Reviews by nofaithmed11

Sorry, y'all. I respect the hell out of him, but it just ain't my bag.

2/5

Not even offensively experimental, just boring.

1.5/5

Nothing mind-blowing, but some killer lyrics/production and pretty consistently solid.

3.5/5

There are some interesting tracks/elements here, and I can genuinely see where the appeal and influence lies. That said, most of it sounds like a band that took all the wrong lessons from "Revolution 9". I'll still take it over Linkin Park, though.

1/5

There's some Steely Dan I dig, but none of it sounds like this. How something can be so competently and articulately arranged and still so insipid is beyond me. I just don't get this type of music, and Fagen is one of the least convincing vocalists I've ever heard.

2/5

Don't always love her voice, and some of the non-singles don't stack up as well against the big hits, but there's some undeniably excellent stuff here.

3.5/5

I’m not ALL the way there with it yet…but I think it could happen one day.

4.5/5

I like it and respect its importance, but once again, I find myself wishing I liked it more than I did.

3.5/5

A bit by-the-numbers for this genre and era. Good, but not as good as they'd go on to make.

3.5/5

Second half slightly stronger than the first, but solid all the way around. You can tell how passionate and genuine they are.

4/5

It's interesting to me that this is apparently generally considered their best; I enjoyed Stand! a decent bit more. I still dug this, however, and perhaps it will reveal itself to me more on subsequent listens.

3.5/5

EDIT: On second listen, yeah, I “get” it much more. Still inferior to Stand!, but pretty damn great.

4.5/5

The renaissance record of all renaissance records. What Time Out of Mind did for Bob’s career can never be overstated. Fortunately, it still holds up 25 years later.

As he did for Oh Mercy, Daniel Lanois provides a swampy magic with his production, utilizing the exact right amount of reverb and textural coating to sonically enhance the proceedings. By all accounts, he and Dylan had an even harder time balancing their differences while making this album, but the results speak for themselves.

For the most part, Time Out of Mind lives in two equally excellent worlds. In the first, we find Bob embracing the blues to a degree he hadn’t since the mid-60’s, and he embodies the spirit of the genre as well, if not better, than he ever has. “Can’t Wait”, “‘Til I Fell in Love with You”, and “Million Miles” are effortlessly groovy and engrossing, never straying far enough to call their “bluesiness” into question but never settling for complete cliché either. The opening “Love Sick” is on another level, a masterclass in dynamic intensity, and “Cold Irons Bound” offers up one of the deadliest combinations of virtuosity and sheer coolness in Bob’s entire catalog. These tracks in particular benefit from Lanois’ production and the first-rate studio musicians that contributed to these sessions (Brian Blade, Jim Keltner, Bucky Baxter, Duke Robillard, and Jim Dickinson among them).

In the second world, we find Bob writing some of the most crushing meditations on life and love that he’s ever committed to tape. Whereas he approaches the bluesier numbers with a formidable growl, he deftly handles the melodies on these tracks while continuing to establish the voice he began discovering on Oh Mercy. “Not Dark Yet” and “Tryin’ to Get to Heaven” are hair-raising; even if you didn’t know about the near-death experience Bob had suffered in the year leading up to this record or the myriad of other hardships he’d faced in his life, you’d have to be heartless to not recognize and appreciate the emotional depth of these songs. “Standing in the Doorway” is proof that the man can still write as perfect a heartbreaker as anyone; on the flip-side, he proves he can still casually write a timeless love song with “Make You Feel My Love”, already a modern-day standard. The brilliance is almost unfathomable.

I’m also a fan of the four tracks that didn’t make the cut: “Mississippi”, “Red River Shore”, “Dreamin’ of You”, and “Marchin’ to the City”, all available on the tremendous Tell Tale Signs Bootleg Series. Unlike Shot of Love and Infidels, however, I don’t feel as if this album suffers for not featuring these songs. The latter two are atmospherically coherent with the tracks that made the album, but given that they lyrically evolved into “Standing in the Doorway” and “‘Til I Fell in Love with You”, I’m perfectly fine valuing them as strong outtakes. The former two are both beautifully evocative, and I love them individually out of context, but I simply have a hard time imagining how they would have fit on the record. They certainly wouldn’t have made it a worse project, but overall, I’m very satisfied with the final track list. Ultimately, I think Time Out of Mind deserves all of the praise and accolades it’s received in the last two-and-a-half decades, and will rightfully be heralded as a crowning moment in Bob’s discography for the rest of time.

Least favorite track: “Highlands”. It’s definitely cool; I tend to zero in on a different series of verses every time I listen to it, though I appreciate the whole journey. I also never skip it when I listen to the album as a whole, despite its length and being the final song. But it doesn’t interest me as much as many of his other epics, and I find a bit more in every other song to enjoy.

Favorite track: “Cold Irons Bound”. Lyrically, my answer might be “Standing in the Doorway” or “Not Dark Yet”. This one’s no lyrical slouch, though, and as a full listening experience, it’s a top 10 Dylan track for me. A tidal wave of guitars and organs crash around David Kemper’s irresistible drum beat and an all-time bass performance from Tony Garnier; only “Most of the Time” rivals this track for coolest bass line in Dylan’s catalog. Just an absolutely phenomenal recording, one that will forever be a favorite of mine.

5/5

Thoughts after disc 1: Holy fuck, this is so goddamn good. 318 days in and I *finally* get my first Nick Cave album. I've never listened to a full one and I'm so happy this is my first. Absolutely fantastic in every way. I hope the second disc keeps it up...

Thoughts after disc 2: Not as good as disc 1 on first listen, but still consistently excellent. Light 4.5 for now, but potential room to grow.

4.5/5

Okay, maybe there's room for me to dig this record yet. This most recent listen fared much better than my first couple. I still struggle with the vocals, and it's definitely not my favorite overall style, but a lot of the melodies revealed themselves more to me this time around. I'll keep at it...

3/5

Fun and melodic enough in places, but not something I really love and certainly not something I'll ever revisit.

2.5/5

Surprisingly strong, given how burnt out I am on the hits (and how indifferent I've always felt toward most of them). Listening to them as part of the package they were intended to be heard on really made it click for me.

4/5

Goddamn. I knew I would enjoy this; I've enjoyed pretty much everything I've ever heard from Dolly's classic period. But I didn't expect to love this album as much as I did. Just top-notch all the way around. Incredible songwriting, arrangements, performances, etc. It's so much more than just the fantastic title track. Probably the most unexpected 5 stars I've awarded so far, but very happy to.

5/5

Not as good as the two that came before it, but still excellent.

4/5

Why the fuck is this on the list? Seriously. Does Dimery truly not understand the gravity of the phrase "must hear before you die"? Jesus Christ.

1.5/5

Ray could sing the phonebook and it would sound amazing. But I didn't love the bombastic horns on side A or the schmaltzy arrangements of side B. The songs have very little room to breathe. They're good songs, and again, Ray does his job, but I won't return to this much.

3.5/5