Bob Dylan Says Modern Music Is Worthless
 

Bob Dylan Says Modern Music Is Worthless
Reuters

LOS ANGELES (Aug. 22) - Bob Dylan says the quality of modern recordings is "atrocious," and even the songs on his new album sounded much better in the studio than on disc.

"I don't know anybody who's made a record that sounds decent in the past 20 years, really," the 65-year-old rocker said in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine.

Dylan, who released eight studio albums in the past two decades, returns with his first recording in five years, "Modern Times," next Tuesday.

Noting the music industry's complaints that illegal downloading means people are getting their music for free, he said, "Well, why not? It ain't worth nothing anyway."

"You listen to these modern records, they're atrocious, they have sound all over them," he added. "There's no definition of nothing, no vocal, no nothing, just like ... static."

Dylan said he does his best to fight technology, but it's a losing battle.

"Even these songs probably sounded ten times better in the studio when we recorded 'em. CDs are small. There's no stature to it."

and I agree.

Oh plz. :rolleyes:

Sounds to me like Bob has been listening to the wrong records for the past 20 years. Because arguments like that? Are bull****.

Thank you for the newsflash, Baaaaahhb.

That's complete nonsense

other artists agree with him, fyi. protest all you want to but the fact remains, rock music is NOTHING like it used to be.

that's not what he said though and its still an opinion

I love Bob. I may not agree with what he said, but nothing's gonna stop him from speaking his mind. He gets more ornery each year, and it's awesome.

Um.

A) Bob is the man. The Man. Which doesn't necessarily make him right about everything, it just makes him a great lyricist and musician.

B) Wasn't he talking about the quality of recording? That is what it seems to me. Not the content, the actual sounds that result from modern recording equipment, and the resulting sound of the media it is presented on (CD's).

Anyway, I don't know much about recording, so I'm not sure if he is right about the quality and clarity, and how it sounded so much better in the studio. I would think he would know what he was talking about, having been in studios all his life. But you never know.
If he was talking about musicians, and music, I would agree, with notable exceptions. :D But then, my tastes are specific and exacting. I don't throw out a wide musical net. I mean, I do, but then I throw most of the catch back. Because it sucks, and annoys.

In some aspects I agree with Bob. Most commercial music is absolute ****, but there are alot of underground artists who are still making fantastic music - it sounds to me like he was just venting...

as an english teacher, i just died a thousand deaths. ain't... worth nothing... :distress:



as for the message... eh. i think he's referring more to the quality of and effort put into albums. i'm sure that he's very right about 95% of the albums that have slid off the shelves. a lot of popular music is manufactured to SELL and everything else suffers because of that.

Anyone who agrees with the idea that modern music is worthless is a) an old codger and b) need to find their glasses so they can read that article properly.
Dylan is clearly (to me anyway) talking about the quality of recordings and the CD as a format, not the music itself. Nowhere does he state that no one has written any good songs in the last 20 years (and he's released albums during that time period too and doesn't exclude himself). In fact in the last line he says the songs on his new album sounded much better in the studio than on CD. "CDs are small. There's no stature to it," he says. I bet he hates MP3s then. No iTunes for the Bobster.

This bit made me laugh though: "Dylan said he does his best to fight technology, but it's a losing battle." :rolleyes: He didn't fight that technology when he went electric, JUDAS!!!!

I think in general he is spot on about the quality of sound, although it may be more technically advanced it certainly does lack the warmth of a record.

wait. bob dylan is commenting on the quality of others' vocals? please!

Ok, I see I missed that vital piece of information. My apologies. However I will say that many artists are unhappy with the CD format and have been talking about going back to vinyl because it has a richer sound (even with the crackles and pops)

ps: each one of you will be an old codger someday too. :rolleyes:

To be fair, although Dylan's vocals can sometimes almost turn into self-parody these days, overall I think he is one of the greatest singers of all-time. His vocal style is still being emulated. Sure, technically he's not a good singer, but some of my favourite singers can't sing too well: Neil Young, Lou Reed, even Tom Petty. People like Christina Aguilera may be able to hit the right notes and do all those vocal hysterics but Dylan has more heart and soul in that shaky, speak-sing, nasal twang of his that most of those warblers put together. (IMO of course)

No. There's a difference to being old and an old codger.

Also, we will never go back to vinyl. However a lot of older artists who dislike CD, like DVD. Neil Young for one.
A lot of people were excited about DVD-A and others were releasing stuff on DVD with 5.1 surround sound, because that format opened new possibilities for them.

you have a point. i'm not a huge dylan fan, but i like those other crappy vocalists you listed :laugh: , so i guess i can't fault dylan for his voice. there are songs of his that i love, like tangled up in blue, hurricane, and everybody must get stoned, but i don't see him as "the man," as other people do.

not sure why you think Im a codger then :shrug:

well, I saw that I did miss that crucial bit of info and apologized :shrug:

I can tell you that IMO, music in general has deteriorated since rap took over...I still find plenty to listen to, just on public radio or alternative music stations. Not mainstream any more like I had been for so many years...

I wonder how Jakob feels about that?

Sounds like Bob is talking out of his ass to me...Sounds like a real jerk too.

He laughs his way to the bank that holds his trust fund and his own millions :nod:

Well if we're talking about sound quality, then I must also disagree with Bob. My remastered CD's sound WAY clearer than the vinyls. :wavey:

I think he's acting like a pompous ass. The White Stripes and Franz Ferdinand are just two examples of current artists that make worthwhile, quality music. Yes, you have to weed through the crap to get to them, but quality artists are out there.

Okay, I now see he was speaking more about the sound of a CD. I have to disagree on that too, it doesn't sound like crap and all jumbled. He probably has had a lot of hearing loss which makes it difficult to make distinctions in sounds.

It's not like you didnt have to weed through the crap back then either. :rolleyes:

There's just MORE **** now.

Mwah, Grumpy Old Man ;)

oh but PLEASE don't do that "rap isn't music" ... you don't have to like it, but that simply means it's not your taste.
Rap, hiphop in general, it has changed and contributed a lot to the music of today, there's no getting around that.

I haven't listened to "mainstream" radio in probably about 10 years. Only things I listen to are NPR and Air America. It has the effect of me not knowing anything about Top 40 pop/rock, and what passes for R&B and country, but I don't think I'm missing too much.

me either.

lest anyone think Im a total prude, I know there is a difference between rap and hip hop and I dont mind some hip hop, I even have some rap albums :eek:
but as far as rap being "music" I just dont see it really, since a lot of rap is SPOKEN, and much of their music is sampled.....whatever happened to originality?

I particularly hate Gangsta rap which is all about violence and demeaning to women.

I dislike rap and most hip-hop, and "clubby" dance music. It's very cacophonous, plus I can't stand anything with a pulsating beat...it's like fingernails on a chalk board to me. Put me in a gay club, and I get real irritable, real fast. :laugh:

Right on Mari. Also I don't get the sampling = lack of originality argument. The way some rap and hip hop artists use samples to create new pieces of music can be pretty amazing.
Also music is as varied and interesting as it ever was. No one should judge the music scene on what's played on mainstream radio either, that's a pretty small sample of what's going on at the moment. That said there are plenty of current pop tunes I love too.

Back to the point, music has not gone downhill, just Mr Dylan's hearing it seems. There's nothing wrong with the sound quality to my ears. Maybe he needs to invest in a better sound system.
Also if he dislikes CDs so much, I'm here to tell him that a lot of artists still put albums out on vinyl. The White Stripes even send all their review copies out on vinyl only.

why you gotta pick on my girl? :shrug: :lol:
that's funny.

personally, I would say that I agree that music has totally changed in it's intentions and the amount of quality music/artists is next to nilch, but that doesn't mean he can make a blanket statement like that. there have been numerous albums/artists with immense quality over the past 20 years. maybe not as many or as much as Bob would like, but that doesn't make it any less true. maybe he was just in a bad mood.

I would say Bob is about 75% right. There are some very good acts these days, I.E The Stereophonics, but there is more **** than not as far as I'm concerned.:nod:

I think the problem many of us are having with his comment is that he's making a vast generalization. It's almost as bad as saying "it's all a bunch of crap." Just because it's different or new or innovative does not mean it's crap. And just because it's not on vinyl doesn't mean it sounds terrible.

I somehow doubt that Dylan has been really making an attempt to keep up with current music. Hell, I barely have. I rely on Sharon & Livia & others for info. :laugh: I much prefer "older" music myself. But it makes me snicker when he seems to have the same attitude now that he was bitching about "older" people having then - you damn kids, you're all worthless, blah blah blah. The times, they are a changin' Bob. :rolleyes:

BTW - I'd like to submit a few artists who I don't think have put out total "crap" for the last 20 years. Seriously - these sound terrible because they're on CD? I don't think so. JMO

Cyndi Lauper - Body Acoustic
Patty Griffin - Living With Ghosts
Lindsey Buckingham - Out of the Cradle
White Stripes - Elephant
Neil Diamond - 12 Songs

ah, hello Bob? Ever heard of alittle band called U2? They sure as hell have put out alot more hits then you :rolleyes:

Touche!!!:nod:

Codger, always have been, since I was little. And I have gone back to vinyl, actually! hehehe. Are we still friends? I'm just really picky...yeah...:p

I have to say, the thing I've noticed most about a good portion of mainstream music in my adult days, is that people don't seem to play their instruments as well or as varied or with as much innovation as they used to - obviously, there are exceptions - and also some could argue that 3 chord songs with the same beat all the way through are a style, that those people do it on purpose. Which may be true, but if someone could think of other more unusual, varied, and difficult music to play, wouldn't they? Mostly? To me a lot of mainstream songs sound very much alike, style wise, instrumentally.

Just saying. And no, I don't think all new music is worthless, and I know there are some people who still are good and unusual on their instruments - I just don't see them in very high proportion in the mainstream. Or barely at all. And, I don't like a lot of music anyway - but I wouldn't call it worthless. Just worthless to me. :lol: I find a few new things I like a lot, just not as many as most people.

But I thought it was funny that no one read that right, and did actually think he was talking about musicians, and not sound quality. And I think it's funny that even though several people in the thread pointed that out, people still keep "arguing" with Bob about the music quality.

As a side note, I have to say I'm not real happy about the Bob bashing. I share Stevie's awe of The Bob.

Hey Amber, have you heard, Bob Dylan's gettin' back together :laugh: ;)

I don't get it. :confused: :sorry:

ah.....you know when people say "a band's" getting back together? Like, hey did ya hear, Guns N Roses are getting back together? but with Bob being such a pothead all those years, you could imply that for him. Does that make since? Ok, so much for that joke. It's not so funny now :laugh: