The Dylan Canon

Over the past 48 hours I've been on an inexplicable Bob Dylan kick. Not that it's completely out of the ordinary, after all, I friggin love the man. But this kick is stronger than usual and the only reason I can possibly point to is. with the recent passings of George Steinbrenner and Bob Sheppard, Bob Dylan clearly becomes my favorite Senior Citizen.

Unless Bill Clinton is 65 yet, but even then, I have a Love/Hate thing with Bill. Hate him when speaking with fellow progressives because really, he was just a centrist who didn't really advance an agenda, but love him when talking to conservatives, if only to drive the point home that he was far and away better than the two shitsticks that sandwiched him.

Political tangent done.

So I'm going with the theory that Dylan is officially now my favorite living legend, and hell, maybe he was when George was alive, I never really compared the two. To satisfy the Dylan urge, I put together a list of what I consider The Dylan Canon: Seventy vital Dylan tunes, to celebrate Dylan's 70th year on earth, which began in late May. Also, I needed a more defined Dylan playlist on the iPod for when I wanted to hear a Dylan mix but didn't want to stumble upon Born Again Bob or some live tracks. I guess the alternate title of The Canon would be "The Unskippale Bob Dylan".

Funny part about Bob approaching 70 - I remember seeing Dylan with a bunch of friends when he played at William Paterson University's gym in 1997, and at the Garden State Arts Center later that summer, under the guise of "We have to see him now while he's still alive".

Dude was only 57. Oh to be 20 again and have no real perspective on aging and mortality. But I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now.

Bringing it all back home, these are not in order, nor are they intended to be ranked. They're just one man's humble opinion of the 70 most vital Dylan songs, and for what it's worth, this list could be 100, 125 or 150 with very little additional effort. We're talking about Bob Fucking Dylan here.

All Along The Watchtower
All I Really Want To Do
Ballad Of A Thin Man
Blowin' In The Wind
Changing Of The Guards
Chimes Of Freedom
Corrina, Corrina
Days Of 49
Desolation Row
Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
Forever Young
Gates Of Eden
Girl From The North Country
A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall
Highway 61 Revisited
Hurricane
I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)
I Shall Be Free
I Shall Be Released
I Want You
Idiot Wind
If Not For You
Isis
It's All Over Now, Baby Blue
It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)
It Ain't Me Babe
It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry
Joey
Just Like A Woman
Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues
Knockin' On Heaven's Door
Lay Lady Lay
The Levee's Gonna Break
Like A Rolling Stone
Lily, Rosemary And The Jack Of Hearts
Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll
Love Minus Zero/No Limit
Maggie's Farm
Make You Feel My Love
Masters Of War
Most Likely You Go Your Way And I'll Go Mine
Mr. Tambourine Man
My Back Pages
Not Dark Yet
Oh, Sister
One More Cup Of Coffee
One Of Us Must Know (Sooner Or Later)
Oxford Town
Peggy Day
Positively 4th Street
Queen Jane Approximately
Quinn The Eskimo
Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands
Señor (Tales Of Yankee Power)
Shelter From The Storm
Simple Twist Of Fate
Spanish Harlem Incident
Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again
Subterranean Homesick Blues
Tangled Up In Blue
The Times They Are A-Changin'
To Ramona
Tombstone Blues
Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You
Trying To Get To Heaven
Visions Of Johanna
You're A Big Girl
You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go

Music Madness: The Village - Sweet 16

It's regional finals time. Finally. Getting down to the nitty gritty and the developing story in this region is simple: Can anybody put a chink in Bob Dylan's armor? Two matchups. 5 Categories each. In those 10 categories, nobody's come close to registering a point.

Our other matchup should be closer. Party like it's 1988 and the top selling records are New Jersey and Appetite for Destruction.

For the curious among you, all rules, criteria and regulations can be found right here.

Going to switch up the format a tad, provide a bit more background since we're down to 2 matchups in the region.

Box Score Keys: EC (Entire Collection - 3 pts), DA (Defining Album - 2), PC (Personal Connection - 2), DS (Defining Song -1), HI (Historical Impact -1)

On to the action:

(1) Bob Dylan v (5) Red Hot Chili Peppers

How They Got Here:
DYLAN: def. (16) Skid Row 9-0; (9) Jack Johnson 9-0
RHCP: def. (12) Aerosmith 8-1; (4) White Stripes 8-1

BOX SCORE:
EC: RCHP have a vast and impressive one. They're still going strong. Bob Dylan's collection is 100 times better. And he's still kicking. ADVANTAGE: DYLAN
DA: Of the remaining 16, Dylan's Blood on the Tracks ranks 3. Blood Sugar Sex Magik is 13. ADV: DYLAN
PC: I haven't ranked these 1-16 yet, partially because I don't want to ruin my own personal suspense, but also because I think more than any other category, this needs to be a direct Head to Head. I have many memories shared with the Peppers contributions to my life's soundtrack. The summer of 2006 was underwritten by "Snow". But being "into Dylan" is life defining. I can't say that I look down upon people who don't get Bob Dylan. Unless they also profess to love music. Then it's inexplicable. Being into Bob Dylan is part of one's character. It doesn't get more personal than that. ADV: DYLAN
DS: "Hurricane" ranks #3. "Under the Bridge" #16. Not even close. ADV: DYLAN
HI: Does not even need to be discussed. ADV: DYLAN

FINAL SCORE: BOB DYLAN 9 - RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS 0

(2) Guns N Roses v (3) Bon Jovi

How They Got Here:
GNR: def (15) Weezer 9-0; (7) Stevie Wonder 5-4
JOVI: def (14) Counting Crows 9-0; (11) Metallica 7-2
 
BOX SCORE:
EC: No real room for debate here, unless you were to argue that proportionately, the Guns' is better. And if not for most of Use Your Illusions I  and The Spaghetti Incident and technically, Chinese Democracy, that might be the case. But the Jersey boys have been cutting quality work for almost 30 years now. Wow. 30 fucking years. That's longer than the Beatles work had existed when I first got into them. ADV: BON JOVI
DA: Slippery When Wet was the first album I ever loved. I had three albums before that: Thriller, Born in the USA, and A Different Light. (Use the google for that one). But Slippery was the first one I truly got into. I remember coming home in 4th grade and putting the record (yes, vinyl) on and listening to it all the way through. But about 2 years later, there was Appetite For Destruction. I remember being amazed that you could say "Fuck" in a song. There was something so rebellious about the album at the time. Just as I was coming into my own. Just as I was beginning to define myself and formulating my own opinions. I still listen to both of the albums. Slippery is nostalgic. Appetite still resonates today. Slippery is #8 of all remaining albums. Appetite is 3. ADV: GNR
PC: Much like what I said about Dylan, there's a special class of us who still revere the Guns some 25 years later. Don't matter that Axl's batshit crazy. Don't matter that we're never seeing a reunion. Don't matter that Slash is becoming a bigger pitchman than Billy Mays. There's a sum of 3 albums for the Guns: All of Appetite, all of Illusions II, 1/2 of Illusions I and side B of Lies. If you've been listening to them for the last quarter century, it's impacted you.
Bon Jovi's done the same. When you're from Jersey, you feel a certain ownership of Bon Jovi. Like Springsteen, "The Sopranos", Diners and Joe Piscopo. Interesting (not really) trivia: I danced with my wife to "Never Say Goodbye" at our 8th Grade Graduation Dance, our Senior Prom, and our Wedding. And it was a "focal" song at all three. Not some generic "Chicken Dance". That's not some random occurrance. That's staying power. That's a contribution to my life, to our lives. That is a personal connection. But it's a different connection. Bon Jovi is where you're from. Guns N Roses is who you are. ADV: GNR
HI: Guns N Roses needs 1 more point to move to the Elite Eight. They won't find it here. Their moment was fleeting, while Bon Jovi carries on. They've seen a million faces. And they've rocked them all. ADV: BON JOVI
DS: So it comes down to the defining song. One fluke category for the right to call yourself a "VILLAGE REGIONAL FINALIST IN A MAKE BELIEVE TOURNAMENT OF ONE MAN'S 64 FAVORITE MUSICIANS". Can you feel the pressure building? The tension? The drama? "Living on a Prayer" checks in at number 8. "Estranged" checks in at number 5. And that might be an insult to it. ADV: GNR 
 
A very close matchup. Probably the closest yet. But we keep to seed here. Bob Dylan, "Welcome to the Jungle". 
 
FINAL SCORE: GUNS N ROSES 5 - BON JOVI 4. 

Music Madness: The Village Region: 2nd Round

Surprisingly, the second round has a lot less drama than the first in this region.  Born Again Bob wrote "Slow Train Coming" but there's nothing slow about Dylan's plowing through the field so far. He's looking like the undisputed favorite to reach the final four. The question is, will he shut-out all comers?

As usual, all Rules and Criteria can be found here

SHUTOUTS
(1) Bob Dylan v (9) Jack Johnson. Not a single category where the Hawaiian was anything close to competitive.
FINAL SCORE: Bob Dylan 9 - Jack Johnson 0

BLOWOUTS
(4) White Stripes v (5) Red Hot Chili Peppers. Wow, I did not see this one coming. I assumed this had the makings of a 5-4/6-3 win and would have put the Stripes as a slight favorite. But lining it all up, all they took down was "song" with "Ball and Biscuit" narrowly beating out "Under the Bridge" (which I already regret deeming their best). I had already determined that  Stadium Arcadium had beaten out  Elephant in the album category, and the rest pretty much fell into place for RHCP. A tough, tough loss for the Stripes. The Peppers now have the unenviable task of taking on the Dylan Machine.  
FINAL SCORE: RHCP 8 - WHITE STRIPES 1

(3) Bon Jovi v (11) Metallica. It was a coin-toss of sorts for the historical impact between the two, and it came up in favor of Metallica. Both have the longevity. Bon Jovi's more popular but that's not the point. Both are still alive and kicking while their contemporaries are collecting residuals from VH1's reality television department. Metallica also wins the "song" competition, thanks to The Greatest Closer in baseball history. But everything else goes Jersey.
FINAL SCORE: BON JOVI 7 - METALLICA 2

NAIL BITERS
(2) Guns N Roses v (7) Stevie Wonder. All categories but one were blowouts. And it was the one that was the deciding factor, despite the seed disparity. Stevie Wonder takes Historic Impact and Entire Collection with relative ease. The Guns lock down "Song" with "Estranged" and personal connection with little trouble. So it all falls on the Defining Album. Songs in the Key of Life against Appetite For Destruction. Two legendary albums you'll find on just about any "All Time" countdown. But when I really think about the choice, I Think About You, Sweet Child O' Mine. And the answer? It's So Easy. And all of a sudden, a viable threat to Bob Dylan emerges.
FINAL SCORE: GUNS N ROSES 5 - STEVIE WONDER 4.

The Sweet Sixteen in this region:
(1) Bob Dylan v (5) Red Hot Chili Peppers
(2) Guns N Roses v (3) Bon Jovi

Music Madness 2010: The Village 1st Round

It's the first full day of action live from the deep recesses of my brain. The Village Regional First Round Action is ready to commence. The overwhelming favorite in the region is the legendary Bob Dylan, who likely will beat any and all comers in the "Entire Collection" category, which in turn would give him a three point advantage off the bat.

This is a region of heavy hitters. Bon Jovi. Guns N Roses. The Red Hot Chili Peppers. All possess the ability to make it out of other regions. But slaying Bob the Giant is no ordinary task. Speaking of which, a bunch of burnouts from Jersey have the unenviable task of being the first to make such an attempt...

A reminder, all Rules & Criteria can be found here

VILLAGE REGION: FIRST ROUND ACTION
(1) Bob Dylan vs. (16) Skid Row. The Skids eeked out a play-in match against the Barenaked Ladies. There's something they can hang their hat on. This one's a clean 9-0 sweep.
FINAL SCORE: BOB DYLAN 9 ~ SKID ROW 0

(8) Beastie Boys vs. (9) Jack Johnson. This one goes down to the wire. The Beasties take the prize for Defining Album with License to Ill. Can't deny how good it remains to this day. Even the politically incorrect "Girls". They take the Defining Song points as well, as "Fight For Your Right" beats any single Johnson tune. And seeing that they're going strong in their 3rd decade and are widely considered pioneers, they get the Impact point. Johnson fights back strong with Personal Connection however, despite having a 20 year disadvantage. For the last 5 years, Jack's been the go-to-guy for a mellow Sunday morning cup of coffee, a breezy Saturday afternoon on my deck, or a hungover car ride home from a hotel.
The big prize is still out there: 3 Points for "Entire Collection". As great as the Beasties are, as great as they've been, the Hawaiian takes this down. His entire catalogue - even if it's only a fraction of the Beastie Boys' - is nearly blemish-free. For the past decade he's churned out nothing but solid, borderline great music. And he pulls off the upset.
FINAL SCORE: JACK JOHNSON 5 ~ BEASTIE BOYS 4

(4) White Stripes vs. (13) Notorious B.I.G. This is a weird matchup, isn't it? The clearest advantage is Biggy's "Historical Impact". It's kind of an unfair advantage when you're shot to death. Ask Bobby Kennedy, whom you'd think was one of the best presidents ever, aside from the fact that he wasn't even nominated to run for president, let alone elected as such. I'm also giving the Notorious one the Song category, as Big Poppa squeaks past Ball and Biscuit. In short though, the Stripes are sweeping the rest behind the strength of their collection as a whole, "Elephant" as album, and the fact that they were an integral part of the soundtrack of my late 20s and early 30s.
FINAL SCORE: WHITE STRIPES 7 ~ NOTORIOUS B.I.G. 2

(5) Red Hot Chili Peppers vs. (12) Aerosmith. Aerosmith jumps out to a lead by winning the Song, as "Dream On" defeats "Under the Bridge" (I had a bitch of a time here, with "Scar Tissue", "Snow", "Apache Rose Peacock" and others in the running), but the Peppers run the table and turn this into a blowout by way of Album (Stadium Arcadium), Collection, Connection, and Impact, which I debated, but stand by.
FINAL SCORE: RHCP 8 ~ AEROSMITH 1 

(3) Bon Jovi vs.  (14) Counting Crows. Pump your fists New Jersey, you got yourself a clean sweep.
FINAL SCORE: BON JOVI 9 ~ COUNTING CROWS 0

(6) Black Crowes vs. (11) Metallica. From the top, Metallica takes the prize for Collection. Barely, but they do. Crowes claim Album, as Amorica narrowly defeats Metallica (Black Album) - which I never thought was as good as Justice...For All till I really considered it. Personal connection goes to the Crowes, namely for "Wiser Time" and all it's meant to me. With an assist from Mariano Rivera, "Enter Sandman" is declared the head to head song victor. We're at an even 4-4 score going into Historical Impact, and I think it's safe to say, we have our first somewhat big upset.
FINAL SCORE: METALLICA 5 ~ BLACK CROWES 4

(7) Stevie Wonder vs. (10) The Who. Fans of the British Conference are furious at The Who's seeding here. But they should be glad that they weren't set up for the upset. Damaged by a piss poor performance at the Super Bowl - the absurdity of singing "My Generation" when you can collect social security checks, and the tie-in to the CSI Franchise, they haven't done themselves many favors of late. Still, an intriguing matchup as they're able to claim personal connection despite all that (credit my own British Invasion of 1996-1999, who cares if it was 30 years too late), and the Song by way of "Baba O'Reilly". But on the strength of his own historical impact, the landmark album Songs in the Key of Life, and a better overall collection even if there's a little too much fluff, Stevie Wonder clinches this one.
FINAL SCORE: STEVIE WONDER 6 ~ THE WHO 3

(2) Guns N Roses vs. (15) Weezer. Initially I gave Weezer the credit for Entire Catalogue, reason being they're still making albums, while GNR mailed it in after Use Your Illusions II - and Illusions I wasn't that special anyway. Then I thought about it, I listened to some select tracks all over again, and realized Weezer's entire collection doesn't even match up to the B-Side of GNR Lies - to say nothing of Illusions II and Appettite For Destruction. Given all that, it's no surprise that this is a shutout.
FINAL SCORE: GUNS N ROSES 9 ~ WEEZER 0

-----------------------

When Round Two of the Region begins sometime next week, the matchups will be:
(1) Bob Dylan v (9) Jack Johnson
(4) White Stripes v (5) Red Hot Chili Peppers
(3) Bon Jovi v (11) Metallica
(2) Guns N Roses v (7) Stevie Wonder

At first glance it looks very favorable for the big seeds and that 4/5 matchup is tasty, going to have to send Gus Johnson to call that one. Can Metallica ride "Enter Sandman" to pull off the upset? Will Jack Johnson avoid a shutout? Does the winner of the Stripes/Peppers game have the ability to make a run at the prohibitive favorite? Who wins out between the blind versus the bat-shit crazy?


Next up is the Liverpool Region, here's the updated bracket

My 30 Best Albums of the Decade: 20 - 16

Moving along, I wish I knew who the hell Taylor Swift was, so Kanye West could chime in and deprive her of a place on this chart.

#20: Encore - Eminem: Simple: If an album samples Martika, and also contains the lyric "Fuck Bush", I'm in all likelihood going to enjoy said album. Not my favorite Eminem disc, probably because it's a little muted in comparison to his earlier recordings. He's obviously an enigma and few musicians can spark as much love/hate opinions as him (really, do you know anyone who thinks "Eminem is OK"?), like everything else these days - likely fashioned by the media. But I'll get into that a little later cause methinks he'll be appearing on the countdown again. This album rocks because of the track "Mosh". It should have been released around Labor Day (not 10 days before the election), because it caught the essence of the 2004 election: We're not coming out to vote for John Kerry - We're coming out to vote because Bush/Cheney is the most dangerous threat to our democracy since the day before the Emancipation Proclamation was signed. John Kerry was a hard guy to get behind, but the vitriol for Bush that Mr. Shady put forth here summed up the motivating factors behind George Bush receiving the most "votes against" ever by a President running for re-election.

#19: In Between Now and Then - O.A.R: The first of three bands I really got into this decade makes it's debut. Now, O.A.R studio is a far cry from O.A.R live - which is much more enjoyable music. Still, of all their studio work, this one seems to rise above the rest in terms of quality of the tracks. Their lyrics are a tad sophomoric and I think they try a little too hard to be like other tour-bands, but at the end of the day, they're a fun band to throw on the machine. Hey Girl and Dareh Meyod highlight the album and also translate very well on their live discs. Never been to one of their shows, as scheduling conflicts seem to arise every summer as our time gets burglarized by commitments we'd really rather not honor, but one of these days, I'll hit them up. Guess I should start collecting party beads now.

#18: Broken Boy Soldiers - The Raconteurs: Jack White was to good 00's music as Ryan Seacrest was to annoying, poppy, fluffy, tabloid supermarket crap this decade - He was everywhere. I chose Ryan Seacrest for the analogy because he was pretty much the anti-Jack White. While White was involved in near-iconic albums throughout the entire decade, Seacrest was fluffing up his overexposed resume with such tripe like A Celebration of Heroes with George W. Bush and of course, the decade's septic tank: American Idol. He even took over for the indestructible Dick Clark on New Year's Eve, although Clark still made his appearances and I was supposed to not crack up laughing at them after 20 beers. Riiiight. Anyway, Broken Boy Soldiers is pretty much everything rock'n roll should be, rock at its roots. Intelligent lyrics that capture the essence of just being a human, along with solid intros and exceptional music. Really can't say a bad thing about it. And America didn't have to vote via text-message to approve of it.

17: Float - Flogging Molly: Of all the things I'm grateful for this decade - you know, stuff like getting married and Eli Manning - few things have impacted me the way that the music acquisition practices have changed. I've always felt that the Irish do 3 things better than any other culture: Drink, Make Breakfast, and Play Music. For most of my life, Irish Music was limited to the traditional folk songs and some rebel rock like the Wolftones. Because that's what I had access too. And then came the internet music explosion. And then came Flogging Molly. Formed in LA with a frontman from Dublin, they pretty much encompass everything I've always loved about music. And their subject matter touches all bases: relationships, war, peace, politics, rebellion, family, and of course, the unique Irish perspective on alcohol. Float is their most critically acclaimed album, probably because it's their most mature. A worthy investment, the album's perfect for a big party, a solitary commute and everything in between.

16: Modern Times - Bob Dylan: Something tells me that if I were to rank the top 30 albums of previous decades in my collection, this would make it the 5th consecutive decade that the Legendary Bob Dylan would rank in the top 20, as The Freewheeling Bob Dylan was probably the greatest album of the 1960s, Blood on the Tracks would hold the exact same honor for the 1970s, Infidels would have some stiff competition but would rank among the 80's best, and Time Out of Mind would do the same for the 1990s. What else is there to say about a man who continues to impress and amaze as he pushes towards his 6th decade in the spotlight? Modern Times basically takes a little bit of the definitive "Dylan Sound" that we're all accustomed to - from classic folk, to rock, to blues, sometimes all blended together - and adds the wisdom of a lifetime of experience by the greatest lyricist in American History. It's also the 23rd consecutive album to disprove the common misconception that "All Dylan sounds the same" yet the fallacy lives on.

One of the true enigmas of the last 50 years, I can't even begin to explain what my life would be like without Bob Dylan so I'm not going to bother. It's no wonder Dylan's favorite ballplayer is Derek Jeter.