i just bought three highly acclaimed cds from three artists that i admire, and i like a grand total of none of them.
i really need to listen more to thom yorke's "the eraser", but after three or four listens, i find it waaaaay too electronic. his voice needs a baritone behind him. not digging it.
and although i also really need to listen more to "one day it will please us to remember even this", i still found everything about it to be extremely sophomoric. it just, i don't know, it didn't grab me. in fact, it shoved me away.
this is both shocking, mostly because i really dig them as artists.
which leaves me with "modern times" by bob dylan, whom i just bought concert tickets for. i love his most recent albums. his raw voice and deep storytelling is perfect for folk and blues - and especially for this advanced form from the stuff that made him famous. his work has been very mature, very incisive, very original.
this album, however, seems lazy.
the lyrics are beautiful but, at times, uncrafted. the melodies aren't really developed either; you pick up the hook after a minute or so, and they don't progress, and they become repetitive and boring. and his voice just seems to be going through the motions. to say i'm disappointed would be an understatement. dylan is an idol of mine. this is so below the standards that i have for him.
and yet, rolling stone, among others, gave these albums four stars each.
and i need to ask myself, "what am i missing?"
or, rather, "what do they hear?"
either way, they've got one more week on my ipod shuffle to win me over.
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