Boy, who did the Bob Dylan cheese off over at Rolling Stone HQ to lose his Most Favored Artist status? His new album Together Through Life only received four stars from Jann Wenner’s ostensibly rock-and-roll magazine. Usually, they hand out five-star raves to Dylan records like weird versions of Mountain Dew at college radio conventions. Heck, isn’t the “give superstars good ratings even if their records are terrible” rule called “The Dylan Rule”? Did Rolling Stone suddenly grow a conscience about the five stars they gave that Mick Jagger record a few years back and decide to start rating things on a semi-reasonable level? Perhaps, but what does a four-star review from RS even mean?
If I were Dylan, I might be insulted by that four star review. Here are some other classics that Rolling Stone gave four stars:
Bob Dylan, Good As I Been To You (another Dylan “classic” four-star record)
Frente!, Marvin The Album
Mick Jagger, She’s The Boss. (The, ahem, four-star review for the next Jagger solo joint, Wandering Spirit, calls this one “feckless posturing”. Let’s hear it for editorial consistency!)
Keith Richards, Talk Is Cheap
Neil Young, Trans. (OK, I love this record. Speaking of Mr. Young, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere only got four stars. So, it’s only as good as She’s The Boss?)
Bruce Springsteen, Human Touch. (Lucky Town got four and a half!)
Confused yet as to the power of a four-star review? A little more context: Sugar Ray’s 14:59 received three and a half stars, while Pavement’s Wowee Zowee received two and a half. Also, Smash Mouth has received three stars three times, meaning that Bob Dylan’s new one is “one” better than Smash Mouth.
Awesome MST3K reference in the headline, Lucas.
@MikeP.: Wow. I thought nobody would get that!
Good topic for a post, but I think you’ve got this upside-down. This Dylan record is probably a two-and-a-half-star at best that is being inflated up to four. You can tell by this line of Fricke’s, right in the opening graf:
It is a murky-sounding, often perplexing record. The lyrics seem dashed off in spots, like first drafts, while the performances — by Dylan’s current touring band — feel like head arrangements caught on the run between Never Ending Tour dates.
Giving it the rating it likely deserves would wreck the post-’97, late-career-classicism Dylan meme they’ve been building. So four stars isn’t a sign that RS is pissed or whatever at Bob; it’s probably charity.
I’ll just file Dylan’s new one next my other favorite 4 star album, St. Anger.
@Chris Molanphy: I haven’t heard it, but I was being pretty facetious about it. I assume that any superstar artist record getting 4 stars must stink. They’ll trash it when they four star his next one. I’ve heard it’s a disappointment, but count me among the few who didn’t like Modern Times very much.
That first Fricke line sounds like a diss if I’ve ever heard it.
@Lucas Jensen: Yeah, I soured on Modern Times eventually. I’m hoping there’s a little more energy on the new one.
Who reads Rolling Stone anyway? And who reads it to get turned on to music? Their reviews are not relevant because their magazine is no longer relevant.
@Vulture.Protein: You’re right! We should just stop covering the biggest predominantly music magazine in the world. That’s a good idea. Nobody reads it anyway, except, of course, its millions of readers.
@goldsounds: HA! Well played.
@Chris Molanphy: I’d give it 3, I guess. The production and arrangements might be his best ever- it sounds incredible- but it’s just sort of dull for large periods.
All-time greatest editorial faux pas: Blender giving five stars to X&Y, then calling it “disappointing” in the lead up to Viva la Vida.
@Rock You Like An Iracane: Paste gave it five stars, too. The reason everybody loved it was they had to go to one of those label-sponsored listening events. So the magazines ask, “Who wants to go do this?” and of course the super-fans raise their hands. Genius.
“Talk Is Cheap” is a fantastic record…better than anything the Stones put out that entire decade!
@sydbarrett: I remember liking the single. But wasn’t Tattoo You in the 80s? I’d say that record’s alright.
Maybe they should let the people vote. I mean, you have listed some classic names up there and I can't believe they received only 4 stars. Compared to today's music, any of the old guys are way better than the new generation. At least the old guys still know how to hold a guitar and play it.
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Frank C. Tannehill
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