Stick a fork in Dylan, he's done.

You're clearly at the other extreme. I believe a forum is a means of discussion rather than a fan club. You seem to be confused as to whether my statement is an opinion or a declaration. I suppose a little of both based on observation of this thread. Bottom line is Dylan fans are typically diehards as I am. You either love him or you hate him right from when he came on the scene. I'm getting old and he's not God or a god so shouldn't he? Shouldn't you? Life only sucks at the beginning and at the end.

There's an event to remember. He was recently here but I didn't want to be whispered into a disappointment.

Dylan hater!

I'm 55 years old. Of course. I've been a fan since I was about 14. All the classic stuff is what it is, classic. It seems it's in a category by itself. Then there was that turning point when he had a change of attitude along with a change in style, progressive imo.

I love Blood on the tracks, one of the best imo. I'm not that impressed with Modern Times. I guess I'm out of the loop.

Ginsberg was definitely before my time even though I'll soon be 56. My involvement was more or less a position in no man's land. Under age in the midst of beatniks, protesters, peace activists and political radicals. I think they called us the "lost generation". I just googled Howl and had a listen. His influence on Dylan is unmistakeable. I do believe Dylan was in it for himself though. He's made that abundantly clear in past interviews. I think his own work titled Tarantula was an attempt to invent himself.

I have a feeling "No" mercy is what he's getting these days.

Guilty as charged. A lady once walked in on a job I was working on while Dylan was playing. She was delighted to come across a fellow fan(I mean it was a celebration!). To quell the tension I simply stated "yeah he's great but he did lots of shitty stuff too". UTRS imo is not one of them. She probably could have rhymed off your chronology on the spot. I can't. I don't have a favorite artist.

Huh? You lost me there.

I think the issue is he doesn't have much left and using fillers to complete albums.

Well if you like Oh Mercy, how can you not like UTRS? They are so close in style and production, they may as well have been a double album. And you don't have to be up on the chronology to have heard at least 90% of his stuff by now. Frankly, I find your response rather odd in this regard. Especially since you seem to be in agreement otherwise.

Being obsessed is not going to give you a clear view toward an educated opinion. If he's as honest as you claim, I wonder how closely his autobiography would resemble your biography. I can think of a few artists your assessment could be applied to. Rather generic imo.

If it's going to hurt, definitely not.

You are absolutely right, Ben. It's my familiarity with those two that caused me to make that statement. I listened to them quite a lot in the 90's.