Grateful Dead Music Forum

this is really bugging me. everyone is saying that 'modern times' is dylans BEST album. i belive im speaking for alot of hard core dylan fans when I say WTF!?!? its cool he dose old blues songs, but c'mon people, obviously those who belive that have never heard 'Desire', 'Blood on the Tracks', 'Hard Rain', 'Blonde on Blonde', must i continue?

I am a "Hard Core" Dylan fan, and I think Modern Times is a good album. It is not fair to say it his best, but it is fair to say that it is the best of this Dylan era. Just as Blonde on Blonde, Blood on the Tracks and Desire are the best of their era. Blonde on Blonde being the pinnacle of an unparrelled journey.

I will disagree a bit with Hard Rain, but a good live album none the less.

I listen to Modern Times quite often, and really enjoy it. Dylan has always been able to adapt the times to fit his prespective, and that often involves bringing the past to the present.

great song writer, one of the best ever, theres a gem on every record !!!! Can't miss as far as the songs go

yea, but i dont think he wrote any of the songs on modern times.. or did he write one or two?

th reason i bought it is because he dose "someday baby" wich jerry band did. but it is a good album... not the "best" album

Hmmm... well I saw him about a year ago, and it was wicked boring. But then again, he's supposed to be good live on and off. I think overall though he's just running out of steam.

I saw him live about a year ago too. All he does is play piano, it sucks. I will never go see him again. He should have quit while he was ahead.

I thought Love and Theft was a much better representation of this era of Dylan(which may just be his last era). Poor Boy is just a lovely song.

I saw him two years ago. Awful. Couldn't understand a word he was saying, even when he wasnt singing. Never once played the guitar, just piano, which sounds terribly repetive by the 3rd song. It was really boring. Your right, he shoulda stopped awhile ago.

I've seen Dylan when he was clear as anything, seen him when he was drunk off his ass and slurring, seen him somewhere in between. I love hhis music,I love his songs, but seeing him live is a coin flip

spacehead333 wrote:I saw him live about a year ago too. All he does is play piano, it sucks. I will never go see him again. He should have quit while he was ahead.

give the man some respect he's bob dylan, id like to see you do any better

I was a dylan fan years before I listened to anything from the dead. I have enjoyed all the albums from his later "era" Out of "time out of mind" (underated album) "love and theft" and "modern times" I do enjoy love and theft the most. Modern times is a great album but the style of songs never changes or vaires on that album. I think love and theft is the most varied album since desire. I've seen him live 5 times I think and it was reallly hit or miss. I enjoy most live dylan pre 78 and after after 88 he hit another good stride until about 92. It's really hit or miss now. It doesn't help that he seems to play all of his shows at stadiums and outdoor gigs (which isn't the place to see dylan imo) Stop playing the barns Bob!

Mr. West I agree ith ya. I too have seen Dylan a number of times and as they say he is hit or miss, but hell who aint?

Those who say things such as "it was wicked boring"..."All he does is play piano, it sucks"... Your right, he shoulda stopped awhile ago": I dont think you understand the man.

He aint givin in and he aint giving up, thats what he is about, that is what he has always been about.

There will come a day when people will wish that they had seen Dylan, just as people here often wish they would have seen Jerry.

Be thankful for what you were able to see, and next time listen instead of bitching...

I'll tell you the most hit or miss artist of all time Van Morrision. He can put on one hell of a show or the worst show you've ever been to. I saw him one time and even the gate crashers should have felt ripped off by the performance.

Dylan is Dylan. You can appreciate him or hate him but you can't deny his influence and brilliance. I have been seeing him since the late 70's and he has done some of the best shows I've seen and some of the worst. He suffered a back issue with wearing his guitar a little while back and started playing piano exclusively until it healed. Didn't see any of the "piano" shows, but most were disappointed. Would you have been if you knew he was going to play piano the whole show?
As for his albums, Time Out of Mind is my fave of his current crop, and I would put it up against some of his earlier work, but I still don't think it touches Blood on the Tracks or Desire. Nothing ever will, but why should it? He's a different person and shouldn't have to be churning out the same shit year after year. I remember a Lou Reed quote: "I don't want to keep writing "Son of Walk on the Wild Side" every time."

He was also in a different place in the late seventies then now. Blood on the tracks and desire were written after a tramatic event in his life (the divorce of his wife sarah.) I mean just one album before on "planet waves" (excellent album as well) we hear a dylan that is happy and in love (forever young, and the wedding song) but it sounds sorta dry for him. Not skeptical or dark enough for the average dylan fan. (i'll say it again planet waves is an awsome album I'm not trying to knock it) It's sorta like hunter and sugar magnolia. The only time hunter really just writes about being stupid and fallling in love. Then the very next album "blood on the tracks" comes out and it's like a smack in the face. His creative juices are flowing again, becuase he is emotionaly charged about something again. I don't care if the entire album is pretty much in the key of E and played in open E. It's my favorite album of all time. In fact if I had to make a list of my top 20 favorite studio albums about 10 of them would be from mr. dylan.