" and/or "Meet Me In the Morning" instead. Those are hard songs to countrify.



"I Threw It All Away" is one of those songs that I like, but I don't know why.



They say "Save the best for last". Dylan managed that exquisitley with a 10:23 rendition of the best song on Blood On the Tracks, "Idiot Wind". The lyrics were edited to make the song even more intense--"Visions of your chestnut mare" was traded for "Visions of your smoking tomb", "Someday you'll be in the ditch..." was traded for "Someday you'll be in the grave..." etc. Despite a slight lyrical messup (Dylan sings "Mou-teeth" once), This version simply blows the original out of the water. And that's hard to do. WHY ISN'T THIS VERSION (OR ANY VERSION) OF "IDIOT WIND" A HIT? SOMEBODY HAD BETTER HAVE A VERY GOOD EXPLANATION FOR THIS.



Let the naysayers be naysayers and go buy this.