When you are the son of the greatest singer-songwriter of all time, it’s going to be hard shake their shadow. I mean look at this review, already not even talking about him. He’s already doomed.
But Jakob Dylan’s first post-Wallflowers solo record “Seeing Things” holds up pretty well on its own. The most positive merit is the musicianship which is crisp to a maddening level. You can hear the pros that the Dylans tend to surround themselves with; and Jakob’s voice mixes with well. Dylan kept surprisingly less gravel in his voice but instead you hear some of the folkier dareisayit, Springsteen? Yes, this album is classified on iTunes as FOLK. I could be missing the point of the track but “War Is Kind” is almost even a protest song?
A bold move for someone who spent the last 2 records shaking his famous father.
I’ve been spinning this record on occasion for a couple weeks trying to get a solid bead on whether I like it or not and I haven’t thrown it off my balcony yet so I guess it must be passable. I’ve zeroed in on it’s perceived simplicity making it a repeat friendly (background?) record. You will hear ghosts of brilliance in the sparse guitar work of the lead off track “Evil Is Alive And Well” which I believe to be my favorite. The dark side of the simplicity is the lack of emotion behind Dylans vocal lines. Pretty, but without melodrama. I like melodrama with my acoustic. The dark side, as i was saying, is this albums LACK of dark side.
The cleanliness of this album began to bother me halfway through with Adult-Contemporary worthy singles like “Something Good This Way Comes”(in heavy Sirius rotation) and “On Up The Mountain”. At times Seeing Things turns into a record that I’m guessing only parents can understand. I am not, so i do not. Maybe you’ve knocked someone up, in which case I direct you to this solid acoustic record. Should you be looking for something a bit more like the Wallflowers… you’ll have to wait.
The “Thing” I wasn’t “Seeing” on this album is how it was produced by Rick Rubin. Too few cooks in this kitchen.
I give Seeing Things by Jakob Dylan a commendable 7/10 for its simplicity and possible truthfulness… and hope very soon for a rock record.
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Catch Jakob Dylan currently on tour supporting Seeing Things:
June
27 – Chicago, IL – Metro
28 – Detroit, MI – St. Andrews Hall
29 – Charleston, WV – Mountain Stage
30 – Lexington, KY – Kentucky Theatre
July
01 – Lexington, KY – Kentucky Theatre
03 – Buffalo, NY – Lafayette Square
04 – Rothbury, MI – Rothbury Festival
05 – Des Moines, IA – Music Coalition
06 – Milwaukee,WI – Summerfest
08 – Austin, TX - Austin City Limits Taping
10 – Ottawa, ON - Ottawa Bluesfest
13 – Winnipeg,SAS – Winnipeg Folkfest
15 – Los Angeles, CA – Tonight Show w/ Jay Leno
August
02 – Newport, RI – Newport Folkfest
09 – Edmonton,ALB – Edmonton Folk
17 – Lyons, CO – Folks Festival
31 – Seattle, WA – Bumbershoot
September
26 – Austin, TX – Austin City Limits Music Festival- Zilker Park
