Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde (1966)

[Tommy Walker]

I am a seasoned Dylan fan, so this is not my personal favorite album, but I will say that I have objectively deemed it Dylan's "best" album. It was his third (and last) in a string of mid 60s albums that were each mind-blowingly good on some level and collectively changed the musical landscape forever. The first, Bringing It All Back Home, featured him "plugging in" for the first time and firmly established him as more than just a folk act (famously alienating some of his early fans in the process), but lacked the cohesiveness of what would follow. Ultimately, what it represented was bigger than what it actually was. The second, Highway 61 Revisited, showed everyone the upper limit of what he was capable of. Dylan was very careful of every nuance, and, while it doesn't miss a step, it's almost too perfect. Blonde on Blonde was the follow up, and the only way you can follow up an album like Highway 61 (because you're not going to beat it at its own game) is to throw your insecurities aside and flex your muscles for the entire length of a double LP. I've always found it refreshing when Dylan doesn't take himself too seriously, which he doesn't here, but, at the same time, he's as cocky as ever. Taking heavily layered shots at everyone from John Lennon to Edie Sedgwick, it's like Dylan is telling everyone "I don't care what you think, but I know this is going to blow your mind." This is just one of those albums that every music fan should probably hear in its entirety, and the first Dylan album that I'd recommend to a new fan. Fair warning, though: it takes some getting used to, but once it takes hold of you, there's nothing like it.

 

[Mr. Shadow]

Re: Blonde on Blonde

It's a great album, but not my favorite Dylan.

I'm rather fond of Nashville Skyline.

 

[Death on Credit]

Re: Blonde on Blonde

Great review. If I had to carry only one album with me for the rest of my life, it would be Blonde on Blonde. The thing about that album is that I don't always even enjoy it, but it always stirs up feelings in me. After a few hundred listens, it still knocks me to the floor every time.

 

[Tommy Walker]

Re: Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde

I came across a quote by Dylan that sums up just how defiant and cocky he was around the time he made Blonde on Blonde (and does a better job of saying what I was trying to say above). He's talking about Blonde on Blonde and the two studio albums that preceded it:

"A lot of the stuff I've done, the last three things I've done on records, is beyond criticism. I'm not saying that because I think I'm any kind of god. I'm just saying that because I know."

This attitude really comes across on Blonde on Blonde. He knows how good it is and he doesn't care whether or not you know.