"Love And Theft" is the crown of the poet's achievement. In order to find a companion to this album, you will have to select from Modern Times, Time Out Of Mind, Good As I Been To You and World Gone Wrong. That's a long winded way of saying; you will have to go back to the roots of folk blues. What you get in "Love And Theft" is the culmination of lyricism that has been going on for decades, known by various names and "Love And Theft", fittingly, startles you by its newness.
"Love And Theft", with or without Eric Lott's Love & Theft: Blackface Minstrelsy and the American Working Class might be the most accurately titled Dylan album since his very personal Blood On The Tracks, which in comparison is a minor for Dylan.
What you have here is a poet who has shot down his lover, after writing more than hundered dirges he starts out for the swamp. There in the swamp is a city, a hidden fortress where the poet has to serve time. This is a place he knows but this time he has come incognito, reviving the vital memory. Everything starts after this and becomes "Love And Theft". The poet is not a folk blues poet; he is someone who has been around the roulette of fortune for a very long time and begins to imagine a folk blues poet and writes his songs for him, fights back with something for himself. All he sees is beginnings and vitality in the figure which goes back and forth in time. The figure is of how he looked at himself and of the one he remembered and imagined.
I think Love & Theft is a very good album. The instrumentation is really strong, in fact I would say this band is one of the best he ever had. They should release a live album with this exact band on the Bootleg Series.
I think Moonlight is a terrific song- lyrically it is has great imagery. Po Boy is nice too. Of course Mississippi is a great track.
The only downside is I really get the feeling he stole some of the melodies from early 20th century songs. The swing-jazz feel of a couple songs sounds derivative. it still works though,unlike Modern Times which sounds even more like a rip from the past- When the Deal Goes Down in particular, and I dont know how he could honestly attach his name to a song like Rollin and Tumblin.
Of course if Led Zep can take writing credit for In My Time of Dying I guess anything is possible.
Dylan proves that he is still vital. The album sounds timeless and essential at the same time. A great celebration of American roots music. And blues. And rock. And everything. Plus, Bob is being really playful with the lyrics.
Submitted by manks_dawbs on Sun, 08/10/2008 - 22:11.
5
love and theft is more focused than its predecessor... the songs hit hard, and the contrasts between the different types of songs work very well (the edge of TweedleDee up against Bye&Bye for instance). the production is super, with Bob's voice sitting in a nice place in a mix that has room for lots of sharp guitars plus a stringy, swinging rhythm section. Not to be overlooked: C. Meyers' bongos on TD... song wouldn't be the same without them. personally, i just totally dig the lyrical mayhem on L&T... Po' Boy, Mississippi, TD... i don't care what anyone says about what's been said before. Bob was the one that sang it with this great band behind him.
fave live shot: Mississipipi
i can understand everyone has their faves,and some might not like this as much as their particular favorite, but there's no denying this was a stellar album with all the best: best players, best songs, best sequencing...
Submitted by GuillemTM on Wed, 08/06/2008 - 10:56.
2
Though there are some good songs in it, it's the only album where I can't stand his singing. That growling voice makes me want to cough at every note, as he did the time I saw him in 2004. I read many reviews adoring it and I can't understand why. I think it's highly overrated. Mississippi is a great song and Summer days and Highwater work really well live, and lately Sugar baby. Even you can say Cry a while is interesting, but... why so much? There's too one of the few Dylan albums where i have to skip 2 songs: Bye and bye and Floater. Better than Time out of mind? No way!
Love & Theft is to Time Out Of Mind what Under The Red Sky is to Oh Mercy!: a fun, goofy follow-up to a dark, murky, serious Daniel Lanois produced comeback. Although the perception of it has waned a little since, I don’t know why Love & Theft was so hailed at first while Under The Red Sky was so reviled. Perhaps the four years (instead of one) that separated Love & Theft from its predecessor gave rise to fears that Time Out Of Mind was going to be Bob’s last big hurrah. Maybe producing it himself with his touring band instead of using flavor-of-the-month Don Was and his stable of rock stars, helped lower expectations a bit. Who knows? I liked it when it first came out – and I still like it. Lyrically it’s his funniest since Another Side Of Bob Dylan. Knock-knock jokes? Booty call? Hunting bare? “Throw your panties over board”? “I’m sitting on my watch so I can be on time”? “Call down to room service/ Said send up a room”? I know Bob’s words don’t usually affect me that much, but this is great stuff. And musically – it’s all over the map (crooners, blues, ‘50s rockers), but thanks to the touring band backing him, it’s still cohesive. Most of the songs are more versions of the 3 (or less) chord blues (“Tweedle Dum & Tweedle Dee”, “Summer Days”, “Lonesome Day Blues”, and “Honest With Me”). Yet, “Moonlight” and “Bye And Bye” use some the most complicated jazzy chords since “If Dogs Run Free” from New Morning. And to keep the album from getting too monotonous, the occasional accordion, banjo or violin just shows up. As hard as it may be to believe, Bob’s latest really is one of his best.
One more thing about this album: I think that the sound of Love&Theft is something that Bob Dylan had been struggling to attain since 1970. It's a sound that is new, and yet old. Bold, and yet traditional. It's a sound he's attempted in Self Portrait, the Rolling Thunder Review, the gospel albums, the Traveling Wilburies, Down in the Groove, Under the Red Sky, and yet was never 100% successful until this album. It's funny, scary, heart-warming and horrifying, often within a single song. I can take a single portion from any of the L&T songs and be amazed by how every morsel is brimming with energy, activitity, and life:
"The Cuckoo is a pretty bird, she warbles as she flies
I'm preachin' the Word of God
I'm puttin' out your eyes
I asked Fat Nancy for something to eat, she said, "Take it off the shelf -
As great as you are a man,
You'll never be greater than yourself."
I told her I didn't really care
High water everywhere."
WOW! What does it mean? I don't know. But I love it.
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P. T i m o t h y E r v i n
Yasuda Women's University, Hiroshima, Japan
Yasuda Observatory N34°28'41" E132°27'06"
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This album is by far one of Bob's greatest. It combines the wit and humor of 'Another Side' and 'Freewheelin'', the zaniness of 'Nashville Skyline' and 'Self Portrait', the complex lyricism of 'Blood on the Tracks', and the passionate spirituality of 'Slow Train Coming' all together in a folk/blues concoction of genius.
Note: Be sure to listen to just several hours of Son House, Doc Watson, Hank Williams, and Muddy Waters along with this album... There are so many references to those old artists' works on this album it is amazing!
Comments
"Love And Theft" Please
"Love And Theft" is the crown of the poet's achievement. In order to find a companion to this album, you will have to select from Modern Times, Time Out Of Mind, Good As I Been To You and World Gone Wrong. That's a long winded way of saying; you will have to go back to the roots of folk blues. What you get in "Love And Theft" is the culmination of lyricism that has been going on for decades, known by various names and "Love And Theft", fittingly, startles you by its newness.
"Love And Theft", with or without Eric Lott's Love & Theft: Blackface Minstrelsy and the American Working Class might be the most accurately titled Dylan album since his very personal Blood On The Tracks, which in comparison is a minor for Dylan.
What you have here is a poet who has shot down his lover, after writing more than hundered dirges he starts out for the swamp. There in the swamp is a city, a hidden fortress where the poet has to serve time. This is a place he knows but this time he has come incognito, reviving the vital memory. Everything starts after this and becomes "Love And Theft". The poet is not a folk blues poet; he is someone who has been around the roulette of fortune for a very long time and begins to imagine a folk blues poet and writes his songs for him, fights back with something for himself. All he sees is beginnings and vitality in the figure which goes back and forth in time. The figure is of how he looked at himself and of the one he remembered and imagined.
another strong album
No Rating
I think Love & Theft is a very good album. The instrumentation is really strong, in fact I would say this band is one of the best he ever had. They should release a live album with this exact band on the Bootleg Series.
I think Moonlight is a terrific song- lyrically it is has great imagery. Po Boy is nice too. Of course Mississippi is a great track.
The only downside is I really get the feeling he stole some of the melodies from early 20th century songs. The swing-jazz feel of a couple songs sounds derivative. it still works though,unlike Modern Times which sounds even more like a rip from the past- When the Deal Goes Down in particular, and I dont know how he could honestly attach his name to a song like Rollin and Tumblin.
Of course if Led Zep can take writing credit for In My Time of Dying I guess anything is possible.
Cryptic spooky scary
The music is great, but all in all I dont like this record.
One of my faves
Dylan proves that he is still vital. The album sounds timeless and essential at the same time. A great celebration of American roots music. And blues. And rock. And everything. Plus, Bob is being really playful with the lyrics.
l & t is topnotch
love and theft is more focused than its predecessor... the songs hit hard, and the contrasts between the different types of songs work very well (the edge of TweedleDee up against Bye&Bye for instance). the production is super, with Bob's voice sitting in a nice place in a mix that has room for lots of sharp guitars plus a stringy, swinging rhythm section. Not to be overlooked: C. Meyers' bongos on TD... song wouldn't be the same without them. personally, i just totally dig the lyrical mayhem on L&T... Po' Boy, Mississippi, TD... i don't care what anyone says about what's been said before. Bob was the one that sang it with this great band behind him.
fave live shot: Mississipipi
i can understand everyone has their faves,and some might not like this as much as their particular favorite, but there's no denying this was a stellar album with all the best: best players, best songs, best sequencing...
Overrated
Though there are some good songs in it, it's the only album where I can't stand his singing. That growling voice makes me want to cough at every note, as he did the time I saw him in 2004. I read many reviews adoring it and I can't understand why. I think it's highly overrated. Mississippi is a great song and Summer days and Highwater work really well live, and lately Sugar baby. Even you can say Cry a while is interesting, but... why so much? There's too one of the few Dylan albums where i have to skip 2 songs: Bye and bye and Floater. Better than Time out of mind? No way!
Love & Theft
Love & Theft is to Time Out Of Mind what Under The Red Sky is to Oh Mercy!: a fun, goofy follow-up to a dark, murky, serious Daniel Lanois produced comeback. Although the perception of it has waned a little since, I don’t know why Love & Theft was so hailed at first while Under The Red Sky was so reviled. Perhaps the four years (instead of one) that separated Love & Theft from its predecessor gave rise to fears that Time Out Of Mind was going to be Bob’s last big hurrah. Maybe producing it himself with his touring band instead of using flavor-of-the-month Don Was and his stable of rock stars, helped lower expectations a bit. Who knows? I liked it when it first came out – and I still like it. Lyrically it’s his funniest since Another Side Of Bob Dylan. Knock-knock jokes? Booty call? Hunting bare? “Throw your panties over board”? “I’m sitting on my watch so I can be on time”? “Call down to room service/ Said send up a room”? I know Bob’s words don’t usually affect me that much, but this is great stuff. And musically – it’s all over the map (crooners, blues, ‘50s rockers), but thanks to the touring band backing him, it’s still cohesive. Most of the songs are more versions of the 3 (or less) chord blues (“Tweedle Dum & Tweedle Dee”, “Summer Days”, “Lonesome Day Blues”, and “Honest With Me”). Yet, “Moonlight” and “Bye And Bye” use some the most complicated jazzy chords since “If Dogs Run Free” from New Morning. And to keep the album from getting too monotonous, the occasional accordion, banjo or violin just shows up. As hard as it may be to believe, Bob’s latest really is one of his best.
Brimming with Life
No Rating
One more thing about this album: I think that the sound of Love&Theft is something that Bob Dylan had been struggling to attain since 1970. It's a sound that is new, and yet old. Bold, and yet traditional. It's a sound he's attempted in Self Portrait, the Rolling Thunder Review, the gospel albums, the Traveling Wilburies, Down in the Groove, Under the Red Sky, and yet was never 100% successful until this album. It's funny, scary, heart-warming and horrifying, often within a single song. I can take a single portion from any of the L&T songs and be amazed by how every morsel is brimming with energy, activitity, and life:
"The Cuckoo is a pretty bird, she warbles as she flies
I'm preachin' the Word of God
I'm puttin' out your eyes
I asked Fat Nancy for something to eat, she said, "Take it off the shelf -
As great as you are a man,
You'll never be greater than yourself."
I told her I didn't really care
High water everywhere."
WOW! What does it mean? I don't know. But I love it.
Ditto above, a personal
Ditto, a personal favourite.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
P. T i m o t h y E r v i n
Yasuda Women's University, Hiroshima, Japan
Yasuda Observatory N34°28'41" E132°27'06"
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
A favorite
This album is by far one of Bob's greatest. It combines the wit and humor of 'Another Side' and 'Freewheelin'', the zaniness of 'Nashville Skyline' and 'Self Portrait', the complex lyricism of 'Blood on the Tracks', and the passionate spirituality of 'Slow Train Coming' all together in a folk/blues concoction of genius.
Note: Be sure to listen to just several hours of Son House, Doc Watson, Hank Williams, and Muddy Waters along with this album... There are so many references to those old artists' works on this album it is amazing!
Love AND Theft?
Tweedle
High Water
I love this song. The guitar picking is super cool.