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Before the Flood

Bob Dylan - Before the Flood Audio CD

A fair review of the Bob Dylan "Before the Flood" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Bob Dylan reviews here, or go back to the Bob Dylan tabs.

Band: Bob Dylan
Title: Before the Flood
Rating:

Release Date: 2009-03-31
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine) - Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan 2: Lay Lady Lay - Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan 3: Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 - Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan 4: Knockin' on Heaven's Door - The Band, Bob Dylan 5: It Ain't Me Babe - Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan 6: Ballad of a Thin Man - Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan 7: Up on Cripple Creek - Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan 8: I Shall Be Released - Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan 9: Endless Highway - The Band 10: Night They Drove Old Dixie Down - Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan 11: Stage Fright - Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan 12: Don't Think Twice, It's All Right - Bob Dylan 13: Just Like a Woman - Bob Dylan 14: It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) - Bob Dylan 15: Shape I'm In - Bob Dylan 16: When You Awake - Bob Dylan 17: Weight - Bob Dylan 18: All Along the Watchtower - Bob Dylan 19: Highway 61 Revisited - Bob Dylan 20: Like a Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan 21: Blowin' in the Wind - Bob Dylan

Some Great Moments
Last tour Bob hid behind the keyboard the whole concert, a little disappointing. I've seen Bob Dylan live at least a dozen times and every tour is different. In 2003 I saw Bob at a baseball park with open/festival "seating. " I got there early and grabbed a spot at the front of the stage. Bob stood on the lip of the stage directly above me. I could almost reach up and grab his stovepipe pants! An absolute thrill. That performance was incredible. Bob plucked his Telecaster with stunning virtuosity and sang brilliantly. His band was loud and tight and really tore it up. I so wish THAT performance had been recorded!

This performance is a little spotty, but still well worth having in your collection. Bob and The Band are full of energy and it comes across on the record. The two best songs here, I believe, are Dylan's accoustic renderings of "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" and "It's alright, Ma, I'm Only Bleeding. " Both are given firey, passionate treatment. You will notice the audience screaming their applause on "It's alright, Ma" right after the line "Even the President of the United States sometimes has to stand naked. " That's due to the fact that President Nixon was about to resign from office due to the continuing Watergate scandal. We Dylan fans have always seen him a prophet and that song was definitely prophetic at that time. I still get goosebumps every time I hear that line! This recording is special more for it's energy and excitement than it's music. It's an interesting snapshot in a legendary career. Buy it! .

Because he's The Bob
I recall the tightness (The Band not me) and the way The Bob was attacking the songs. I saw this show in Charlotte. But here's the deal. . . he's The Bob and he's entitled to interpret his songs the way he sees fit. Sometimes it does seem a little forced (Lay Lady Lay). But man I am telling you, when it comes together, it is something to behold.

My favorite among several, is the quintessential version of 'Ballad of a Thin Man'. The Bob is snarling and howling and The Band is smoking. It's a transcendent rock moment. It has raised the hair on my neck a time or 2. Great performances by some artists who aren't here anymore.

The solo is set is impeccable and moving. And trust me, in 1974 when The Bob let loose with "even the president of the united states sometimes has to stand naked" ya just had to stand up and hoot. (look it up kids).

I appreciate the time you took to read this review. I hope you enjoyed the fellowship.

You go Your Way, I'll go mine
First the Good, the re-master of "Before the Flood" sounds warm and nuanced, the bottom end sounds firm and the high end is clear and distortion free. There's good news and some not so good news. Nice job on the restoration of this Live classic. I saw this tour back in the day and it was joyous seeing the Band supporting Dylan. The Band's songs are energetic and full of life, save for, ironically the Dylan penned "I Shall Be Released" which is marred by an embarrassingly high pitched lead vocal that is nails on a blackboard to this listener, the other Band songs are exceptional. The Dylan songs are wonderfully backed by the Band's inspired arrangements, especially Robbie Robertson's virtuoso guitar playing. The problem here is Dylan's vocals, he literally shouts the lyrics and his phrasing is completely out of control, take a listen to "Lay Lady Lay" when he shouts "his hands are clean", in short Dylan's singing takes a 4 star album and turns it into a 3 star album. The songs are classics, the Band is inspired and if you don't mind Dylan being Dylan on the vocals then by all means pick this one up. For those interested, this CD came in a JEWEL case, not a DIGIPAK, but I understand it's available both ways. .

Dylan Goes Electric...AGAIN! -- but what's up with the MP3 version?
My take on this is that the first time Bob "went electric" backed by the then Hawks, they were not well received, and often booed. Some reviewers complain that Bob is just shouting over the aggressive backing of The Band; that these live versions pale when compared to the original studio takes or other live releases by the Mighty Zim. It's years later and now Bob and The Band play these songs with an "in your face" approach that says we knew what we had something good back then, and we're going to take it right back at the audience, and enjoy it this time!

I downloaded the MP3 album, but found that I could not enjoy this live album as a concert, because most of the audience clapping & cheering between songs has been eliminated. This ruins the concert experience, as one song begins just moments after the previous track, with jarring jumps in audience noise. I've downloaded other live albums, but never experienced this before. Has anyone else experienced this with the MP3 download?

Anyway. . . it's a very fine live album: lots of great Bob tunes, and fine performances by The Band both on their own, and behind Bob. Standout tracks for me include: Knockin' on Heaven's Door, Ballad of a Thin Man (listen to Garth's organ work on this), Stage Fright, an acoustic It's Alight Ma, a fast and furious All Along the Watchtower, and my favorite version of Like A Rolling Stone.
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sounds like same song over and over...
" It sounds like the same exact song over and over again. That's my main beef with "Before The Flood. There are some exceptions like "Most Likely You Go Your Way" and "Don't Think Twice It's Alright" but all the other songs for the most part sound EXACTLY the same. . . same singing, same tempo, same guitars and drums playing the same notes as the previous track. I understand Dylan would often shake up the arrangements in concerts so they won't sound too much like the studio version (something that can horribly backfire to the point where the lyrics are the only way you can tell what song it is. . . this means you, "Just Like A Woman") but for some reason he decided with this concert he would just play one 2-hour song. Dylan was never that great a singer but I'm still trying to figure out why on songs like "Lay Lady Lay" he screams the rhyming word in each verse. Weird. Overall it's not a really bad album, it's just a bit redundant.

You can see a complete list of all Bob Dylan discography, or go back to the Bob Dylan tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.