Planet Waves (studio album) by Bob Dylan

A decent album but that is about it unfortunately. There are a few great tracks on here such as the opening track, the two versions of Forever Young and Going, Going, gone. All of these have some great backing instrumentals and a brilliant chorus that really throws it back to the old school Dylan. These cuts definitely make the album worth listening to just to find them. I think his vocal is consistently amazing as well and carries the album on the slower and more boring tracks. This is the main problem with the record which are the dull filler tracks. They feel a bit empty and don't really provide anything to the album musically. Overall, a decent couple of songs with some filler which makes this a reasonably enjoyable listen.

Not a great album. I like the second version of Forever Young, but I can't really remember much else about it.

From Crumpet 02/13/2018 16:48

A very fun album, really one of Dylan's most underrated.

From Repo 11/12/2017 22:53

The first dylan album that's just good and not essential listening. It has its moments and it's great hearing him play with The Band, but it could & should have been so much more. A minor disapppointment.

From Brandon8 09/06/2017 03:22

A great vibe on this album with the classic Forever Young but there are lots of gems to be discovered such as Going, Going, Gone, Tough Mama and Something There is About You.

Best songs: Dirge above all, then Going going gone, Forever young (slow one) and Wedding song.
The others are good/ok but that's it.

Anyway Dirge alone worth owning the album.

A comeback album of sorts. It was Dylan's first album of new songs for just over three years, and his first and last record on David Geffen's asylum label. It's the only Dylan album recorded completely with The Band, excluding, the basement tapes. The first song is a kind of welcome back to his fans, with a night like this. Highlights of the album are, hazel, tough mama, and, going, going, gone. Wedding song is also very good. There are two version's of, forever young, with the fast tempo one pointless really. It's a good album, and it's Dylan getting back into the swing of it before his artistic comeback, blood on the tracks.

This album was such a disappointment to me when it was released. I still feel the same way.

Best Track: Forever Young

From Mercury 12/01/2013 02:19

30 November 2013

This is a pretty good album. There are some real highlights here, such as "Going, Going Gone", "Hazel", "Forever Young" (the first version :() and, of course, "Dirge".

The main problem I have with this is it doesn't commit. For every good song there is, in my eyes, a somewhat lame or stale sounding rocker that has no real affect in me at all. The opener "On A night Like This" is such a track. As is track 3 "Tough Mama", etc.

There are definite signs of brilliance throughout here. The songwriting is pretty average mostly. The one big exception is "Dirge" which is a masterful look at broken bitterness. It's truly a marvelous song.

This is an up and down record. It contains one classic Dylan track, one very famous Dylan track (Forever Young), some quite good songs, and then a bunch of forgettable ones.

I also don't like the having 2 version of "Forever Young". Whats the point? And the 2nd one was just an annoying "rock" version of the first. Bleh.

All in all, it's alright. Not too fun. Not bad. Not great. Just ... Okay.

Grade 72/100