Bringing It All Back Home [To Yo Mamma]

Overall Album Score: 9.2 out of 10

Bringing It All Back Home 9.2 out of 10

Folk? What folk?

The big controversy among folksters in 1965 was NOT the Vietnam War. It was Bob Dylan going electric.

Yep ... Bob Dylan was undoubtedly more talented and weighty than Peter, Paul, and Mary combined, and everybody including fans and the record companies wanted Bobby to conform with this type of dull folk protest-songs crap. Dylan tried conforming with it when he did The Times They Are A-Changing and it turned out to be one of the guy's worst albums. He received a lot of flack when he went electric from (sometimes-violent) folk fanatics for this change! But, Bob was above them. He decided, with suppressed anger, to protest the protesters and start creating something deviant! Something creative! Something that's not stupid! And ... dagnabit! He did it! And he started several branches of rock and roll in the process. With Bringing it All Back Home, he started electrified folk-rock. (This is essentially the first true point where rock-and-roll meets folk ... this idea is said to have inspired the Beatles to move from their happy-go-lucky period from 1963-1965 and to incorporate more serious and revolutionary ideas in their music from 1966-1969.) So ... what would the world have been like without Bob Dylan? What would it have been like had Dylan simply stuck with the "Peter, Paul, and Mary" bullcrap like everybody wanted him to? Perhaps, then, Frank Sinatra would have been right and rock-and-roll would have died in favor of a revitalized version of Jazz.

Man... perhaps what's truly strange about this album (which was one of the very defining moments of rock-and-roll), it's ODD that it isn't perfect. Dylan's song structures are rather primitive! The lyrics aren't any better than what we've seen from his previous, folk album. After reading that paragraph above and then listen to the album, you might be wondering: what the CRAP is so special about it! Well, to be perfectly honest, this album's material isn't as special as it is sometimes lauded to be. That is ... its only purpose in rock-and-roll might only have been to influence The Beatles (who influenced the Beach Boys ... who went right back and influenced The Beatles again ... who created Sergeant Pepper, which started the whole art-rock scene. Man! It's like Dominos!)

But it is still a very good album! It may not be among Dylan's finest, but it's still a darn good classic. Those who don't like the Dylan's straight folk style (where he just sings with a guitar and an occasional harmonica) will rejoice! For the mass audience and for my money, this electric stuff is much better. Though, it isn't completely electric. The last four of the songs still piddle around in acoustic territory. (But one of them is "Mr. Tambourine Man," so you know the straight folk has got to be good!)

Overall Album Score: 9.2 out of 10 (Dylan's gone electric, and it's priceless. While the score is in "worshipful" territory, it is stripped from "godly" status due to a few unremarkable stabs at roots rock. But, you know, so what? It's darned good for a first try. And it was even influential!)

Average Song Score: 9.2 (Wooohoooo! Dylan goes electric!!!! But there are also four acoustic songs on here, but they're also pretty darned good.)

Album Tilt: 9.0 (Now, this is one album that I have absolutely no problem whatsoever getting into! Nice rocking beats there, Bobby!)

Artist Tilt: 9.5 (Phenomenally important on the historical scale, but the electrified rock sure is primitive. But it's all in good taste! It's much better than what most of his contemporaries could do.)

Track Reviews

Subterranean Homesick Blues 9/10

Ahhhhhh! Listen to this regular rock-and-roll stuff! It's *gasp* fun to listen to due to its musical quality, and instead of trying to sing the lyrics, Dylan rambles it off to a merry beat. This would have been quite a shock to a listener in '65 who bought this album fresh off the market. Man ... what a drastic change! And, I like it! It's much less demanding than the straight folk stuff.

She Belongs to Me 9/10

This is less drastically different than the previous track. It's a much more reserved rocker, but Dylan is definitely holding his folk-roots down by its horns. Yet, with just that backing drum and more normal roots-rock musical structure, his music seems much more normal and enjoyable.

Maggie's Farm 9/10

A little bit more peculiar lyrically as well as musically, this is quite an interesting little piece. It really does have very close root-rocks ties, perhaps to the point that it sounds more dated than it had to. Oh well! Relatively speaking, there's guitars going off all over the place as well as a very rambunctious piano and a drum set. 'Tis very nice.

Love Minus Zero / No Limit 9.5/10

And this one isn't so drastically different from his straight folk stuff, except of course the instrumentation. It also has a decent song structure! Dylan would even rip it off of himself for "If Not For You," which would eventually end up in George Harrison's All Things Must Pass. Very Pretty.

Outlaw Blues 8.5/10

Okay, we're waltzing into Chuck Berry era territory now! It's a pretty good song, though, but it's probably one of the lesser moments of the album if it's only for the obvious primitiveness of it.

On the Road Again 8.5/10

This track actually suffers in the same thing as the last track suffers. It's too derivative! But it does have great lyrics! Yes! And it's still good, musically speaking.

Bob Dylan's 115th Dream 9.0/10

This is a long song, and it's pretty entertaining! Dylan had several songs like this on his previous albums ... when he seems to go on forever about something rather funny. Except this one has a drum backing! See ... it's much easier to get into and stuff.

Mr. Tambourine Man 10plus/10

Ahhhhhhhhh... here is the surefire classic! And it's not electric, either! Of all Dylan's songs thus far, this one has the most graceful and memorable melody. Oh man ... The Byrds couldn't even touch it when they covered it for their debut album! ... They couldn't even touch it! Explanation? Bob's version is much, much, much, much, much more heartfelt, whereas the Boyds sing it as if they were pre-programmed robots (relatively speaking). This is the ultimate highlight of the album.

Gates of Eden 9.5/10

Awwww... more folk stuff? Bob didn't want to make the transition so suddenly, I guess. Though, this is a very good song nonetheless! If you compare this song (as well as the last two songs, which are also folk) with the electric ones, you'll find that surprisingly they have a more sophisticated melody. The lyrics are very serious and sophisticated, too. Quite nice.

It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) 9/10

This folk song is one of Bob's most creatively sung! He seems to read parts of these lyrics almost like a rhyming shopping list ... and it works! And, yes, it does have an excellent melody ... especially that little bit of it when he sings "I'm Alright Ma." Wow ... I feel kind of guilty for celebrating Bob's giving-up of the acoustic folkie stuff! The fact that the album's best material seems to be folk stuff in an album that's universally lauded as being electric, led Internet rock critic George Starostin to call it "The most dazzling paradox in history." That's pretty much it! This track does drone on for a bit too long, however.

It's All Over Now, Baby Blue 9/10

The last song of the album is a nice little folk song! Though it isn't quite as amazing or enjoyable as Dylan's previous track. (The reason they scored the same is because "It's Alright Ma" is simply too long.) But both are sophisticated numbers that make a great close to this album ... even though it isn't electric.

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