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Track Listings
| 1. The Times They Are A-Changin' |
| 2. Ballad Of Hollis Brown |
| 3. With God On Our Side |
| 4. One Too Many Mornings |
| 5. North Country Blues |
| 6. Only A Pawn In Their Game |
| 7. Boots Of Spanish Leather |
| 8. When The Ship Comes In |
| 9. The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll |
| 10. Restless Farewell |
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
This is the re-released, remastered version. One of the darkest of Dylan albums, Times... is the work of a 22-year-old who sounds no less sick of it all than the ailing 55-year-old who made Time out of Mind. There's a place here for rousing protests such as the title track and "When the Ship Comes In", but those songs are outnumbered by the equally powerful, drainingly pessimistic likes of "Only a Pawn in Their Game", "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll", and "The Ballad of Hollis Brown". It's as if Dylan had to deliver his grimmest topical material before moving on to Another Side's liberation and laughs. --Rickey Wright
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
When Bob Dylan has a fire in his belly and is on top form, there are few things finer in this world. With two albums under his belt and a confidence that could only have come from rapturous applause, he embarked upon this most serious of collections.
Very few albums have what you'd call the perfect sleeve art, in the sense that it is a visual representation of the music within. On The Times They Are A Changin' it is perfect. Stark, moody, monochrome, almost archaic even in 1963. Bob looks 23 going on 53, a man with the world on his shoulders.
From the off, Bob has some serious things to say. Let not over-familiarity dilute the title track, a revolutionary and almost Marxist desire to see the old order crumble and for the young to take over. Its actually startling that he got away with it! The subject matter is largely grim; he sings about murders on The Ballad Of Hollis Brown, Only A Pawn In Their Game, and The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll. There's one about the horrors of a closing mining town (North Country Blues) and another couple that directly relate to his anger against the establishment (With God On Our Side and When The Ship Comes In).
Its predecessor, Freewheelin', was liberally sprinkled with his Chaplinesque humour, and he wouldn't be railing against anything except women on its follow up, Another Side Of... again doused with that silent movie farce as was his wont. The Times They Are A Changin' is pretty hardcore stuff; one man, a guitar, both as harsh as the words he was putting across.
For me, a special place in my heart is reserved for With God On Our Side and The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll. These are stunning pieces of poetry set to music that's so gorgeous as to make you want to weep. I personally prefer Freewheelin' for its greater scope, but like that album, this is purely timeless.
Very few albums have what you'd call the perfect sleeve art, in the sense that it is a visual representation of the music within. On The Times They Are A Changin' it is perfect. Stark, moody, monochrome, almost archaic even in 1963. Bob looks 23 going on 53, a man with the world on his shoulders.
From the off, Bob has some serious things to say. Let not over-familiarity dilute the title track, a revolutionary and almost Marxist desire to see the old order crumble and for the young to take over. Its actually startling that he got away with it! The subject matter is largely grim; he sings about murders on The Ballad Of Hollis Brown, Only A Pawn In Their Game, and The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll. There's one about the horrors of a closing mining town (North Country Blues) and another couple that directly relate to his anger against the establishment (With God On Our Side and When The Ship Comes In).
Its predecessor, Freewheelin', was liberally sprinkled with his Chaplinesque humour, and he wouldn't be railing against anything except women on its follow up, Another Side Of... again doused with that silent movie farce as was his wont. The Times They Are A Changin' is pretty hardcore stuff; one man, a guitar, both as harsh as the words he was putting across.
For me, a special place in my heart is reserved for With God On Our Side and The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll. These are stunning pieces of poetry set to music that's so gorgeous as to make you want to weep. I personally prefer Freewheelin' for its greater scope, but like that album, this is purely timeless.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
'The Times They Are A-Changin'' doesn't progress from what Bob Dylan did on 'Freewheelin''. Rather, it broadens his protest-oriented repertoire. Perhaps the gloomiest of his albums, it seems to be the only one from which his sense of humour is entirely absent. There is a slight shift in emphasis from anti-war songs to the effects of social injustice and hardship. Nevertheless, 'With God On Our Side' would have fitted in with the dominant theme on his previous album. The lyric, and in particular, its closing verse, is brilliantly crafted, though Dylan's delivery is occasionally disjointed by sloppy tempo changes, perhaps an attempt to break up its seven minutes.
The title track is probably the best-known item on the album, in large part due to the status it gained as a slogan, a kind of rallying call. It sets the tone for the whole album, characterised by Dylan's sober drawl and songs of relentless, unchanging form. The latter technique works well on the folky blues of 'Hollis Brown'. Dylan uses the guitar to add sombre colour to the song, which is a 'what-drives-a-man-to-kill' lyric of the sort featured liberally on Bruce Springsteen's early 1980s album, 'Nebraska'.
'North Country Blues' is probably the gloomiest recording, relating the anguish and hardships endured by redundant miners. Sandwiched between this and 'With God On Our Side', the reflective 'One Too Many Mornings' almost seems like light relief. 'Hattie Carroll' is another death song. It's one of Dylan's more articulate performances, though, ironically, I believe, there are doubts as to the authenticity of the slant Dylan puts on the story.
This album may not be perfect then, but it's still blindingly powerful and a remarkable forty-five minutes for 1964.
The title track is probably the best-known item on the album, in large part due to the status it gained as a slogan, a kind of rallying call. It sets the tone for the whole album, characterised by Dylan's sober drawl and songs of relentless, unchanging form. The latter technique works well on the folky blues of 'Hollis Brown'. Dylan uses the guitar to add sombre colour to the song, which is a 'what-drives-a-man-to-kill' lyric of the sort featured liberally on Bruce Springsteen's early 1980s album, 'Nebraska'.
'North Country Blues' is probably the gloomiest recording, relating the anguish and hardships endured by redundant miners. Sandwiched between this and 'With God On Our Side', the reflective 'One Too Many Mornings' almost seems like light relief. 'Hattie Carroll' is another death song. It's one of Dylan's more articulate performances, though, ironically, I believe, there are doubts as to the authenticity of the slant Dylan puts on the story.
This album may not be perfect then, but it's still blindingly powerful and a remarkable forty-five minutes for 1964.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
They say you can't judge a book by its cover but 'The Times...' is exactly as the cover suggests, downbeat, mournful, melancholly, ragged and dirty. There's no 'I'm a poet/I know it/Hope I don't blow it" quips, there's no joking around on Bob's last 'protest' album, it's about death, desperation, sacrifice, hatred, Bob doesn't offer solutions, just states the facts.
It's just Bob with his harmonica and guitar and he fingerpicks beautifully on a couple of tracks, his vocals are mournful to suit the music and the lyrics are direct, there's no 'mystery tramps' or 'two wheeled gypsy queens' here, this is an album saturated with reality.
To my mind, the only throwaway song on the album is 'When The Ship Comes In' which sound like it's been included to up the tempo a touch and when you consider that 'Seven Curses' and 'Moonshiner'(available on 'Bootleg Series 1-3') were recorded in the same sessions, both downbeat and superior, you can see the reasoning but I'd have plumped for either of the rejected pair.
As far as the remastering goes, I don't hear any difference at all, the packaging is superior by a long chalk but a couple of the songs still sound like they're culled from vinyl or a dodgy mastertape, ironically this adds to the overall sound so it's no bad thing.
It's just Bob with his harmonica and guitar and he fingerpicks beautifully on a couple of tracks, his vocals are mournful to suit the music and the lyrics are direct, there's no 'mystery tramps' or 'two wheeled gypsy queens' here, this is an album saturated with reality.
To my mind, the only throwaway song on the album is 'When The Ship Comes In' which sound like it's been included to up the tempo a touch and when you consider that 'Seven Curses' and 'Moonshiner'(available on 'Bootleg Series 1-3') were recorded in the same sessions, both downbeat and superior, you can see the reasoning but I'd have plumped for either of the rejected pair.
As far as the remastering goes, I don't hear any difference at all, the packaging is superior by a long chalk but a couple of the songs still sound like they're culled from vinyl or a dodgy mastertape, ironically this adds to the overall sound so it's no bad thing.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
The difficult 3rd album
There's no doubt nowadays that it was the Press who created the term "protest singer" one which Dylan himself felt uncomfortable with because he wasn't really protesting he was... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Richard
One of the essential Bob albums
Dylan's third album is the peak of his protest phase. Full of heart-wrenching stories of inequality and poverty (Hollis Brown, North Country Blues) its clear, bitter lyrics cut... Read more
Published 11 months ago by M. Weatherall
So glad I revisited this album!
Many years ago when I was a young filly, my X used to play me Dylan albums and make various comments on them. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Chazzamataz
The Happy Shopper
Not the best Dylan album - you need to buy 'Blood on the Tracks' for that - but there are some strong and well known songs from his early times, so a good example of that period. Read more
Published 19 months ago by W. Marshall
satisfied
excellent result with seller. cd in very good state as indicated by seller. item arrived timeously. Read more
Published on 25 Jan 2010 by R. J. Mcgarrie
Strong, folkish, and somewhat melancholy early Dylan
Bob Dylan's third album, and his first collection of all-original material, "Times" may not be quite as rich as its predecessor ("Freewheelin'"), but it is a memorable record in... Read more
Published on 22 Mar 2009 by Docendo Discimus
damn good
if you like freewheelin or any other dylan then youll like this. If your new to dylan then id go for a more famous album (highway 61, bring it home, freewheelin, desire, live... Read more
Published on 18 Nov 2007 by Ninja
The times they are a'changing
Possibly Dylans darkest work, this album is full of acoustic work that is is simply amazing. It is not a 'feel good' album, with dark songs such as 'Only a Pawn in Their Game',... Read more
Published on 27 Sep 2005 by "musicfan1234s"
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