Two giants, two legends. Two albums that are, in fact, quite disappointing. While Bruce Springsteen is surely an interesting project, anyone who saw the Seeger Sessions Band in concert would agree that live, these songs are ten thousand times better than as they are in this studio version. I can only name the terrific "Shenandoah" as the really worthwhile track here, a majestic song that remind of the pure american spirit of group like The Band. The rest, after a while, is honestly a little too much of a school exercise.
And what can you say about Bob Dylan? He is the master. He is.... a man that cant do no wrong. Well, except that in what is his first album of new songs in five years he hardly wrote any song, maybe a couple, the nice Workingman's Blues and the interesting Ain't Talkin'. The rest was already written by a long list of bluesmen, old folksingers, even an old rock'n'roll glory like Chuck Berry. Even the lyrics it seems were already written by a XIX american poet, Henry Timrod, and even the latin poet Ovid. If you like it this way.... Not a bad album, not a masterpiece tho. Another school exercise.
1 comment:
Maybe you're right, but you can be wrong at the same time.
I prefere a kind of judgement as this one, from Derek Barker ("ISIS" editor of course):
"..I thoroughly enjoy Dylan's borrowing, especially when they come from a tradition and genre of music that I love, i.e. the blues. Those who think that Dylan is in any way unique in these borrowings is either deluding thmeselves or has an extremely scant knowledge of the workings of the folk and blues process. This recycling is almost standard practice; it always has been and I very much hope always will be. There is however a line that should not be crossed. Led Zeppelin has, on more than one occasion, undoubtely stepped over that line; Bob Dylan has not"
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