BOWIE VS. DYLAN

I'm Jake and I love Dylan-

And we here at Bowie vs. Dylan (Dylan side of operations) FINALLY have something to celebrate, besides the pride and joy of semi-accurately detailing any given year's work of Bob Dylan's career, which as of yet has not included 1975, otherwise known as "the only year of the 70's we here at Bowie vs. Dylan expect Dylan to win, but it might be close says Chaz but Jake knows, he knows".  That of course is the year that Dylan released his second-most impactful comeback album of all (behind Time Out of Mind), and the BvD award-winner for Greatest Comeback Album (Dylan Division, juuust ahead of Time Out of Mind), Blood on the Tracks.  The album that subverted and sublimated the 70's singer-songwriter pastiche, that probably made Dylan's career for life and all the upcoming ages as long as Rolling Stone magazine still circulates.  And the one that really invented the concept of deluxe boxsets in the first place, although Dylan himself wouldn't actually invent that for a number of years.  Because the legend was born immediately and bootlegged not long after: Dylan had recorded a mostly different version of BOTT (so close to BUTT), pressed it and sent it to Columbia (who would have happily released anything at all by Dylan at that point, up to and including an album named Butt on the Tracks, or Blood Under the Tracks [BUTT]), but soon enough had his friends listen to it, and they apparently didn't care for it, and so Dylan growled "Just kidding!" and went and re-recorded all but 5 of the tracks, we have to assume the bloodiest ones.

And so as fantastic as BOTT was and is, there is another version of it kicking around, which brings us to the present.

Basically since Columbia's inaugural and wonderful Bootleg Series began in 1991, fans have waited with baited breath for the most obvious and frankly, most wanted edition of all, that being some version of the Outtakes BOTT, and along the way we've been surprised and delighted and sometimes let down by the choices they've made in the interim, none more so in my opinion that last year's Trouble No More, which might as well have been called NOTT BOTT, for all the good it did anyone who thought for sure this was the year.  And somehow, against all apparent odds, we're finally being presented with a year-end gift basket of More Blood, More Tracks.  Suffice to say that I didn't believe the title when it started circulating via Reddit, it's nearly as bad as all the groaning puns I have proudly presented on Bowie vs. Dylan, but now that it's here, I...don't care.  I can't wait.  

I myself gained with wild ease as one of my first Napster downloads in the early 2000's the "original" edition of BOTT, and have listened to it and enjoyed it on its own merits and compared it to the final product.  However, what we have here is truly something to ogle and hope for, if you're into this sort of thing, which I clearly am.  70 unreleased tracks showing the evolution of all the songs of a singular album, much in the same vein but somehow deeper and more detailed as The Cutting Edge, which worked over Dylan's "trilogy" period and gave an inside listen to the various attempts Dylan and his band made in forming beyond-classic tracks from mine and most everybody's favorite Dylan musical period.  For this reason, along with the packaging, presentation, essays, and tasteful swag, I consider it to be the pinnacle of the Bootleg Series and a very high bar to clear.  However, there has always been a critical minority that considers Blood on the Tracks to be Dylan's finest work, supplanting even Blonde on Blonde, and so what we're going to find out is thus: Can More Blood, More Tracks do the same?