Favorite Eighties Dylan Album

Infidels fo sho.

Really close call for me between Infidels and Oh Mercy. Oh Mercy for the vote though - crappy Lanois and all ...

thought I'd have to think about this one, then saw "Saved" (forgot it's "Eighties" Dylan); makes this no contest! "WHAT CAN I DOOO FOR YOOOOOUUUUUUUU"

Christian Bale performs a great version of "Pressing On." Maybe the original's great; I don't own Saved.

Dude! You should -- it's soooo great... Seriously like my third or fourth favorite Dylan album.

I guess I gotta see that movie eventually....

This will be between "Infidels" and "Oh Mercy". I feel the latter has it, because of Daniel Lanois' wonderful production, but not by a very large margin.

Curse you, Soto! I demand that YSI all of these Dylan wonders we should all be havin' mad sex with (why? 'cause they look interesting, natch). Otherwise...

Can't vote; the last two are the only ones I've heard in full. Hell, this was the Dylan era where I kind of liked to pretend that he no longer existed really. I first heard Highway 61 Revisited back in 1980 (my first Dylan), but I guess that doesn't count.

I'm gonna go with 'Shot of Love', which I've always liked in its twangy laid-back simplicity.

I voted Infidels. Cause I hate it the least of his 80s albums. Though god knows I hate it. (Lester Bangs totally nailed it - it's his sappy social crusader album.)

Bangs nailed it from the grave?

It was one of the greatest necrophiliac moments in rock criticism history. And I was obviously thinking of Desire. (Infidels, Desire... it's late at night is my excuse.) But I still am bothered by Infidels - I don't like Jokerman (and I don't like the way it's been co-opted as a Zionist song).

But yeah, my bad.

ugh, and by Jokerman, I meant Neighborhood Bully. I should stop while I'm behind.

Infidels is definitel the best sounding eighties album, but there's so much crap on it ("Neighborhood Bully," "Man of Peace," "Union Sundown"), and he coudln't include "Foot of Pride"?!

The biggest non-inclusion crime in the case of "Infidels" was how he didn't include "Blind Willie McTell". Would easily have been the highlight, and it was perhaps Dylan's best moment of the entire 80s.

Ha, I went with Saved too. Went to see my first Dylan concert at 16 and he played the album in it's entirety (along with Slow Train Coming) a few weeks before the album came out.
Everyone talks about how embarrassing the born-again period of Dylan's career was — he was preaching from the stage between songs — but his band was absolutely cooking ("Saved"), and the music was gorgeous ("Saving Grace," "Pressing On").

I need to give another listen to 'Saved'. I really like 'Slow Train'

Oh, just remembered that I would have definitely voted for my favorite Dylan-related record of the '80s (best Dylan of the 1976 - 1990 period, actually)--The Traveling Wilburys--had that been an option. You goofed, Alfred. Unless you purposely decided to exclude it, that is.

Great idea for a poll, Soto. But I need to think about this one..for a long time...maybe too long.

You goofed, Alfred. Unless you purposely decided to exclude it, that is.
I think he probably did purposely decide to exclude it since, you know, the thread is called "Favorite Eighties Dylan Album," not "Favorite Dylan-Related Product of the 80s."

oh mercy is the only one of these i can stand

Infidels. "Jokerman", "Sweetheart Like You" and "License to Kill" are three of his best, in my book.

Oh Mercy also has good moments, from what I remember--"Political World", "Where the Teardrops Fall" and "Ring Them Bells".

Had I included the Wilburys album it would create a bigger landslide than Prince in P&J '87

Joe listed my three least favorite OM songs. I like the misty Lanois inflected ones best: "Shooting Star," "Man in the Long Black Coat," "What Was It You Wanted?"

Infidels is the clear winner here. O Mercy hasn't aged as well, and in the wake of Time Out Of Mind/Love and Theft/Modern Times it sounds like a warmup.

so you guys have no problem with the number of shitty songs on Infidels (I know – spare me the it's-no-better-than-Down in the Groove remarks)

?

I looove Oh Mercy -- I understand some people's Lanois aversion, but on this record I think it all works wonderfully. So much depth and warmth. And the album i spacked with sleepers -- everytime I listen, I have a new favorite song. Right now, it's probably "What Was It You Wanted?" which is supremely creepy. Maybe the only song I don't particularly like is "Disease of Conceit" which uh, doesn't have a very good conceit. Infidels is good, but has some real duds on it, as others have noted -- "Neighborhood Bully" and "Union Sundown" especially. The idea that he put those songs on the album and left out "Blind Willie" and "Foot of Pride" is .. well, maybe the ultimate example of Dylan's artistic perverseness?

Is this a good thread to post the tracklist of the 80s Dylan mix I just made recently? Why not:
Angelina
Most of the Time
Groom's Still Waiting At The Altar
Jokerman
Man in the Long Black Coat
Foot Of Pride
Caribbean Wind
What Was It You Wanted
Blind Willie McTell
Brownsville Girl
Ring Them Bells
Dignity
Every Grain of Sand
Series of Dreams

"is packed with ..."

I have heard surprisingly few of these albums ... interesting timing though as just a couple weeks ago I picked up a copy of 'Knocked Out Loaded' for a buck ... and boy does it suck! It's seriously hard to even make it through the whole thing, although "Brownsville Girl" is somewhat interesting. Maybe we need a Dylan epics poll too.

But yeah, after revisiting this period ... in light of his recent trilogy ... I can't believe how good we've got it right now

KOL has "Driftin' Too Far From Shore" and "Maybe Somday," which are nice, minor rockers.

Daniel Lanois is genius!

His best work was with Peter Gabriel, but he has also done some great stuff for U2, Emmylou Harris, Neville Brothers. And certainly for Bob Dylan!

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Am I the lone voice for Shot of Love? It has Every Grain of Sand, Property of Jesus rocks, as do the title song and "=The Groom's Still Waiting at the Altar. Then there's Heart of Mine, In the Summertime, the menacing Dead Man, Dead Man...the only turkey really is Trouble, and arguably Lenny Bruce (which a lot of people seem to hate but I've always liked it).

No, I'm also voting for Shot of Love. Very underrated and understated. 'Hear of Mine' and the title track are particular faves. I need to give it a listen one of these days.

one of Dylan's favorites too!

Down In The Groove! This album seems to be held in low esteem, but "Rank Strangers To Me" and especially "Death Is Not The End" sound great. I'm not overly fond of "Silvio"---he loved to play it live for a while, didn't he?---but it's not skippable or anything. I guess it's fair to call this album "for fans only" & I wouldn't have voted for it here (maybe'd have gone for Saved), but I like it a lot.

Don't own any of these anymore (good idea for a poll btw), but I would've gone with Infidels for sure. I used to like that one.

I missed this poll when it was out. 80s Dylan holds a particular interest for me in that it was the decade when I discovered him and bought all of his major (plus a few minor) albums, and yet post-Infidels I didn't buy any "new" Dylan release until Oh Mercy. So the whole decade was spent buying and loving Dylan, while at the same time sort of acknowledging that his current stuff was best avoided.

Since then I've gone back and bought those notorious mid-80s low-point albums (although really there's only the three studio ones covering 1985-1988. In retrospect he'd have been better off reputation-wise if he'd just taken a long break as he's done several times since and just left it at Infidels before picking up again for Oh Mercy.

There are a couple of little-known gems though. Rank Strangers To Me is terrific, as is Dark Eyes which closes Empire Burlesque, although anybody could be forgiven for not making it through to the final track.

Empire Burlesque sounds absolutely awful, featuring the worst elements of shitty 80s production. Bizarrely, contemporaneous accounts that were published in that recent interviews book praised it for finally sounding up-to-date! Crazy 80s rock critics...

Sorry – I like Empire Burlesque a lot, which I confirmed just last week when "Clean Cut Kid" and "Something's Burning, Baby" hit me hard. He's been performing "I'll Remember You" live for a few years now. "Dark Eyes" always sounded like a sop – "Let's toss a bone to the fans who don't understand what I'm doing on `Tight Connection to My Heart.'"

Wow, it's the one album where I simply cannot get past the production. Horses for courses though!