[StratocasterMan]

Well folks, the wait is over. Bob Dylan's new album 'Tempest' is out today! I'm listening to it on Spotify now. I'll save my impressions until I've made it through it a few times, but here's a place for comments. 
 

 
Give it a listen and post your thoughts... 

 

[antberg]

Nice,i got two album news from the top of the top ,Bob Dylan and Led Zeppelin..
How his new Album sound like?Anything like Modern Times and Together Through Life?

 

[StratocasterMan]

I think it does maintain the same basic sound as his recent albums. The centerpiece of the record is the title track, which in true Dylan fashion, clocks in at 13:54. It is Dylan's version of the story of the Titanic disaster.

 

[MorbidToaster]

It seriously sounds like he's on the edge of death. It just gets worse and worse. I love Dylan...but christ.

 

[antberg]

I agree with you Morbid Toaster ,but you know , at the end , his first five ,six albums to me and a lot of people are among the best of the best,la cremè de la cremè in the hall of fame,and to be honest i am not being exigent and or intending too much at this point right now,i just trying to appreciate what he's doing with not much criticism.Even outside music he has done a lot for me,unfortunately at some point in his life he chose to follow Christ teachings,anything against nonetheless...
Hahaha "the edge of death",that make me laugh!

 

[Achmedisdead]

The voice does sound kinda rough. I need to put more time into it to really have an opinion, but it was $5 on Amazon MP3 so I figured it was worth a shot.

 

[MorbidToaster]

Don't get me wrong (like I said before) I love Dylan. He's amazing. The greatest song writer of our time. Flat out, bar none. Maybe ever. 
 
And I like his early studio voice, but his Unplugged release was a disaster and his later stuff is the same way.

 

[StratocasterMan]

Quote:

Don't get me wrong (like I said before) I love Dylan. He's amazing. The greatest song writer of our time. Flat out, bar none. Maybe ever. 
 
And I like his early studio voice, but his Unplugged release was a disaster and his later stuff is the same way.

 
Wow. I definitely have a big difference of opinion on some of that. While Dylan has definitely had major dry spells, like most of the '80s and early '90s, I think he staged a serious renaissance beginning with 1997's 'Time Out Of Mind.' He followed that with 'Love and Theft' in 2001 and 'Modern Times' in 2006. I would rate all three of those albums as very, very good to excellent. I'd say all three of those albums are easily among his best ten works, and he's a guy who's put out about 34 studio albums.
 
I admit, in the mid-90's before 'Time Out Of Mind,' I had written him off and didn't think he'd release any new material that would come anywhere close to his classic stuff. 'Time Out Of Mind' completely changed that idea for me.
 
I thought his last real studio album, 'Together Through Life,' was somewhat of a letdown, and not up to the standards of 'Time Out Of Mind,' 'Love and Theft,' and 'Modern Times.' However, it wasn't much of a letdown for me since in my opinion he had been on almost a decade-long roll that rivaled his best creative periods ever. That whole era from '97 to '06 convinced me to never count him out again. He's been very prolific over his career and the quality of his material has had wide swings of inconsistency, but as long as he's alive it will never again shock me if he puts out something great, or something off-the-wall.
 
I'm still holding off on my opinion of the new one because I want to spend some more time listening to it and it's only been out for a day. 

 

[MorbidToaster]

I feel like you think I'm talking about his song writing. I just think his voice has gotten progressivly worse.
 
He will always be a fantastic song writer.
 
Quote:

 
Wow. I definitely have a big difference of opinion on some of that. While Dylan has definitely had major dry spells, like most of the '80s and early '90s, I think he staged a serious renaissance beginning with 1997's 'Time Out Of Mind.' He followed that with 'Love and Theft' in 2001 and 'Modern Times' in 2006. I would rate all three of those albums as very, very good to excellent. I'd say all three of those albums are easily among his best ten works, and he's a guy who's put out about 34 studio albums.
 
I admit, in the mid-90's before 'Time Out Of Mind,' I had written him off and didn't think he'd release any new material that would come anywhere close to his classic stuff. 'Time Out Of Mind' completely changed that idea for me.
 
I thought his last real studio album, 'Together Through Life,' was somewhat of a letdown, and not up to the standards of 'Time Out Of Mind,' 'Love and Theft,' and 'Modern Times.' However, it wasn't much of a letdown for me since in my opinion he had been on almost a decade-long roll that rivaled his best creative periods ever. That whole era from '97 to '06 convinced me to never count him out again. He's been very prolific over his career and the quality of his material has had wide swings of inconsistency, but as long as he's alive it will never again shock me if he puts out something great, or something off-the-wall.
 
I'm still holding off on my opinion of the new one because I want to spend some more time listening to it and it's only been out for a day. 

 

[StratocasterMan]

Quote:

I feel like you think I'm talking about his song writing. I just think his voice has gotten progressivly worse.
 
He will always be a fantastic song writer.
 

 
It may be that I'm just completely used to his voice and the changes in it over time. I've been listening to Dylan for so long that his voice doesn't strike me as odd or less than ideal. It just sounds like Dylan to me and seems natural. I'm so used to it that it just fits the music to me. 
 
Sometimes I think he intentionally plays tricks with his voice. For instance, when 'Nashville Skyline' came out in 1969, most people agree that his voice on that album sounds a lot different than it ever had previously. It really fit the country feel of the album. At the time it was attributed to him quitting smoking, which I think he took up again later. Also, on 'Love and Theft,' he suddenly started "crooning" (for lack of a better term) in a way he never had before that.
 
I understand where you're coming from, though, because many people think Dylan can't sing or don't like his voice. I've heard that from lots of people over the years. It never seems that way to me, but I think that's a very common reaction.
 
I think some of the greatest artists ever actually have pretty strange or unique voices, but maybe that's part of their appeal. Besides Dylan, three examples I would name are Neil Young, Willie Nelson, and Johnny Cash. I'm a big fan of all of them, but I've heard people say about each of them that they can't sing or have bad voices. I've heard people say about both Neil Young and Willie Nelson that they have a "nasally" quality to their voices. Also, on most Johnny Cash records, I've heard the argument that he isn't singing at all or even attempting to sing. For the most part, I would agree. Johnny Cash more or less spoke his vocals and relied on the strong bass quality of his voice.
 
It's odd, because at the same time as I would consider those four guys some of the greatest singers ever, probably none of them are technically great singers. I don't think they sing like a voice coach would train someone to sing, but they manage to use the uniqueness of their voices as an instrument anyway. They seem to use the flaws in their voices to their advantage. It helps them stand apart from the crowd. After awhile, their voices just seem fitting.
 
I'm just wondering, would you consider Young, Nelson, or Cash great singers? Do any of their voices detract from their music for you the way Dylan's voice seems to?

 

[MorbidToaster]

I wouldn't consider any of them particularly great singers in a technical sense. I love Cash, and don't mind Young or Nelson (and like a lot of their music). I also love earlier Dylan (basically the 'Greatest Hits' Dylan). I just haven't been able to get used to some of the changes. I'll still listen to the music, but it's not for his voice.
 
Quote:

I'm just wondering, would you consider Young, Nelson, or Cash great singers? Do any of their voices detract from their music for you the way Dylan's voice seems to?

 

[calaf]

I gave Tempest a quick listen and I agree it is a bit of a rehash of his great "renaissance trio" (I consider Love and Theft one of the top three Dylan albums of all times). Only track I really liked so far was the Titanic one (for the lyrics really). Certainly worth going through it a few times to enjoy it fully  (I confess I had trouble staying focused for the a full 14'...)
 
BTW by far the best Titanic song I have ever heard was written by Francesco de Gregori an Italian songwriter who is a huge fan of Dylan. If you are curious here is a link to the album on spotify
http://open.spotify.com/album/4ULPS5x7HAKnwcjpLPXS2X

 

[calaf]

and, since this is a headphile forum, kudos to Jack Frost for the usual beautiful sitting-in-the-living-room-with-you production

 

[Octopus]

You do realise 'Jack Frost' is Dylan, right? Just checking

 

[betavince]

Quote:

 
It may be that I'm just completely used to his voice and the changes in it over time. I've been listening to Dylan for so long that his voice doesn't strike me as odd or less than ideal. It just sounds like Dylan to me and seems natural. I'm so used to it that it just fits the music to me. 
 
 

 
I agree wholeheartedly.  He sounds like Dylan, just older.  But then I tend to like singer/songwriters with less than ideal voices.  Like you said, I always thought they somehow compensated in their delivery, that they're more expressive.  
 
I haven't listened to Dylan in years.  When I was younger I felt he changed my life, his music opened doors I didn't know were there.  But I stopped listening to him in the 70's, with few exceptions.  So this album, from what I've heard so far, is a really pleasant surprise.   I haven't heard the whole thing yet, but Duquesne Whistle, Early Roman Kings and Scarlet Town are sterling examples of the art of songwriting.  And like calaf said, the production is excellent.  So far I'm really enjoying this album.