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Rating: March 2009 saw the release of the remastered version of "The Basement Tapes." A monument. Dylan's best work, selon moi. I'll tell you a couple of true things that revolve around this double.
It's one of the first albums that passed through my hands. I admit that along with 1969-Live by the Velvet it's the only album I didn't buy. It was lent to me, and I never returned it. I still wonder how my friend could part with it. Occasionally I would run into him, and he would ask for the album back. And I, "I'll bring it next week!" I still have it, and it is, of course, part of that niche of vinyl albums I've saved. If I run into him, I'm in trouble. It's still his anyway. I only have it in custody. For the Basement, I have almost a religious veneration. And to think that initially, it left me a bit like that. Then listening to it again and again, it got into my head at forced marches. I know it by heart.
Today, listening to it remastered is a great emotion. It is truly one of the few timeless albums. It will always be beautiful. What more can I say that hasn't been written? Perhaps that in some tracks like "Yazoo street scandal" and "Kate been gone" I hear very much the influence of the Beatles' latest work. If Lennon's voice were there, they could be good for "White Album". Which, by the way, is the only album that holds its own against the Basement. And vice versa. To the younger listeners who have so far neglected it, I say there is no right time to listen to an album like this. I listened to the version of "Bessie Smith" from this remastered album, and I was almost moved.
And I don't get moved easily. Alex
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