May 15, 2025 at 3:16 PM

239. Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde (1966) [May 15th, 2025]

Dylan's defining work. Right on the heels of the also incredible Highway 61 Revisited, Blonde on Blonde serves as Bob's most unique outing by this point. From the opening drumline of "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35", to the closing seconds of "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands", this album is strange.

-How it feels to listen to to the harmonica in a Bob Dylan song

One of the reasons that i love Blonde on Blonde has to be the diversity. You have energetic, rock-ish tracks like "Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat" and "Obviously Five Believers", but you also have tracks like "4th Time Around", which is probably the funniest rock "diss track" ever made when you figure out the "Norwegian Wood" connection. The lyrics on this record are famously confusing, but i think thats a big part of the charm. Like, I don't need to exactly know what "Visions of Johana" is about, since the songs is great either way. It feels very funny, in a sort of William S. Burroughs-way. As much as I like H61R, this will always be my favorite Dylan record. I feel like it showcases him at the height of his creative peak, and even though he dropped some great albums afterward, nothing compares to this album, at least for me.

 

May 15, 2025 at 3:19 PM

Sidenote: I think the bold feature on my posts is broken, because like, half the text is bolded and I can't turn it back