Customer Reviews

I'm Not There

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is an awesome compilation.. All star line up.. A very well put together project..Best thing I've heard I a while.

I've come to think of Bob Dylan as the Homer of modern pop, rock, folk and alt country music. As such, his songs have the universality, depth and resiliancy to allow for other artists to re-examine and re-interpret his material. That's what's going on in this huge collection of thirty-two covers. Some of the artists included have the chops to pull it off and bring something new to the songs; some don't. Nevertheless, this is a collection worth owning, both for die-hard Dylan fans, and for those who either ain't quite sure or are just being introduced to his particular genius.

The songs range from the classic ("Just Like a Woman")to the relatively obscure ("I Dreamed I Saw St.Augustine")and are drawn from almost all stages of Dylan's career, except perhaps the most recent. The artists include those in the mainstream, like Jack Johnson, indie notables like Calexico and Cat Powers,and those unknown to most. Just who is Mira Brillotte? Her version of "As I Went Out One Morning" is wonderful.

There are some surprises and delights to be found amoung the thirty two tracks-- the old folkie, Ramblin Jack Elliot, does an amazing blue-grassy rendition of "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues", and Antony and the Johnsons truly rescue and reinvent the three-cord cliche of "Knockin'on Heaven's Door." Mason Jennings delivers the heart-breaking "Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll" with unadorned honesty.

And yes, there are also some forgettable tracks, including a couple that might make you want to press the "skip" button as fast as you can. But that's O.K. What you loose on the swings, you more than make up on the merry-go-round. Here's what you do: buy the collection and burn a compilation of your favorite tracks. Play them over and over and over.

The intricate guitar work on All Along The Watchtower makes Eddie Vedder's a respectable rock cover, while Sonic Youth's interpretation of I'm Not There has a vaguely menacing start that morphs into the melancholy; it's quite unusual to hear this band doing a tender ballad with such feeling. The style changes to appealingly arranged country-folk with Jim James & Calexico on Going Down To Acapulco and stays in that genre as Richie Havens performs a jittery take of Tombstone Blues.

Stephen Malkmus' mid-tempo Ballad of a Thin Man impresses with its instrumental flourishes, Cat Power's Memphis Blues likewise charms with its instrumentation and Yo La Tengo's Fourth Time Around is a sensitive understated gem. The mood turns exotic on Dark Eyes with its oriental-sounding percussion, then explodes exuberantly on Karen O's edgy Highway 61 Revisited. Roger McGuinn & Calexico does a subdued but moving version of One More Cup of Coffee whilst The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll gets a typical acoustic guitar singer-songwriter treatment by Mason Jennings.

I love the swirling, uptempo Billy by Los Lobos as well as Mark Lanegan's brooding Man in the Long Black Coat. Mira Bilotte takes a pop approach to As I Went Out One Morning but it pales beside Malkmus & Lee Ranaldo's brief but atmospheric Can't Leave Her Behind and Sufjan Stevens' memorable Ring Them Bells with its frequent tempo changes. Just Like a Woman is sung in a soft, whispery voice by Charlotte Gainsbourg while the ecstatic I Wanna Be Your Lover by Yo La Tengo stands out.

Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova's old-style folkie You Ain't Goin' Nowhere is quite appealing but Ramblin' Jack Elliott's bluegrass rendition of Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues is a real treasure, soulful and absorbing. The hard-rock Wicked Messenger and Tom Verlaine's sleepy Cold Irons Bound don't resonate much with me, nor does Mason Jennings' The Times They Are A Changing which attempts to imitate Dylan's original with harmonica and all.

It's a matter of taste; no tracks are really bad and there's plenty of variety. Overall, this is a surprisingly appealing album and a fitting tribute to Dylan. The most devoted fans and purists will probably reject the album outright but I've found many tracks of merit and as mentioned before, there's no total disaster anywhere. In its diversity, it brings to mind the Leonard Cohen tribute soundtrack I'm Your Man.

I'm a huge Bob Dylan fan so knew that he'd be giving artists covering his tunes a lot to work with. While I didn't know a lot of the artists, I anxiously awaited this album which seemed to take forever to arrive. All I can say is wow, wow, wow. There are a couple of tunes I probably won't burn to my IPOD, but overall this is a terrific album. I loved All Along the Watchtower (and I have about 4 or 5 covers of this), Man in the Long Black Coat, Senor, and Ring Them Bells. Highway 61 Revisited (Karen O and the Million Dollar Bashers) made me get up and dance; it goes to my "favourites" list. This is an album that is going to get a lot of play for me. I can't wait for the movie.

was a bit disappointed. not sure what I expected, but somehow the entire music felt 'blah'