Ed Reviews The Classics
Blonde on Blonde: It’s really that good
Blonde on Blonde by Bob Dylan sure is one hell of an album, complete with bluesy riffs, witty lyricism and a metric fuck ton of harmonica.
The final album in Dylan’s 60s classic trilogy of albums, Blonde on Blonde is an absolutely phenomenal body of work. Having heard about the album so many times, I’ve always wondered “Is the album actually even that good?” Yes. It is that good.
Listening through the entire album, it’s quickly noticeable that there is an incredibly high level of quality all throughout the whole thing. There is not a single note, instrument or word that feels excessive, which is impressive considering the album is an hour and twelve minutes long.
The album opens up strong with “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35”. The instrumental aspect has this wonderful sloppy, almost falling-down-the-stairs sort of sound. When you couple that with vague lyrics that could either be referencing drugs, bible verses, or both, you got yourself a killer opening track.
Track four, “One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)”, is easily one of the best songs I have ever heard. It’s an incredible amalgamation of guitar, piano and organ all working together to build up to these euphoric choruses, all while Dylan sings about heartbreak and a relationship that never worked out.
The later songs on the album also don’t disappoint whatsoever. Normally by the 3/4 mark on an album of this length I would start to mentally clock out, but this album kept me consistently engaged. Tracks like “Absolutely Sweet Marie” and “Obviously Five Believers” have this intoxicating bounce to them and kept me listening until the very end.
The album closes with the eleven-minute folk odyssey “Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands”. A song that stays simplistic in its instrumentation in order to let Dylan’s excellent lyricism shine. Lines like, “But with the sea at your feet and the phony false alarm/ And with the child of the hoodlum wrapped up in your arms” can be appreciated so much more bybeing surrounded by minimal guitars and a light sprinkling of organ in the background.
I literally only have one issue with the entire album, and that lies in the harmonica solos on “Pledging My Time”. The song itself is an excellent blues track with great licks and really clever lyrics like, “Somebody got lucky/ but it was an accident.” However, the harmonica on this track leaves something to be desired, as it consists of lots of sustained high notes at a piercing volume. My dislike for this specific piece of the song comes more from the mixing rather than musicianship itself. It’s even possible that this might grow on me over time in future listens, of which there will certainly be many. This is not nearly enough, however, to make this album anything less than what it is; an absolute masterpiece.
I cannot stress enough how much I was absolutely floored by this album, you can bet your bottom dollar that as soon as record stores open up I’ll be running to find a copy of Blonde on Blonde on vinyl.
10/10
