Published: Monday, October 6, 2008
Liner notes: "Tell Tale Signs: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8," "Break Up the Concrete"
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"Break Up the Concrete, " The Pretenders
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"Tell Tale Signs: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8," Bob Dylan
"Tell Tale Signs: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8"
Bob Dylan
WHY CARE?: Bob Dylan releases 27 outtakes on Tuesday -- about 140 minutes of music -- culled from 1989 to 2006, a surprisingly fertile period for the aging singer.
TRIVIA: Dylan, who won a Pulitzer Prize earlier this year for his "profound impact" on music, has sold more than 110 million albums, according to Columbia Records.
HIGH POINTS: "Series of Dreams," an unreleased track from his "Oh Mercy" sessions, finds Dylan singing over the anxious pounding of drums.
FANS ALSO LIKE: Singers who smoked. A lot.
ANDY SAYS: Few musicians can get away with releasing scraps like this. Fewer still can have those scraps -- alternate takes, unreleased material, live versions -- hold up so well to official albums. It makes it seem like all Dylan is vital.
GRADE: A-minus
"Break Up the Concrete"
The Pretenders
WHY CARE?: Chrissie Hynde puts out a new Pretenders' album, although the group's latest line-up features four musicians she never recorded with before.
TRIVIA: While honoring the Pretenders at its induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005, Neil Young said he mined the group's first album for ideas in the 1980s.
HIGH POINT: Geez, I don't know. The songs run together.
FANS ALSO LIKE: 1980s singers coasting by on name recognition
ANDY SAYS: For Hynde to put out a tepid bunch of songs like this is an embarrassment. She sings the praises of a guy's hairstyle, calls love a mystery, and hopes she can live her life like Jesus. Sigh. At least most of the songs are short.
GRADE: C-minus
Andy Rathbun
arathbun@heraldnet.com 425-339-3455
Bob Dylan
WHY CARE?: Bob Dylan releases 27 outtakes on Tuesday -- about 140 minutes of music -- culled from 1989 to 2006, a surprisingly fertile period for the aging singer.
TRIVIA: Dylan, who won a Pulitzer Prize earlier this year for his "profound impact" on music, has sold more than 110 million albums, according to Columbia Records.
HIGH POINTS: "Series of Dreams," an unreleased track from his "Oh Mercy" sessions, finds Dylan singing over the anxious pounding of drums.
FANS ALSO LIKE: Singers who smoked. A lot.
ANDY SAYS: Few musicians can get away with releasing scraps like this. Fewer still can have those scraps -- alternate takes, unreleased material, live versions -- hold up so well to official albums. It makes it seem like all Dylan is vital.
GRADE: A-minus
"Break Up the Concrete"
The Pretenders
WHY CARE?: Chrissie Hynde puts out a new Pretenders' album, although the group's latest line-up features four musicians she never recorded with before.
TRIVIA: While honoring the Pretenders at its induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005, Neil Young said he mined the group's first album for ideas in the 1980s.
HIGH POINT: Geez, I don't know. The songs run together.
FANS ALSO LIKE: 1980s singers coasting by on name recognition
ANDY SAYS: For Hynde to put out a tepid bunch of songs like this is an embarrassment. She sings the praises of a guy's hairstyle, calls love a mystery, and hopes she can live her life like Jesus. Sigh. At least most of the songs are short.
GRADE: C-minus
Andy Rathbun
arathbun@heraldnet.com 425-339-3455
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