Recently I have been playing this album again and again, because it really rocks! I love Bob’s 80s stuff. So this video just randomly showed up as a RU-vid suggestion, and I’m so glad I found your review! I really look forward to listening to your other Dylan album videos. Awesome!
I’ve been deep diving into Dylan for the last 3 or so years, I’ve heard every album a handful of times at this point but it’s so much fun revisiting and finding gems in these lesser appreciated albums (90 MPH is just awesome.) your series reviewing all of these records has been extremely valuable to me, I love watching while drinking coffee & I always learn something new. love your videos on Lou & Beefheart as well. also cool that you mention you’re from NC! I live in the Winston area.
Hello fellow NC guy Shane. I was born in Raleigh and grew up there and in Wilson. Living in the western NC mountains now. I've always loved NC and it is great to be back here. Thanks for your kind comments about my humble videos. I am happy that people enjoy them. Cheers! Jeff
I like the way if you give a negative about a song or album, you try and give a positive also. So pleased I found your channel. I always knew when did you leave heaven from Big Bill Broonzy which is a great version. There is a great live version of Bill doing that on youtube in a smoky nightclub
WOW Jeff, What an education you gave me on this album, I will hear it in a new light. I DO like Dylan's cover recordings always have. I look forward to the next!
Thanks, Kurt! You know, years ago I used to dislike this album like most people, until I took the time to try to understand what Dylan was doing (i.e., I stopped listening to, and reading, what everyone else was saying about it.....it blows my mind that even the long-time music journalism "experts" never seem to get Dylan......at least it sure seems that way to me.....no wonder he wrote "Ballad of a Thin Man"! haha!). Thanks again, Kurt. Your continued nice comments are very appreciated.
Maybe some of you are interested in this playlist, "Knocked Out Groove Roots": open.spotify.com/playlist/4e61hwRuO819XQmTP8narU?si=L5EuiWZJQiOE48HeDoSEtA&dl_branch=1
Great review Jeff, that 33 minutes went by quick...I’ve always liked “Down In The Groove and agree that it’s an improvement over the eighties-isms of the previous two albums. I think that it’s a fun record, and I tend to play it more than a lot of Bob’s albums - interesting parallel that you made with “Self Portrait”, which I also tend to play fairly often when I’m in a Dylan mood.. “Shenandoah”, “Silvio”, and Death Is Not The End” are some of my favorite Dylan tracks, and “Rank Strangers” (especially as done by The Stanley Brothers), in my opinion, is one of the greatest songs ever... And I like “When Did You Leave Heaven” - you’re right, it’s not a brilliant recording, but I just find it to be sort of affecting for some reason... It’s weird, I was just listening to Elvis’ “For The Heart” a few days ago in my car - I like the album that it’s on, “From Elvis Presley” Boulevard, Memphis Tennessee” - a maudlin classic...
Thanks, Thomas. I also listen to this album quite often (but then again, you are I are among the few who like Self Portrait too, so there must be something "wrong" with us, haha!). And yes, these old songs - gospel, country, show tunes, etc. - are just flat-out great songs to begin with, so with Dylan added to the mix, they become even better IMO. Hey, thanks again for the encouraging words, Thomas - it is nice to know others who enjoy these underappreciated Dylan albums. Jeff
Jeff its me again !!! like the review as always . I agree with much of what you say.While not saying its one of his best, its no way as bad as some would have you believe. Its got some really good cover versions ( "Rank Strangers," "Shenandoah" amongst others) I also like the originals "Silvio" & Death Is Not the End".Down In The Groove is no masterpiece but its alright and Dylans in pretty good voice throughout & the production is good..
You nailed it, Trevor. It is not a masterpiece, but it is an enjoyable album with some fine moments. That just about describes 90% of all the albums in my entire CD collection, so it can't be a bad thing. I wish many more people would hear likewise in this album and not act as if it was one of the worst things ever recorded. ;-)
@@CalicoSilver i think the negative reaction was also due to the 2 album releases before it .The critics were looking for a major statement of all original songs .
@@thetrevorosborne Yeah, I think you are right. I was on my "break from Dylan" phase at the time and was not buying, or even knowing about, Dylan albums during the '80s. But yes, I can imagine that after Empire and Knocked, fans might have started to become a bit frustrated.... Good point. However, we've all had 35 years to "get over it" by now, haha, and to approach these albums afresh. ;-)
I stopped buying every Dylan album at Desire so I haven't been keeping up with what's in them. Loved Self Portrait and look forward to listening to these interpretations of classics like Shenandoah and Rank Strangers. a Bluegrass classic by the Stanleys. There was a local musician who had a Bluegrass band he called "Rank Strangers", I thought that was pretty cool....
Yeah, I stopped buying Dylan albums after the Budokan release in 1979, and didn't start buying them again until 1997, almost 20 years later. This is an enjoyable album, IMO. Thanks for your comment.
This is the Dylan album with most negative reviews, but I like it and Silvio was actually played a lot on radio here in Sweden. Thanks for a good review.
Thank you, I just want to recommend my album Dan Savik Heading West on Spotify and RU-vid. I hope you like it. It would be great to have some American listeners. Greetings.
@@knockedoutloaded279 Yes I think Tom Petty was a very good musician and songwriter. I've never heard a song by Petty that wasn't a good or very good song. But I've never had any drive to buy anything by him because I doubt I'd listen to it much - perhaps because I have heard so much of it on the radio for decades. Same with Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, and many others like that. All very good music but I never have a desire to own any of it.
Compare the info on the CD you bought to the info listed on the Wikipedia entry for the Bob Dylan Complete Album Collection Vol. One to see if the box set version was remastered since your CD.
Jason, that box set was THE best CD purchase I ever made. Other than Quadrophenia, I'd keep that box set if I had to give away every other CD in my collection. As for the remaster info, you can get that by going to Wikipedia and looking up the box set there, and it will give you all the dates of each of the CD's remastering info. I think they all sound great.
Again, I don't have my old original CDs to compare the box set to, but yeah, they all sound great to my ears, and some of them VERY great. The remastering info is on the Wikipedia entry for the Bob Dylan Complete Album Collection Vol. One.
This is one of my favorite Dylan albums. Almost everyone seems to hate it. I consider Dylan up through Blonde On Blonde to be mostly severely overrated - a lot of songs with a couple killer lines and a lot of meaningless filler, aside from maybe "Seven Curses". My favorite Dylan albums are The Basement Tapes, John Wesley Harding, Self Portrait, Planet Waves, Blood On The Tracks, Saved, Infidels, Down In The Groove, World Gone Wrong, "Love And Theft", & Modern Times. I don't think that he learned how to write songs properly until about 1967.
This is an EXCELLENT comment - thanks, William! This is so excellent that I might even consider making a video about these great points you make. I agree with much if not most of what you've said here. You also have great taste in Dylan albums - most of the ones you chose are among my favorites as well. Thanks again.
Thanks, Alex! Nice to hear from you. I was born in Raleigh and grew up there and in Wilson. I go back a few times each year for that great eastern NC barbecue I grew up on, haha! (Parker's BBQ in Wilson). Thanks for your kind comments on my videos, I really appreciate it!
Oh cool! I’m in Wilmington. By the beach. You might have checked them out already. But there’s a huge compilation of outtakes from DITG sessions on RU-vid. On mr tambourines channel. Along with infidels and empire sessions. Great stuff. Worth a listen!
@@Alex-so9vn Thanks for the heads-up on the DITG outtakes, Alex. I do subscribe to mr tambourine's channel, and yeah it is great. I'll check it out. Thanks again. Jeff
@@Alex-so9vn Wilmington is a nice place. I've been there (and to Southport/OakIsland) many times over the years, including just last May. Thanks again for commenting, Alex.
It would be one of the few weddings I'd enjoy attending, Harry. Haha! (and believe me, I've attended a ton of weddings.....as the musician-for-hire....)
Yeah seems like a lot of folks were off the rails a bit in the ‘80s. I still enjoyed most of Dylan’s output (not all but most) during that weird decade. Thanks for your comment. Cheers. Jeff
Bil sem njegov velik fen in imam precej njegovih LP vynilk . Ker se mi je avdio ojačevalec pokvaril , sem hotel njegove albume poslušati preko Youtuba a na žalost ugotovil , da je bob največji egoist med glasbeniki na svetu . Nisem več njegov fen . Gospod zimerman ali nimaš še dovolj denarja ? Capitalist !
Hvala za komentar. The beauty of capitalism is.....if you want to buy something, you can buy it.....if not, don't buy it. At least you have the OPTION. But yeah, I will agree with you 100% about not being able to listen to Bob Dylan's albums on RU-vid. I think that decision was made by Sony/Columbia/whoever.....and yeah, they are capitalists, so......there is always good and bad about any kind of economic system. Anyway, thanks again for your comment!! Jeff
@@CalicoSilver Hvala za korekten in iskren odgovor . Moj ego je pač mnenja , da so vse note tega univerzuma naša skupna last , tako kot vse dobrine tega planeta . Vsi smo otroci istega očeta . Bratje , kateri ropajo ta planet , ga istočasno ubijajo s smetmi , nezavedajoč se , da ubijajo vse okrog sebe in sami sebe . Mir , ljubezen in sreča...
This is a crap album..have a jam session by all means but these songs are performed Terribly. Awful playing, thrown together. 'Had a Dream about you, Baby' is rubbish. There might be some 'names' guesting on this recording but so what, they bring nothing interesting to the table. A ragbag of this, that and the other from different sessions. It might be a better album than previous 80s albums but that's saying nothing. Jeff, sounds to me like you're trying really hard to find positives with this record. The more musicians on a Dylan album, the worse it is..re Empire B., Knocked out L. Under the Red Sky etc etc. The less, the better. More coherent, more focused and better sounding.
Thank you for clearing this up for me. I truly thought that I enjoyed this album, but thanks to you I now know that I was merely "really trying to find positives" with it. You're right, it's a "crap album". Hahaha!! But seriously, I agree with you 100% about "the more musicians on a Dylan album, the worse it is". Less is better with Dylan, I agree. Cheers! Jeff
