Worst Dylan album

i'm chuckling at the thought of a thread "what's the worst dylan album", after reading jargoneer's comment on "dylan and the dead". I'll admit to having had that once on vinyl, i think it may have been one of the very few i ever shot at (the Stone's "Black and Blue" being another, but for very different reasons. i still miss that gal, damned if i can remember her name ...)
so yeah, no way i'm ever going to have that on cd.
But my pick is definitely Budakan. i mean, seriously, what WAS that man thinking?!

I have to agree about Budokan -- horrendous, truly horrendous.

Budokan as a concert is certainly not as great as Bob's concerts quickly became after that in 1978. I saw him in Brisbane a week or 2 later and the performance was already much more powerful. And recordings from the rest of the year show him getting better and better. But I'm glad there's some kind of official record of that tour.

Of course some people hate that tour altogether...

Under the Red Sky is another rotten record - Wiggle Wiggle is the point that Dylan's disinterest became contempt. I remember an interview with the producer, Don Was, who said that Dylan deliberately sabotaged the album.

Well, I have to disagree about Under The Red Sky. I think it's a fine album, for the most part. Wiggle Wiggle and 2x2 are poor, but I like the rest of it. Dylan must like it, too, cause he keeps playing the songs in concert!

I'd certainly prefer Red Sky to, say, New Morning.

wiggle willgle's my favorite response to the "what's your favorite Dylan song" question, which is just too absurd to answer correctly.

and i can't really remove myself from new morning enough not to love it: at the time it came out, i was living country, hiding out in the woods riding horses everyday, pretending i knew how to play guitar. so each song is a piece of my history.

I'd count new morning in my top dozen dylan albums. or maybe top 20. ask me after i've had more tea.

im loathe to say "Dylan and the Dead" is my least favorite,much as i cant stand the Grateful Dead...i always thought his tracks on the Band's "Last Waltz" album were somewhat shaky, and i never cared for "Forever Young" anyhow...but bad albums on the whole? As a far as studio ones anyhow,im pretty comfy listening to all of them (though it took some time to get to like 'Shot of Love',i'll admit

The double album - Self Portrait, was it? - that inspired a critic to say "I once said I'd buy an album of Dylan breathing hard, I never said I'd buy one of him breathing soft" and the single disk follow up are two I can do without.

I don't share the general contempt for Budokan. My understanding was that it was made explicitly for the Japanese market, and was only generally released because of bootleg problems. Well, who can say that the Japanese didn't just love it, what with all the flutes and crazy pop rhythms?

Red Sky and In the Groove have one or two decent songs each, but otherwise are unlistenable to me.

The man seems to have grown into a new voice with the last several albums back to World Gone Wrong. Whenever a new one comes out, I cross my fingers and hope it won't be a clunker. So far, I haven't been disappointed.

I'm currently sitting on a good stack of his less-acclaimed '80s albums (Red Sky, Knocked Out Loaded) and have yet to give them a real close listen. But the one I hate with absolute passion so far is Slow Train Coming. Bob found God and checked his brain at the door. Wide-eyed, shallow lyrics and catatonic faux-soul backing? Count me out.

Oh and I also find Budokan to be a complete riot. It's hilarious and I enjoy it more than almost any other Bob live album, save the Bootleg Series. And considering how unconscionably sloppy I thought Hard Rain was, I'm not surprised he went in the other direction afterwards.

Despite the fact that I was a convert to Christianity at the same time as Bob, I find the Christian albums, and then the sycophantically pro-Israel Infidels pretty bloody awful - but each with some saving graces. My worst? Probably Saved.. Or Shot of Love. Slow Train was saved by Knoffler.

Strangely I love Budokan - and all the live albums.

Interesting thread. My personal least favorite Dylan album is "Blonde on Blonde".

Just kidding. Hope I didn't cause anybody to spill their coffee or anything. Actually, I would choose "Down in the Groove". I do not own that album, and in truth, I haven't listened to it since around the time it came out. But I did listen to it a good amount then, to see if I could hear more with repeated listenings. I could not. The only song I actually liked on it was the cover of "Rank Strangers".

Incidentally, I reckon lyrically the execrable "Seven Curses" and "Dusty Ol' Fairgrounds" would vie for 'worst song'. Even "All the Tired Horses" is better!

Gotta be Knocked out Loaded.... those kids singing in the background... aaargghhhh!!

No one has mentioned Planet Waves. That was when I pretty much stopped listening to Dylan.

I quite like planet waves... and oddly enough my favourite Dylan album is Street Legal :)

What sprang to mind immediately was Down in the Groove. I actually like almost all of the albums people have mentioned here, although I think Knocked Out Loaded would probably come in as the second worst for me. That general period was just the nadir of Dylan's long career.

The strongest disagreement I would have with what people have said above would be Slow Train Coming. This has many strong songs, and they were even better live, although Mark Knopfler made the record sound exceptionally good. I think a lot of people just could not see past their prejudice against Christianity. This may be particularly true for the many Jewish Dylan fans, because a Jew converting to Christianity remains to this day a strong taboo in that community. Check out the live shows from the Gospel period. They are among Dylan's best.

I'm seeing Dylan and Knopfler in Cardiff next month... tickets have arrived... can't wait!!!

I am a big Dylan fan and have enjoyed every album, with the possible exception of Budokan (which my wife actually likes).
Then there is the Christmas album and Dylan doing Here Comes Santa Claus. At this point I am not even certain I made it to the second cut, but that is really bad and cannot be redeemed.

> so how do you like the new one where covers 'standards'?

>You know, I actually like it. This is not one of my favorite genres, though Jerry Lee Lewis doing "Over the Rainbow" is a fave.
Dylan brings his own style to songs he seems to have a connection with and while not up there with his original music it is sure better than the Christmas album (imho) Maybe, I will try starting with track 2 now that the holidays are past.