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881.

John Wesley Harding

Bob Dylan

"It's funny that most of the comments here allude to this being below par for Bob, and not on the same level as some of his other recordings. Personally I think that's absolute hogwash - this is Dylan at his very best; Dylan the mythologiser, Dylan the storyteller, Dylan the philosopher. Beginning...""It's funny that most of the comments here allude to this being below par for Bob, and not on the same level as some of his other recordings. Personally I think that's absolute hogwash - this is Dylan at his very best; Dylan the mythologiser, Dylan the storyteller, Dylan the philosopher. Beginning with the opener and title track, Dylan weaves a series of telling tales about his life and his career as told through the point of view of others. The title track is no more about John Wesley Hardin than it is about Dylan the protest-singer, or at least the one which the media chose to portray. It may seem like a simple tale of a Robin Hood-esque noble outlaw, but the song itself acts as a metaphor for Dylan's own exploits, or at least some exaggerated version of them as dreamed up by those raving, quasi-religious "followers" he was so reluctant to acknowledge in the first place. In the final verse he appears to switch to something more accurate, at least in terms of his opinion of himself and the way he could confound expectations and hopes others had of him ("no charge held against him could they prove"). And why, of all people, choose John Wesley Hardin anyway? The man was apparently so mean that he once killed a man for snoring (though this probably didn't actually happen), so why choose his name for a tale about a noble outlaw? My opinion is that Dylan chose Hardin for his reputation as a self-mythologiser, a man who would wilfully embellish his stories in order to make them more exciting, just as Dylan has been wont to do. (Anybody who seriously believes Chronicles to be a work of accurate autobiography needs their head checked.) Dylan even looks like a noble outlaw on the cover, enhancing the idea that he sees himself as Hardin, or at least the Harding of this song and this album. What people often dismiss as a series of cute folk tales and ditties, ones which I've been told pale in comparison to his apparently more focused and passionate paeans to love or justice, are arguably his most personal (or, perhaps more accurately, his most self-referencing) works, those in which he puts himself smack bang in the middle of the story, even as somebody else entirely. And we see this happen throughout the record. Dylan is the lonesome hobo who has served his time for everything except begging on the street (or is he? Would he really admit to not trusting his brother?), who in turn is the accused drifter. He is both the joker (whose wine is drunk by businessmen and whose earth is dug by ploughmen, without gratitude or recognition of his worth) and the thief (who understands that life is but a joke). Whilst he is defiant in the face of accusations (he is no martyr), he feels the pressure of expectation, the guilt that perhaps he played along and performed his role, even going so far as to bowing his head and crying in the (imagined) presence of St. Augustine (who wasn't, in fact, martyred - perhaps more mythologising on Dylan's part). Perhaps the album's two most striking moments, the parable 'The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest' and the piano-driven 'Dear Landlord', appear to be about Dylan's relationship with his management. Judas Priest tries to force Frankie to accept his offer "before (it) all disappears"; Frankie, in his attempts to join Judas in his beautiful home, dies of thirst. Did Dylan sell his soul? Is that what he's admitting to? Or is it just a precursory warning about the trappings of fame, about mistaking paradise for that home across the road? But later, on 'Dear Landlord' (frequently thought to refer to God, but that reading doesn't wash with me, it seems far too confrontational for that), he warns that he's "not about to move to no other place". Perhaps he likes the home after all. "If you don't underestimate me", he states to the Landlord, "I won't underestimate you" - perhaps a grudging respect, or just a necessary compromise. Not all of the album's songs are so dense with cryptic tales and biblical imagery (in fact, on first inspection, not many of them seem remotely cryptic at all, but that's another story). Album closer 'I'll Be Your Baby Tonight' is a simple love song, much more in line with the stuff he'd record on Nashville Skyline, often regarded as this album's sister. That may be true musically (both definitely take their cues from roots and country music), but thematically the two couldn't be more different. Here we have Dylan the shapeshifter, the defiant myth-buster, the mischievous myth-maker, whereas on Nashville Skyline we see Dylan the hopeless romantic. And the music here is much more sparse, darker, naked. On Nashville Skyline there's a certain decadence musically, Dylan basking in the Nashville sound, with all its twangs and rhinestones. Here Dylan lays his soul bare, over fittingly austere accompaniments, often nothing more than a few shuffling guitar chords. Where The Band - whose Music from Big Pink I see as more of a sister album to John Wesley Harding than anything else - used roots music as something expansive and out-of-time (sounding at once centuries old and yet of the present, as though it has no time of reference at all, the musical equivalent of a tree that stands for hundreds of years), Dylan here uses roots music as something small and insular, music to share stories around the campfire to. Which is, essentially, what this album is. It's Dylan sharing his stories around the campfire, his fears and his guilt, and his pride in forever confounding expectation. This is Dylan the man, and Dylan the myth. This is Dylan the honest, sharing his thoughts as nakedly as he ever would, so long as you're willing to dig a little. Or maybe - just maybe - this is Dylan the deceiver, singing simple folk tales for his followers to dig into forever more, in futile search of some deeper meaning that simply isn't there. Maybe - just maybe - I've been duped, and this album does, in fact, pale in comparison to his earlier works. And maybe - just maybe - the little neighbour boy was right; "nothing is revealed"." [+] Reply

Skinny | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +14 votes (15 helpful | 1 unhelpful)

Year of Release:

1967

Appears in:

482 charts

Rank Score:

1,968

Rank in 1967:

Rank in 1960s:

Overall Rank:

881

Average Rating:

78 (780 votes)

Comments:

882.

Safe Mode: On

Dirty Mind

Prince

"Funky Prince with sex written all over it. Absolutely amazing! A masterpiece from the 80s!" Reply

vilangelo | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

337 charts

Rank Score:

1,965

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

134

Overall Rank:

882

Average Rating:

77 (436 votes)

Comments:

883.

Safe Mode: On

This Is Hardcore

Pulp

"The follow up to the mega successful, different class. This is hardcore, is a darker twin to the more optimistic predecessor, but songwise it's just as good. The title track is amazing, one of Pulp's greatest songs. Other highlights include, the fear, a little soul, and, Sylvia. This is hardcore,..." [+] Reply

- garycottier | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +4 votes (4 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Year of Release:

1998

Appears in:

357 charts

Rank Score:

1,960

Rank in 1998:

Rank in 1990s:

158

Overall Rank:

883

Average Rating:

78 (444 votes)

Comments:

884.

Sublime

"Just like any popular radio band, Sublime seems to attract an unforgivably annoying, loyal fan base. I can't tell you how many girls I've bumped into since the mid-90's who've lived their lives with this album as a soundtrack. Yikes. In all honesty, I hate listening to Sublime around humans becau..." [+] Reply

- 247joelnetwork | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +5 votes (5 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Year of Release:

1996

Appears in:

421 charts

Rank Score:

1,959

Rank in 1996:

Rank in 1990s:

159

Overall Rank:

884

Average Rating:

75 (595 votes)

Comments:

885.

Third Eye Blind

"It's hard for me to explain just how much I love this album.. For one thing, I think it's incredibly consistent from start to finish, without a really weak song. Also, I find the lyrics to be incredible.. The strange thing is, that I can't really relate to most of them, but I still "feel" them, I..." [+] Reply

- 19loveless91 | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +5 votes (5 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Year of Release:

1997

Appears in:

279 charts

Rank Score:

1,959

Rank in 1997:

Rank in 1990s:

160

Overall Rank:

885

Average Rating:

74 (400 votes)

Comments:

886.

Harvest Moon

Neil Young

"Neil Young has a knack for making exactly the album his most ardent fans don't want at any given moment. In 1992, on the heels of what was arguably his loudest, most feedback-drenched tour, the one that produced the live albums Arc and Weld, Neil Young recorded...a folk album? The sequel to his t..." [+] Reply

buzzdainer | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +4 votes (4 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Year of Release:

1992

Appears in:

382 charts

Rank Score:

1,958

Rank in 1992:

Rank in 1990s:

161

Overall Rank:

886

Average Rating:

79 (512 votes)

Comments:

887.

The B-52's

"Such a quirky album, they really managed to capture a unique feel to all their songs which I love! It's a little bit post-punk, a little bit pop, a little bit new wave and that's the beauty of the album, you don't know what's going to happen next! Favourite tracks are 'Dance This Mess Around' and..." [+] Reply

- TroutMaskGreg | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Year of Release:

1979

Appears in:

421 charts

Rank Score:

1,955

Rank in 1979:

Rank in 1970s:

183

Overall Rank:

887

Average Rating:

78 (516 votes)

Comments:

888.

Adore

The Smashing Pumpkins

"I admit that nostalgia is probably why I like this album so much. But listening to it again reminds me of just how great it sounds. The production is incredible - the pianos echo so hauntingly. The angst is still here, but it's contained into a more melancholic sound (funny how Mellon Collie was ..." [+] Reply

babyBlueSedan | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +5 votes (5 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Year of Release:

1998

Appears in:

343 charts

Rank Score:

1,955

Rank in 1998:

Rank in 1990s:

162

Overall Rank:

888

Average Rating:

77 (573 votes)

Comments:

889.

Ctrl

SZA

"Sounds good on a first listen. This is currently relatively low on BEAs 2017 list compared to a lot of critic lists. Personally, this is more like what I want to hear on a pop album than Lorde's latest, for example. It feels more expressive and energising to me. Will need to hear a few more times..." [+] Reply

- | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +5 votes (5 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Year of Release:

2017

Appears in:

331 charts

Rank Score:

1,954

Rank in 2017:

Rank in 2010s:

126

Overall Rank:

889

Average Rating:

77 (369 votes)

Comments:

890.

Armed Forces

Elvis Costello And The Attractions

"So the album originally known as, emotional fascism, would become Elvis Costello's greatest pop moment. Armed forces, was the record that skyrocketed, at least for a while, Costello to the status of a pop star. Off course the main factor in this was the wonderful single, Oliver's army, which hit ..." [+] Reply

- garycottier | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Year of Release:

1979

Appears in:

371 charts

Rank Score:

1,953

Rank in 1979:

Rank in 1970s:

184

Overall Rank:

890

Average Rating:

78 (473 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 10,000. Page 89 of 1,000

Overall Chart composition

Decade	Albums	%

1930s	2	0%
1940s	34	0%
1950s	302	3%
1960s	708	7%
1970s	1,424	14%
1980s	1,415	14%
1990s	1,600	16%
2000s	1,725	17%
2010s	1,967	20%
2020s	823	8%

Artist	Albums	%

Bob Dylan	37	0%
The Rolling Stones	35	0%
David Bowie	32	0%
The Beatles	29	0%
Miles Davis	27	0%
Neil Young	26	0%
Various Artists	25	0%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	4,999	50%
	2,657	27%
	431	4%
	337	3%
	221	2%
	157	2%
	134	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	9,729	97%
Yes	271	3%

Live?	Albums	%
No	9,737	97%
Yes	263	3%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	9,885	99%
Yes	115	1%

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