Jakob Dylan - Seeing Things Review

When the songwriter from a songwriter-driven band steps out on his own the question always hangs in the air: did he need to forsake his band in order to cut this set of songs? In the case of Seeing Things, the first album Jakob Dylan has released outside of the confines of the Wallflowers, he most certainly did. Quiet, reflective, based almost entirely on acoustic guitars, Seeing Things is intimate in a way the road-ready Wallflowers never were, although the tunes are as sturdy and plainspoken as Dylan's songs for the band. Indeed, there's always been a modesty at the core of his writing, so he benefits greatly from this humble setting, masterminded -- as so many big-budget down to basics departures are in the 2000s -- by Rick Rubin, known for his stripped-down reinventions of Johnny Cash and Neil Diamond. Seeing Things isn't nearly as spare as American Recordings or 12 Songs; anchored on acoustics though he may be, Dylan isn't on his own, as bass, harmony vocals, and keyboards are gently woven into the fabric. This gives the music warmth, but the simplicity of the setting helps focus on Dylan's unassuming, well-crafted songs, songs where melodies are gently insinuating and words are so carefully sculpted it's easy to overlook how nicely he turns a phrase. Like many of his peers, Dylan is casting a wary eye on a war-ridden new millennium, but these aren't protest songs, they work on an emotional level and are appropriately balanced with lighter moments, like the lazy shuffle of "All Day and All Night." All through his career, Jakob Dylan has never pushed too hard; he simply lays it out there, so he's uncommonly suited to Rubin's unadorned production. In Rubin's hands, Seeing Things plays like a songwriter playing his newest songs in your living room -- a seductive feeling that no Wallflowers record ever captured, which is an excellent reason for Dylan to step out on his own....full text With the Wallflowers on hiatus, Jakob Dylan abandons slick adult-rock for spare, man-with-guitar balladry on his Rick Rubin-produced solo debut. Firmly rooted in blues and folk, the 10 acoustic-based songs have a warm, rustic, old-time-y feel, but stark meditations like "Evil Is Alive and Well" and "War Is Kind" are very much about the present moment. On the Springsteen-esque standout "Valley of the Low Sun," a soothing melody speaks to a nation tired of being at war, while the sweet country blues of "Something Good This Way Comes" chases picture-perfect Americana, albeit with an aching smile. Under Rubin's direction, Dylan's laid-back rasp, often laced with smoky harmonies, gains weight and texture. "Seeing Things" is raw and compelling, a huge leap forward for him as a songwriter and lyricist. —Sven Philipp...full text Jakob Dylan
Seeing Things



(Columbia/Starbuck Ent.)
Release Date: 6/10/2008

A reluctant heir embraces his inner Dylan
Reviewed by Karen Schoemer


Jakob Dylan spent most of his Wallflowers career ducking his father’s shadow, but his solo debut is the kind of unadulterated songwriter’s album that Dad ushered into fashion in the ’60s—just Jakob with his acoustic guitar (and bass), plus an occasional female harmonist, low-key drummer or electrified solo thrown in to add texture without distracting from the songs themselves. They deserve the spotlight: Dylan piles on baroque symbolism to tell fractured narratives that uncover modest emotional truths. “Valley of the Low Sun” evokes the surrealism of the Iraq war from a soldier’s perspective (“Snow covered beaches and junkyards of diesel/And bombers named after girls”); “War Is Kind” upends ’60s idealism by showing how distance and hardship strengthen family bonds. But genes alone can’t account for this album’s rewarding warmth. The gentle detachment that defines Jakob’s worldview is his own. Treading his father’s path, he’s never sounded so comfortably himself....full text