I see another "best album" thread has sprouted. What i notice about these threads is that they seem to start in about the same place (ie Blood on the Tracks vs Blue) and end up with very diverse lists such as 5) Dave Brubek live 4) BJork "A Force of nature" 3) Sound Textures of industrial drills 2) Kwasi Mfune narrates "The caucus lives" 1) Bjorn Bjorneson and the Sweedish Rhythm Kings So I'd like to pose an ancillary question: What makes the albums you think are the greatest the greatest for you?? Is it production, the flow, the creativity the memories or what. i ask this because there are so many ways that music can make one experience joy but just by knowing the albums themselves leaves the interpretation open to question or vice versa. Same with any from of art. Sometimes even on my own such list i have several different reasons for each album i might nominate. So if the posters could add why they chose the ones they chose it would be interesting to add that. So what are my favorites...why the ones I listed above of course. Seriously For now Ill only address the original question. I think Blue is better than Blood' simply because i dont think Blood is even Dylans best album. Bringing it all back Home is my fave Dylan album. Its all right ma, Mr.Tambourine Man, Love Minus Zero no limit, Maggies Farm, Subterranean Homesick Blues with its off the charts lyrics, good grief that album has more legs than the New York Rockettes. It also has one of the most intriguing album covers ever created one that can be looked at for hours and always find new things in the picture and meanings which Blood' doesnt have. I also like the flavor of it. It sounds like Dylan actually sounded when he was young and mostly a folk singer. It was an historic album at the time. It basically blasted the doors off the "Lyrics must rhyme"school. All that together places it ahead of Bobs Blood' album which i also love dearly but its more slick and "produced". Blue on the other hand was the album that shot Joni way out ahead of the pack not just of other Female singers and writers but the whole enchilada of artists. It made her a peer with anyone. She does some of her absolute best singing on the album and i could mention a number of aspects of the songs on this album that was the genesis of almost everything she did after that. An example being the Dulcimer ending to All I Want which i think could have been the first sign of her wanting to do jazz and play the VG-8. So we all know the quality of the songwriting is a max but I love the fact that the album is so sparse. The depression from her romances infuses an inflection into her vocals that have always left me breathless and between Carey and River i want to cry. Although Blue isnt my favorite Joni Album of the two I say the Blues have it. Ducking for cover. marcel
