Jubilee Offer: Patriotic Classics for £2.50 |
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
Listen to Samples and Buy MP3s
Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or
view the MP3 Album.
|
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
The last album released before Dylan's late 1970s/early '80s three-album foray into Christian music, Street Legal is both fascinating and flawed. At the time, Dylan was enthralled with the slick stage presentation of Neil Diamond, which he clumsily attempted to re-create on this 1978 collection. Say what you will about Diamond, but he ran a tight ship; the clunky drumming and rudimentary brass that mar these nine tracks reflect a misbegotten attempt to make Dylan's wing-it studio approach work for an underrehearsed 12-member backing group. Songwise, Street Legal is a mixed bag. Despite a few missteps ("Is Your Love in Vain?" is embarrassingly... well, vain), the wordsmith navigates dense terrain in the masterful "Senior" and the open wound of a closer, "Where Are You Tonight?" --Steven Stolder
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
When I first heard this album I have to admit I did not get it. I thought it went nowhere. However, given a few years and plays, it is now the one Dylan album I always play. The stand out tracks are the sequence: Baby Please Stop Crying, Is Your Love in Vain? and Senor (Tales of Yankee Power). Is Your Love IN Vain is one of my personal favourite Dylan songs, and goes to show that you can't always rely on a 'best of', and that there are major rewards to be had if you delve into the back catalogue. The album is good value- if no bonus tracks or extras- but it always appears to be discounted when Bob comes on tour. If you have not got it aleady, treat yourself today and it will reward you- but it may take time.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I own over 2500 vinyl LPs & Singles & a few hundred CD's. I've been enthralled with music of all genres since age 12. I first listened to "Street Legal" shortly after it's release in 78 and it totally blew me away. This was, is and will always be my favourite piece of music ever. Dylan covers everything in these grooves; lust, love, politics, death, despair, hope and the spirituality that has been an undercurrent in his previous work. No music lover should die without hearing this great album. Forget about the muddy production and the dated brass & backing singers, instead concentrate on that superlative voice, the complex lyrics and the wonderful songs. Dylan's singing has never sounded so committed or powerful. Dylan was at a low point in his personal life when he cut this record proving that genius operates best in the dark. My personal high point is "Where Are You Tonight? (Journey through Dark Heat)" Anyone who has survived the horror of a divorce with kids and/or substance abuse should relate to this epic of despair & hope. Really there is not a single weak track on the record. I went and got myself a SACD player specifically to listen to Street Legal and hear more detail, what more can I cay, you must beg, borrow or buy this record!
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Dylan's two greatest albums are generally considered to 'Blonde on Blonde' and 'Blood on the tracks'. There are legitimate claims for 'Highway 61...' and others, but those two usually receive the votes in most fan/critics polls. This album has fallen from the critical radar somewhat, and undeservedly in my view. Any album that contains the magisterial 'Baby stop crying' and the stately 'Is your love is vain?' deserves to ranked amongst any artists' finest...even when that artist is Dylan. 'Is your love in vain' is simply one of the finest songs ever written, never mind one of Bob's best. From the classic opening couplet of 'Do you love me/Or are you just extending goodwill' to the closing 'Are you willing to risk it all/Or is your love in vain?' the song just oozes beauty and heartbreak in both word and melody. I bought the single in 1978 and wore it out - the same with 'Baby stop crying'. That's not to say that there are only two tracks worth listening to...'Changing of the guards', 'Senor', and 'No time to think' are also superb and there is not one duff track on the album. So, if you've heard that Dylan was not quite up to the mark by the time of 'Street Legal' - please try it. It was the soundtrack to my life when I was 16 and a half and it's still relevant today.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
very definitely street and very definetely legal. for me this is primo...
HAD THIS ONE ON VINYL YEARS AGO AND I AM PLEASED TO HAVE ALL THESE PRIME SONGS TO LISTEN TO AGAIN AND AGAIN. ONE OF HIS 10 BEST ALBUMS. VALERIE CAUDEIRON. EMSWORTH u.k.
Published 13 days ago by Valerie J. Caudeiron
Why is this album so under-rated?
Released in 1978 three years after Blood on the Tracks, which was followed by the excellent Desire album, this must have seemed a disappointment at the time. Read more
Published 21 days ago by Mr Jeremy Harrington
REMARKABLE!!
This album is amazing; so intense, so poetical, so multi-faceted, so emotionally poignant, in lyric, composition and arrangement, it just takes me places no other album does. Read more
Published 29 days ago by Dom
The Journey to Jesus and Salvation.
This Magnificent album narrates the turmoil of Dylan's marriage disintegration and his journey to Spiritual rebirth. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Stephen Vallely
Probably the most underrated album of all time...
"Sreet Legal", for reasons unbeknown to me, has always fallen short of the critical acclaim that albums such as "Blonde on Blonde" and "Slow Train Coming" recieve. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Sam Hopkins
Street Legal
Saw Bob and this band together with Eric Clapton at Blackbush Airfield. Great Gig! I seem to remember Eric joining Bob and the band for the last number! Read more
Published 5 months ago by hetzer
I Three's influence
Street Legal is, for me, one of Dylan's most underrated albums. The songs are in the main strong lyrically and melodically. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Kevin Stapleton
A totally different Dylan!
Although this album was released in 1978, I had not heard it until recently, apart from being vaguely familiar with "Baby Stop Crying", which I must admit I hadn't realised was... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Mr. M. J. Muir
Sounds like no other Dylan album before or since
This is an all too often overlooked Dylan album.
It has both strengths and weaknesses, and for some reason many people focus on the weaknesses,which are messy... Read more
It has both strengths and weaknesses, and for some reason many people focus on the weaknesses,which are messy... Read more
Published 12 months ago by FRS
Dylan's Finest
I have always thought this to be Dylan's finest album. It came after two of Dylan's most critically acclaimed and successful albums (Blood on the Tracks and Desire) and just before... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Grike
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
