Finally got round to buying the Dylan stuff everybody else likes but left me pretty cold, and the studio version of Tommy:-

John Wesley Harding - Dylan

A huge letdown after Blonde on Blonde but still an enjoyable romp. Gave it a wide berth the first time I heard it cos it's nothing like Blonde on Blonde. On hindsight and upon getting older, this is not such a bad collection of stripped down rootsy folk, even if the songs are a bit repetitive as they are mainly just verses with no choruses to speak of. The original version of "All Along the Watchtower" is also pretty bare and unremarkable and Hendrix's version is THE definitive one. Fave song here - "I Dreamed I saw St. Augustine".

Nashville Skyline - Dylan

Also didn't get this last time, due to its country-rock leanings and its shortness (27 minutes). Again, very enjoyable nonetheless. Shame that Dylan only adopted that gruffy baritone for one album only as it's a nice break from his whiny and sandpaper vocals. Girl from the North Country rolls along nicely although I still prefer the version from Freewheelin'. My fave song here is One More Night which hits the country-rock parts that the Byrds cannot reach.

Street Legal - Dylan

My fave of the three I got, cos it's a lot more nearer to the sound of Slow Train Coming (one of my Dylan favourites), which came out a year later. I already have Changing of the Guards and Senor and liked both so it's no surprise I like this album a lot. With horns and gospel-like backing vocals, the Angry Jew used the same formula more successfully on its successor.

Tommy - The Who

I didn't like the live version that much (second disc on the expanded Live at Leeds) but got this and was pleasantly surprised. Because their band dynamics hasn't changed that much from Sell Out! And also this one uses the original tinny bare-assed mix from the IBC Studios master tapes (which is closer to the vinyl version I heard) and not the beefed-up sound that other CDs use. One thing I really like about this is that I can learn the entire album on guitar and play it end to end without losing much as there are hardly any overdubs. The linking songs are prettier (It's a Boy, Miracle Cure) but the best melody here is the "See Me, Feel Me/Listening To You" bit which crops up everywhere. Still find the concept overblown and pretentious and incomprehensible, but glad to hear "Cousin Kevin" which wasn't on the live disc. The lyrics booklet is also jumbled up (intentionally?).

Another one I got is the Psychedelic Furs comp which isn't that good, as I liked the (fewer) noisier cramped-up mix of the early songs (Highwire Days, Dumb Waiters) rather than the (quite abundant) pretty almost synth-pop hits later on (Heaven, Heartbreak Beat).