#kri thank you for the greatest gifs of all time

[flowerboycaleb]

wanted to post more over here and had the idea to do lil reviews for albums from years past. i'm gonna try to post a review for this series, as the name suggests, every thursday!! this week we're looking at a long overdue return to form for one of the greatest songwriters of all time: Oh Mercy by Bob Dylan!!! also feel free to follow me on rate your music and twitter <3

Oh Mercy - Bob Dylan

◇ release year: 1989 ◇ genres: singer-songwriter, pop rock, folk rock

The 80s were not kind to Bob Dylan at all, neither were the late 70s for that matter. There was a massive dip in quality after the relative comeback albums that were 1975’s Blood on the Tracks and 1976’s Desire. Following divorce proceedings with his wife in 1977, Dylan shifted his sound away from folk and into a more pop-rock direction for Street-Legal, one of his most uneventful records. Leading into the 80s, he had a born-again Christian phase and released a trilogy of terrible faith-based albums. His 1983 album Infidels was his return back to secular music, but it’s also not very great in the grand scheme of his catalog besides the opener “Jokerman.” Empire Burlesque, Knocked Out Loaded, and Down in the Groove were also some of his worst records and borderline embarrassing for an artist of his caliber. There are very few bright spots in that run aside from “Brownsville Girl” off of Knocked Out Loaded, but to get to that you gotta sit through his version of Kris Kristofferson’s “They Killed Him” which is one of the worst songs I’ve ever heard. Things were looking pretty bad for the once-iconic artist. His music was either terrible, boring, a parody of his best work, or all three in one. The deck was stacked against him, but in 1988 something special would happen. Bono would introduce Dylan to producer Daniel Lanois known for his work with Brian Eno, U2, and longtime Dylan collaborator Robbie Robertson. Dylan seemed determined to finally make a good album again and Lanois’ production work was exactly what he needed to refresh his sound.

Bob Dylan, 1989

You can hear that right away in the opener “Political World.” Despite it being one of Dylan’s clunkier songs from a lyrical perspective, that instrumentation is just perfect for him. That warm, jaunty sound provided by Dylan and a backing band consisting of various musicians from New Orleans. Many of which Lanois was working with at the time. These musicians match the anxious and chaotic themes of the song perfectly. Dylan sings about it being a hostile, political world and even touches on themes of spirituality in two lines towards the end. In those two lines alone, he provides a more interesting perspective on religion than he ever did on his spiritual albums. In the grand scheme of things, “Political World” doesn’t rank among the best Dylan songs, but it’s such a massive breath of fresh air from what he had been doing at the time. The next track cools things down with the waltzy, schmaltzy cut “Where Teardrops Fall.” Again, this isn’t a classic Dylan masterpiece, but it just sounds so good. Massive shoutout to John Hart’s saxophone on the outro. “Everything is Broken” kind of harkens back lyrically and musically to something Dylan might’ve written in decades past, but it’s given this fresh new coat of paint thanks to Lanois’ production. I love Brian Stoltz’s guitar work here. It’s never in your face, but it’s always present underneath everything. It creates this really cool dynamic with the rhythm section. The next track “Ring Them Bells” is one of the many times here where Dylan slows things down. This is where the album is at its best. The warm production not only brings out the best in the instrumentation but also in Dylan’s voice. This is the first album where he sounds like the weathered, legendary songwriter he was. The arrangement is sparse, with only guitar and keyboards accompanying Dylan’s voice and piano. It’s one of my favorite-sounding Dylan songs. As is the next track, “Man In the Long Black Coat.” What a triumph this song is. It’s simultaneously amazing and infuriating. He still had it in him to write an incredible, compelling song. Like the last track, the sound here is pretty sparse besides some ambiance setting keyboards from Malcolm Burn and Dylan’s guitar. His voice is in a lower register and it makes you just hang on to his every word. It helps that the melody is so memorable also. The song ends on such a mysterious note and it’s the most engaging he had sounded since Desire. 

“Most of the Time” builds upon that more weathered sound except this time with more layers to it instrumentally. This is another one of my favorite Dylan songs. It’s a heartbreak ballad that has such a simple structure and premise, but it’s so impactful. I love the way the electric guitar washes over the track. Every time it enters, it lingers for the perfect amount of time. It’s mixed so perfectly. “What Good Am I?” and “Disease of Conceit” are lulls in the tracklist, but they’re not bad. They just lack that energy of the three tracks prior. The latter is another clunky writing moment from Dylan on the record. His best moments on here lyrically are the songs about love, heartbreak, and other more personal topics. He’s made some iconic songs built around his ruminations on the world, but none of them are found here. Fortunately, the last two tracks are a step up. “What Was It You Wanted” might have the most tasteful implementation of a harmonica on any Bob Dylan record. I love Dylan’s usually harsh harmonica, but it’s hard to deny it can get a bit much. The music here is very subtle and it accompanies what seems to be Dylan’s meditations on his art up to that point. Perhaps the years of critical failures catching up to him as he asks the public “what was it you wanted?” If I was a fan of his during this time, the answer would be songs like this! “Shooting Star” is another ballad and another favorite of mine. Some have interpreted this song as being about Dylan’s disillusionment with spirituality and I think that’s an interesting read, but it could also just be a simple bittersweet ballad about love. Either way, this is a strong closer to the album.

Bob Dylan, 1988

Oh Mercy was an incredible return to form for Dylan and Lanois’ production brought out the best in these songs. It sounded like Dylan was writing with a purpose again, he was inspired. While overall this isn’t his strongest crop of songs from a lyrical standpoint, the execution here takes these songs to the next level. Ideally, this would be the start of a career renaissance for the legendary singer-songwriter, but seeing as how his next album would be the dreadful Under the Red Sky that wasn’t the case. Thankfully, Lanois would collaborate with Dylan again 8 years later for Time Out of Mind, yet another one of his comeback albums.

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#throwback thursday #music #rateyourmusic #music review #bob dylan #daniel lanois #folk music #80s music

[sobeautifullyobsessed]

Say beauty, since you've read so many books do you have a favorite Christmas story? I'm trying to understand humans and humans holidays play a strong role in day to day life. Can you believe children stay nice all year because there afraid the over lord, Santa, will not give them a present? Also happy holidays.

Oh dear—I don’t think I can narrow down to a single favorite Christmas story. Certainly A Christmas Carol is near the top of my list; a story of yuletide redemption, and with it Charles Dickens illuminated so much of what have become cherished Christmas traditions in western culture. The Gift of the Magi by O.Henry, for the selflessness that true love engendered in the young couple. The Greatest Gift by Philip Van Doren Stern, a story that inspired the film It’s a Wonderful Life. Dr.Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas (another tale of redemption), and the Christmas comic strips of Charles Schulz, from which arose A Charlie Brown Christmas. 

What I love most about the later two is their reminder that Christmas doesn’t come from a store. That Christmas, in fact, means a whole lot more.💚 

Now, where I was raised, I’d have to say that Santa was never the motivation for me and my siblings and cousins and friends to stay nice all year.  Being ‘good’…nice…well behaved…considerate of others…was a way of life, done so because we were taught it was the right way to behave, and not because we wanted the reward of toys that Santa promised. The beauty of Santa Claus/St.Nicholas/Father Christmas/Kris Kringle/Pere Noel/Babbo Natale/Ded Moroz was the understanding that there was a kindhearted, generous being who gave us presents out of simple selflessness and benevolence, and the love of bringing joy to others, especially children.

Santa Claus was–for me and mine–a figure that was the promise of unconditional love, at a time of year when we celebrate the coming of Heaven’s unconditional love into our world in the form of the newborn Christ-child. And Santa becomes an inspiration to us as we move into adulthood, and play that cycle out, not only with our wee ones, but on a charitable scale.

And so, thank you for the holiday wishes, @ask-the-great-loki-odinson – in my faith, we celebrate the Christmas Season, which like the song, lasts the twelve days of Christmas. While some people quickly discard their evergreen decorations with the crumbled wrapping paper from Christmas morning gifts, I’ll still be singing the carols...

...and lighting the candles and indulging in all the delicious dishes that are part of this beautiful season. A season of light and warmth to defy the darkness and cold of winter.

#thank you for this lovely ask #ask-the-great-loki-odinson #Christmas #Santa #the joys of the season #'Beauty' #RP

[55erase]

Nothing Will EVER Be The Same Again

After four days of delirium punctuated by a few moments of sobriety,  I’m still having a difficult time processing what just happened.

The impact of events conspiring to create the most gut-wrenching, yet exhilarating event I’ve ever witnessed is hard to fathom. Impartial and respected national journalists like Tim Kurkjian and Jayson Stark have called Game 7 of the 2016 World Series the greatest and most dramatic game ever played, so who am I to argue?

It couldn’t have happened any other way for the Chicago Cubs. No one said ending the longest drought in American sports history was going to be easy — and it certainly wasn’t. Cubs fans had seen it all fall apart in so many excruciating ways over the last 40,000 days so it wasn’t difficult to imagine it happening again.

Of course, it seemed they would come this far only to have it all yanked away like the elusive football Lucy always yanks away from the hapless Charlie Brown, sending him into yet another spiral of despair.

Of course, the Cubs would make their first World Series in 71 years only to lose the first two games at Wrigley in disheartening fashion and trail a daunting three games to one.

Of course, it had to go the full seven games. But even that wasn’t even enough to overcome 108 years of futility.  It took a tenth inning.

Of course, they would jump out to a 5-1 lead, only to give up the largest Game 7 lead since 1924 with only four outs to go.

Of course, Jon Lester would throw a wild pitch to give away not one, but two runs. Have you ever seen that before? I haven’t.

Of course, Aroldis Chapman gave up his only home run as a Cub at the worst possible moment: a disemboweling, game-tying, two-run homer with two strikes and two outs in the eighth to Rajai Davis. Yes, the same Rajai Davis I had rooted for as a Tiger the previous two seasons and never considered much of an offensive threat.

Of course, the umpires called what seemed like an unnecessary rain delay just to prolong the agony.

Of course, the Cubs would take a two-run lead only to have a depleted relief staff give back one with just one tantalizing and seemingly unreachable out to go.

Of course, Kris Bryant slipped as he’s throwing to first on a dribbler just past the mound, forcing the ball to sail over Anthony Rizzo‘s outstretched glove….

Only, this time it didn’t.

When that ball disappeared into the back of that glove, so did a century’s worth of frustration and anguish. Lazy narratives about goats and curses and black cats and an ill-fated fan reaching for a foul ball all disappeared as well.

And nothing will ever be the same again.  We are forever thankful.

#illustration #writing #chicago cubs #world series