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Changed ManBy DON BLANK, , . the songs on this specific record arc not so much songs but rather exer cises in tonal breath control . , . the subject matter -the something to do with the meaningful as it is—has beautiful strangers, vivaldis green jacket and the holy slow train11 From' notes by Bob Dylan.Bob Dylan's songs become more obscure with each succeeding album, while his new “sound ’(exemplified by electric guitars)seems to have gained him a larger audience (witness the sue cess of “Like a Hoi ling Stone' i This ironic phenomenon has has prompted charges of “commercialization'' by many of his confused old fans. Some simplydon't like his new sound.Nevertheless, Dylan's newest album, Highway 61 Revisited, isjust as worthy as any of his previous ones,Dylan has not sold out. He is still angry. His anger has simplytaken new forms and new ob-jects.In his first three albums, Dylan’s contention is that man's enemy is the system He rarely, if ever, sings any of these songs (never his so-called protest songs) in concert now.In his last three albums (be ginning, perhaps ironically, with Another Side of Bob Dylan) arcmore concerned with the individ ual He sings of alienation with the guilt on the alienated (Like a Rolling Stone” and Ballad of a Thin Man). He sings of sick people in a sick society (Desolation Row” and “Highwayvisited), and offers no simple answer as he did in his earlierprotest songs.As for the rest of the album , , there are two blues, with the traditional mood but modern hang ups. This is a tender, perhaps love, song: It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry, And there is one lighter song: “From a Buick 6,”Granted Dylan’s “sound” is different. The use of accompanists, however, adds a musician ship, which, whether you like it or not, surpasses anything Dylan could or can do on solo guitar.The notes, a fine poem by Dylan, are a pleasant change from the typical self--congradu-latory type on most albums.Dylan has changed (note even the difference in his mood on his album covers, say between The Times They Are A'Changing and his latest) And as hard as it might he to some, the change is. at the least, worth examining,n ---
Newspaper Details
Buffalo Spectrum
Buffalo, New York, US
Fri, Sep 17, 1965
Page 13
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
GB 14 Mar 2023
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