I am in the midst of a Dylan phase. I already have all of what most people consider the classics, but my collection stops after Blood on the Tracks, picking up again at Time Out of Mind. I am also missing a couple from the early 70s, like Planet Waves, Billy the Kid, etc.

So, if I were to go buy one, two or three (at most...let's not break the bank on what might not be such great albums) Dylan discs today, what do you recommend, and why?

I must warn you, I don't like dated, 80s production. I've heard some of his work from then (Empire Burlesque) sounds pretty bad in that way. But I'm pretty open otherwise. Subject matter doesn't put me off, so things like Slow Train Coming and Saved won't bother me if they are any good.

Wise music fans: help.
(Dumb ones: shhh.)

Is nothing sacred?

No.

I am putting together demos for my new band. This is a song we're going to do. I wrote it a few years ago.

http://rapidshare.de/files/25874983/Determined.mp3.html

Yes, but that was almost 40 years ago...when Brian could sing. There's a reason for the backing band to handle vocals. Brian can't. That would have been awesome, though, in 1966 or 1967. Absolutely priceless.

When I get bored, I get drunk and sometimes record BW songs. This is a good example of that. Today when I got home from work I recorded it. Obviously it isn't intended to be too serious (i.e., I know it sucks!). But it sure was fun. Baseball's on...

 http://rapidshare.de/files/25688745/Baseball.mp3.html

I think the downer about that clip is that it makes it seem like Darian was the one who sequenced the 2nd Movement with Brian just going along. At least that's the impression I had gotten from it, and it could've been 100% Brian.

This is based on nothing but an absoilute hunch on my part, but I wouldn't at all be surprised if Darian did sequence that, and most of the rest besides. My somewhat sad guess is that Brian was more there to approve or disapprove than anything else at this stage. That isn't to take anything away from the brilliant music he wrote, but I think that 99.999% of Brian's input to BWPS was done 37 (or whatever) years earlier.

Where did you hear the sequencing bit on the DVD with Brian and Darian was staged? I mean, it makes sense, but I've never heard or read that.

Are you kidding? Just watch it--hardly the same "sitting around Brian's house workshopping" as the actual "Darian-cam" footage. Staged... Kind of like Jeff gathering the band for the pep talk about "we're not trying to raise smile, but just to perform an album here..." as if they needed that talk. So much of that doc was clearly for the benefit of the cameras, it was pretty off-putting, I thought. Great to have, but just too phony.  I've said this many times and stand by it: the Beach Boys need a real documentary series of everyone saying any- and everything. Not just Brian's people, not just the rosy Beach Boys story. Everyone about every album. Hell, a full DVD of Smile would be great, including old footage of Carl (such as from the IJWMFTT stuff), anything of Dennis on the matter, and new and old footage of the others.  Never happen, but it should.

Big fodaing deal. No thanks. I'd rather watch a show by the Wondermints, frankly.

I did, in 2002! And I passsed up a Mike and Bruce show to see the 'Mints! 

Good move. If they'd ever come to Minneapolis, I'd do the same.

Has anyone else read this book, edited by Jonathan Scott? It features interviews from across Dylan's career. I really, really enjoyed it. And to be honest, it raised my already high opinion of Dylan and made me think that his reputation for being difficult or cryptic in interviews is overblown--he was remarkably clear and consistent, although probably not about the things interviewers wanted to know.

Great read.

He also thought of the Good Vibrations triplets, made the first music video, brought world music to the public and most likely invented electricity, in his opinion.

Old Rake and Luther, were you there?

Nope.

Actually I have perfect pitch and work in the music biz for a living..

I don't know, perhaps I am just looking at the glass half full.   Maybe the performence wasn't perfect, but it made me psyched to think about a reunion show DVD w/vocal overdubs/sweetening.. or any type of new BB's studio project.  The voices are still there.

If you have perfect pitch, then you have no standards. Mike sings poorly. It is a fact. And if you want a reunion with vocal overdubs and sweetening, then what the f*** is the point? A bunch of old men who have hated each other for decades singing badly together but overdubbed and reverbed to hell...yeah. Look, it's the Beach Boys.

Big fucking deal. No thanks. I'd rather watch a show by the Wondermints, frankly. Or any decent contemporary pop band. And I know that sounds negative or grumpy but big fucking deal. It's true.

(Crucify away...)

Big Lebowski...I guess I always liked that it had a Beefheart song in it. That's about it, though. Never loved it the way many of my friends did.

You guys are buggin.. Mike didnt sound too bad aside from some slip ups.. and Bruce sounded great on California Girls...

I'm impressed that at their age they sound as good as they do..

Apparently your pitch is bad. Seriously, Mike wandered around notes with a breathy--no, breathless--tone. He sounds like sh*t.

Producing a movie and producing an album are different, so be sure to separate those.

That said, producing an album can mean a lot of different specific things, too, although it all adds up to producing an album--that is, getting it done. Some producers are almost artists themselves, performing on the album if need be, fleshing out arrangements, making changes to tunes, etc. Others are more in charge of just making sure things are happening on time and on budget, handling the organizational tasks. And of course there is a lot of room in between.

Generally when you see the term Executive Producer, it means one of two things:

1) I fronted the money, or
2) My name might help this project

And I don't think Mike's voice is that bad, especially in Cool Head Warm Heart...

That is specifically what I listened to and despised. He is struggling to find pitches, wavering both ways, and very weak. I know he's aging, but that was pathetic. If that's professional singing, I can do without it.

I'll post mine at some point, but does anybody else hate it when somebody names a current movie as their favorite?  It always seems to me like eating a new food for the first time and immediately declaring it the greatest food ever.  Doesn't it need to seek in and have at least one repeat viewing?  This happens all the time I notice, and one example is when Lord of the Rings came out.  Every site I went on, people were saying it was their favorite movie.  To me, this is the shallowest of thinking and really shows a person's lack of history with film.  Eh, just wondering others' thoughts.

By the way, I knew that this threat would bring Ian back.  No way could he resist a film thread.  As much as I love movies, that guy has me beat on so many levels.

Don't you think it is possible to know immediately, even as you're seeing a movie, that it will be among your favorites? If the experience is exciting enough, or touching, or challenging or whatever you use to judge films, then I'd think it is possible.

That said, you see that problem all the time with both movies and albums: someone's Top 10 albums of all time includes six released within the past two years...

Mike's singing is atrocious. Wow. Absolutely awful. He sounds worse than Brian does now (which sometimes is pretty bad) despite staying in a very limited range. I'm surprised, having not heard Mike sing in a long time.

The Paper Chase, Now You Are One of Us. And I'm going to have nightmares because of it; it's freaking me out. Great production by John Congleton (again), though.

I can listen to albums or watch (absolutely terrible) TV or read for 24 hours straight, but for some reason I struggle to sit through a movie without getting bored. I average going to fewer then three or four movies a year, and when I watch them at home, I just get bored and revert to the aforementioned pasttimes 1-3.

That said, for non-music movies, I would say I like these. I claim no particular insight or expertise. I just like these.

Boogie Nights
Rushmore
The Royal Tenenbaums
The Princess Bride
Gummo
Mallrats
Chasing Amy (well, half of it or so)
Most Woody Allen movies
Most Bill Murray movies

Wow, you'd put Mike in last place for voice? I dont know man, I mean passed all the merdaty things he's done, I think Mike's voice is definitely an important piece of 'The Beach Boys'

I know he was a main factor, and obviously was featured most for at least the first five years or so, but I dislike his voice. Strongly. It annoys me. Dennis' is the only voice that is technically worse than his, but at least Dennis' voice had a character that I enjoyed sometimes. Mike's...I like a few of his leads, but honestly not many. This isn't meant as a knock on how he's a shithead, either (although he is). It's just where I would rank those categories.

My feelings.

Voice:
1. Brian
2. Carl
3. Al
4. Bruce
5. Dennis
6. Mike

Production ability:
1. Brian
2. Carl
3. Al
4. Dennis
5. Bruce
6. Mike

Songwriting ability:
1. Brian
2. Dennis
3. Carl
4. Al
5. Bruce (I realize Bruce was a skilled writer, but I don't like his songs)
6. Mike

Instrumental skills:
1. Bruce
2. Brian (I love Brian's playing, but it is a pounding feeling, whereas I think Bruce plays with more nuance)
3. Carl
4. Al
5. Dennis
6. Mike

The first half of this album is good. The second half is pretty bad. The production doesn't sound like the already-then-outdated 80s muzak sh*t of Imagination, but on the other hand, the vocals sound like sh*t. Win some, lose some.

It's yucky.

While that site is fun to review, please note that it isn't accurate, and there likely is no really accurate source. After all, it isn't as if all of the charts were ever formally written out. If you've got the background, I recommend using your ears as the final judge. If not, well, have a good time. The above website is a good resource and a lot of fun.