Rough and Rowdy Ways

[Love Expresso]

Somehow I had not listened to Bob Dylan's Rough And Rowdy Ways from 2020 until this morning, and it made me think about a lot of things which resonated with Mark and ODR. I must say I am totally blown away by everything on this album, every single song is great, many nothing short of a masterpiece, the band sounds outstanding, the lyrics, the songs, Bob's voice, what a powerful piece of art this is. And I must say it overwhelmed me artistically in a way I was hoping ODR would do but didn't. Bob's energy and creativity on this one is one of a kind.

I know it might annoy some people but the vinyl experience with this is really awesome! I wonder how comes that this album sounds SO good and ODR just sucks sonically compared with this. All the British Grove ado obviously is not able to reach this level of perfection. I have 70% of Bob's albums and I might consider this as one of his best!

ODR (on vinyl) sounds somewhat dull compared to Rough And Rowdy Ways. I know posts like these always get the same kind of replys about Bob's grueling voice and walking out the venue back in 2011 etc. But I strongly suggest to give this album a free minded and unprejudiced listen. Both are late in their lifes and careers, both have seen it all and have nothing to prove and both are great songwriters. But the artistic difference is soo big.

Maybe the other thread about Dolly Shop Man and the missed opportunities of a better ODR album was part of these thoughts. I also think that better combinations from the new songs would have been possible. Rough And Rowdy Ways however sounds perfect. Nothing, not the slightest thing, not a single note should be changed. Masterpiece!

LE

[hunter v2.0]

Rough And Rowdy Ways is a great album. What I like about Dylan is that he is open for trying new things. He involved the wonderful guitarist and producer Blake Mills in this project, and I hear a lot of input from Mills on the sound of the album.

Obviously, Bob is Bob, and he is an extraordinary and strange person, so comparing him to Mark is not really - I don't know - fair. But I really wish Mark would step outside his comfort zone more. At this stage of his life, this will of course not happen.

[Robson]

Of course it's a very good album. But after the first listen I didn't have any songs in my head. I have to go back to it to remember anything.

[Love Expresso]

Of course it's a very good album. But after the first listen I didn't have any songs in my head. I have to go back to it to remember anything.

Don't mean to be funny or sarcastic but that described exactly what I have with many of the new MK songs. I am totally lost in all those rain and train song titles, cannot relate to any of the new lyrics as I used (to could) and frankly the only song I could instantly hum would be Janine. It all sounds just too similar and has no unique characteristics apart from maybe two or three exceptions. But then again maybe I should listen to it more. Haven't done so for six weeks at least.

LE

[Robson]

After the first listen to the One Deep River album, I remembered every song. And that's the difference for me:)

[Love Expresso]

Astonishing.

LE

[Robson]

I'm listening to Rough And Rowdy Ways right now. I confirm: a very good album. Bob's voice has improved.

[Love Expresso]

Very nice! Enjoy!

Ok, so I will ODR give another spin. 

LE

[Robson]

Very nice! Enjoy!

Ok, so I will ODR give another spin. 

LE

Necessarily!

[Pottel]

RaRW deffo not a bad album, but NOTHING will come close to Time out of Mind, except maybe the next one, Love and Theft.
Anyways, as much as i agree with your "give dylan a chance coz he rules" action, i cannot agree with your feelings towards ODR, it is the first mk album in ages that i have kept playing, AND, that does NOT have a skipper.
then again, all of this objective, and therefore, fascinating.
 

[Wizard]

Tunnel 13 is far superior to murder most foul. Murder most foul is too long and very self indulgent with an endless pointless list of songs. Tunnel 13 has a better tune with marks beautiful guitar.
..

[Rolo]

Rough And Rowdy Ways is a great album. What I like about Dylan is that he is open for trying new things. He involved the wonderful guitarist and producer Blake Mills in this project, and I hear a lot of input from Mills on the sound of the album.

Obviously, Bob is Bob, and he is an extraordinary and strange person, so comparing him to Mark is not really - I don't know - fair. But I really wish Mark would step outside his comfort zone more. At this stage of his life, this will of course not happen.

A time ago, i was on a conversation about this with my dear friend Brunno Nunes.

For people like us, there is a lot of changes thru DS/MK discography. Since the rock/reggae/folk/bluesy from the early days until the celtic/train/jazzy recent stuff.
We can isolate MK from the songs andwe analyse his style thru the changes. And we can see that there is a lot of changes thru his career. But this changes are only about what surrounds Mark. The character is always the same.

I often got the question: - How you can listen to an artist that every song sounds the same?
In a certain way, their are right. It's not about the differences of the songs, but about the energy.
All DS/MK songs are soft paced, low pitched, and got a non agressive mix. So, the ambient is "always" the same.

Thinking about the Dylanesque side of MK, in my opinion, th closest that MK got from Bob was the Privateering album. It's cristal clear that Mark was inspired by that tour with Bob and his recent blues albums (Modern Times and Together Through Life)

Well, this subject could generates a ethernal discussion LOL

[dustyvalentino]

I'm not sure how much the tour influenced Privateering. Would need to check the dates, but they played some songs from the record on the tour and they were recording the day after it finished.

[Rail King]

It's very interesting that you should praise the production of Rough and Rowdy Ways, and seem to prefer it over that of One Deep River.

In a funny way, I think that Bob Dylan's late albums are superior to Mark's in terms of production, whereas Mark's songwriting, in my opinion, is by far superior to Bob's. That's exactly the opposite of how both artists are commonly seen.

I have no idea why Bob's albums sound so great and what they have (sonically speaking) that Mark's don't have to the same extent. But it's true. There's a sonic depth in them that I love. Maybe it has something to do with the band playing live, and the lack of tinkering. I don't know.

On Mark's plus side, he keeps writing songs that wow me both lyrically and musically. Whereas Bob, as much as I love him, often just recombines what he finds in books or on old records. He gets away (legally) with a song like Beyond the Horizon (which is a 1:1 melodic copy of the classic Red Sails in the Sunset) only because that original was written in 1935. The same is true for his lyrics. He makes them sound fantastic, yes, but they're nowhere nearly as well-crafted as Mark's. The comparison of Murder Most Foul and Tunnel 13 illustrates this quite nicely.

[Rolo]

I'm not sure how much the tour influenced Privateering. Would need to check the dates, but they played some songs from the record on the tour and they were recording the day after it finished.

My thoughts are that Mark started to write his 'Bob oriented songs' since the tour with him was confirmed. Maybe he listened thru Bob's records (playng along) and learning the songs for the 'jamming' with Bob.
During the 2011 tour (with BD), his stage presence was changed. Mark was very energetic, playing astonishing great and trying new stuff. In my opinion, his stage presence and songwritting on that tour was totally influenced by Dylan.

Well, that is my view about it.