Nashville Skyline

This album is really odd. Dylan goes for a much simpler songwriting approach than usual, opting for more basic lyrical themes and a sound that leans much closer to country than folk, completely changing his voice to make it sound even weirder than usual. Honestly, I'm surprised there isn't more of a negative response to this album solely due to the fact that his voice is so weird here. He literally sounds like a cartoon character, but there's still a charm to his lyrics and vocals that makes the album feel worthwhile. This may not be Dylan's best songwriting, but it's still really good. As a whole, the album is just so pleasant and beautiful that you can't help but fall in love with it, regardless of whether you prefer Dylan to have more interesting lyrics or if you just don't like country. But as much as I love this album, I really don't think it's one of Dylan's best efforts. It might be because I usually don't like the country genre, but this album doesn't really excite me or keep me as interested as most of his other works do. As beautiful as it is, and as quick as it is with its short runtime, there are quite a few tracks that I just couldn't care less about. "Peggy Day" is the most generic country-sounding song on this entire country album, and it's pretty damn irritating. Unfortunately, the second half of the album in general just isn't as strong as the first half. While I love "Lay Lady Lay," "One More Night," and "Country Pie," I would only really say that "Lay Lady Lay" is as good as the previous songs. "Tell Me That It Isn't True" and "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here" are both incredibly forgettable tracks that don't do anything for me. However, at the end of the day, those are just minor nitpicks. In the grand scheme of things, this album is a really fun, short-but-sweet record that shows Dylan trying something new, and it works well. It works so well that it results in a very welcome addition to his large discography. I don't see this as anything amazing or even close to being one of Dylan's best albums, but I appreciate that he tried something new again and pulled it off successfully. I doubt I would return to this as much as a lot of his other albums, but this is still a really good record that deserves more attention. It may just be another country album, and Dylan doesn't do too much to convince the listener that this change into the country genre was the best thing for him to do at this point, but he still does enough to make this otherwise simple country album worth listening to.

BOB DYLAN - NASHVILLE SKYLINE
RATING - 7.7/10

FAVORITE TRACKS - Lay,Lady,Lay, Country Pie

GENRE - Folk, Country, Rock