If there is one thing I can take away from the first disc (besides the fact that Mariachi El Bronx is far better than the concept is on paper), it's that I desperately need to get my hands on Bob Dylan's proper back catalog. The best part of all the songs are the songs themselves, regardless of who is covering them and how.
And, so, here we go with the next batch of songs in this epic collection Dylan cover songs. Once again, I'm mostly just commenting on the songs that warrant commenting. Some songs (like the Joan Baez track) are simply satisfying in exactly the way that I thought they'd be. Other songs, (like the Belle Brigade's track) are indifferent enough to me.
1. Queens of the Stone Age - "Outlaw Blues" - In the mid-2000s QOTSA were my band. There's been no loss of quality since then, but perhaps I've moved on to other genres and sub-genres. Still, every time I hear QOTSA now, I'm reminded how great they are and how I should listen to them more often. This song is no exception. This song is an absolute perfect fit for them, and the band sounds great here. A great start to the second disc.
2. Lenny Kravitz - "Rainy Day Woman #12 & #35" - Another Dylan song I'm pretty familiar with, as its one of those songs that was unavoidable in the early 90s FM Radio while growing up. Kravitz, meanwhile, is an artist who's been pretty easy to ignore in the 00s and 10s, despite still churning out better-than-you-think pop rock albums every few years. He does this song surprising justice and its easily another highlight thus far in this compilation.
3. Steve Earle & Lucia Micarelli - "One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below)" - I could listen to Steve sing from an instruction manual for a toaster oven...his voice has always been so incredible and full of expression. I really liked the song, itself, and I feel his powerful vocals just take this to another level.
5. Miley Cyrus - "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go" - This shouldn't be as surprising as it is, considering her father's success in country music. Still, this very folkish song stands in contrast to her very pop repertoire, and this sounds really suits her. When her pop career dries up (has it already? I haven't a clue where she stands), she really ought to consider embracing some folkier material like this.
8. & 9. Angelique Kidjo - "Lay, Lady, Lay" and Natasha Bedingfield - "Ring Them Bells" - I group these two together only because they are two female vocalists that I know of but can't say that I know too much of their work short of one or two songs each (embarrassingly, I mostly remember Kidjo from the 1994 Street Fighter Soundtrack). Kidjo's voice is amazing, though, and there's a lot of soul in her song. Bedingfield, on the other hand, while sounding passionate, her song sounds a little too polished, thus diminishing some of the emotional appeal that I think the song is supposed to have. It's a shame too, because she, too, has a nice voice and the song sounds like it has so much potential.
13. Sugarland - "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You" - Sugarland has a lot of fans and admirers, and they're obviously part of a bigger genre that I have almost zero interest in - but I'm still not sure what the big deal is. I mean that as no disrespect to them or their fans, but this song sounds so much like every other country group I've heard in passing over the past 15 years (which obviously doesn't make me an expert). The fact that this is also a live performance only further confuses me, listening to the crowds of people who absolutely love this group.
14. Jack's Mannequin - "Mr. Tambourine Man" - Another Dylan song I'm very familiar with, more because of the Byrds than any other reason. Jack's Mannequin does a pleasant enough rendition of the song, though not one that's ever going to replace any of the countless other great versions of this song over the years.
15. Oren Lavie - "4th Time Around" - I don't know who Oren Lavie is, but if he normally sounds anything like he does in this song, than I'd like to listen to more of his work. His dark soulful voice is immediately comparable to Nick Drake. This is probably going to end up being another highlight of the collection as a whole, as I could listen to these hypnotic vocals all day long.
17. Adele - "Make You Feel My Love" - Another live performance, though I've found that over the past year, I've really come to like Adele's live sound more than her studio sound. Every live clip I've heard on the radio or online just has so much of her personality coming through and it always sounds amazing. While I don't think I, yet, consider myself an Adele fan (Its not like I'm on the fence or anything...I just haven't listened to her enough yet to justify a claim like that), I certainly respect her voice and her abilities. This song sounds great and it's a great closer for the second disc.
Overall, there were less songs on the second disc that I really enjoyed than the first disc. There were also less songs that I just downright disliked...which leaves an awful lot of songs I felt indifferent about. Still, the best songs on this disc were also some of the best I've heard on the entire compilation thus far. Even more surprising was how good that Miley Cyrus song was...
Anyways, we're finished with the first half of this mostly-pointless journey. I've decided that after I've listened to all four discs, I'm going to make a playlist of the songs I've enjoyed the most and then do another article in which I compare those to the original Bob Dylan songs. So, if you care, you have that to look forward to.
We probably are. SOMEDAY, JB. SOMEDAY.
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