Planet Waves (1974)
1. On a Night Like This
2. Going, Going, Gone
3. Tough Mama
4. Hazel
5. Something There is About You
6. Forever Young
7. Forever Young (con't)
8. Dirge
9. You Angel You
10.Never Say Goodbye
11.Wedding Song
Of all Dylan's official studio albums, Planet Waves remains perhaps the most quietly elusive. It rarely features in top-tier retrospectives, often overlooked or simply forgotten amid the sprawling narratives of Blonde on Blonde, Blood on the Tracks, or even The Basement Tapes. It occupies a peculiar space—too good to dismiss, too modest to canonize.
Yet, this semi-anonymous status belies a curious footnote in Dylan's discography: Planet Waves marked his first ever No. 1 album in the U.S. A surprising accolade, considering it arrived more than a decade after his most groundbreaking work. Irony aside, the album offers something that had evaded Dylan through much of the preceding years—consistency. Not in bombast or reinvention, but in tone, spirit, and cohesion.
What truly sets Planet Waves apart is the return of The Band, Dylan’s long-time collaborators, who brought with them a warmth and rhythmic earthiness that shaped the album’s “Americana” heart. Their influence permeates every corner of the record. Though The Basement Tapes may have offered more mystique and lo-fi charm, Planet Waves is arguably the most Band-saturated Dylan release. It leans more toward '70s folk-rock than New Morning's country ease, yet still carries the scent of cedarwood, smoke, and rustic sincerity.
The album opens with On a Night Like This, a rollicking, loose jam that instantly communicates its homemade charm. Then, nestled in the core of the record is Forever Young—or rather, two versions of it, the second arriving immediately after the first like an echo or reprise that overstays by a fraction. Still, the song's iconic status has long since earned its place as one of Dylan’s most beloved ballads, justifying the album’s price of entry for many.
Other standouts include the final track Wedding Song, a raw and personal closer that feels almost too intimate, and the underrated Hazel, which glows with melancholic restraint. Less successful are Tough Mama and Dirge, which feel strained in their execution—more experiment than expression. Likewise, Going, Going, Gone, though a fan favorite, has always sounded curiously overstated, as if trying too hard to summon gravity.
Interestingly, some of the later tracks (You Angel You, Never Say Goodbye) suggest Dylan was eager to wrap things up. These shorter pieces seem to end prematurely, their potential unfulfilled, their emotional threads abruptly cut. It’s a minor frustration on an album that otherwise rewards repeated listening with nuance and quiet beauty.
Planet Waves may never inspire the reverence of Dylan's mythic peaks, but its understated charms, intimate production, and The Band’s presence make it a significant, if underrated, entry in his catalog. Essential for Band aficionados, advisable for Dylan completists, and certainly deserving of more affection than it typically receives.
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