[The Horrible Esthete]

Because we all know that the staff of Paste magazine is The Authority on "greatest living songwriters"

[Summiteer]

Hey hey, my my Rock and roll can never die

[Tthip]

and two of the top ten are non-Canadian's (Prince and Elvis Costello) living in Canada. (3 cheers for nationalism)

Prince lives in the US.

[chris]

and two of the top ten are non-Canadian's (Prince and Elvis Costello) living in Canada. (3 cheers for nationalism)

Prince lives in the US.

OK, but he's got a monster home in Toronto. He is/was married to a Toronto gal.

[mojo_mattv]

and two of the top ten are non-Canadian's (Prince and Elvis Costello) living in Canada. (3 cheers for nationalism)

Prince lives in the US.

OK, but he's got a monster home in Toronto. He is/was married to a Toronto gal.

What he said. Apparantely he keeps his "vault" of a bajillion unreleased songs in his T.O. home.

[Tthip]

OK, but he's got a monster home in Toronto. He is/was married to a Toronto gal.

I did not know that. And Prince is honestly one of my favorite artists.

[cochise]

OK, but he's got a monster home in Toronto. He is/was married to a Toronto gal.

I did not know that. And Prince is honestly one of my favorite artists.

Musicology is an underrated album

As for the original post, I am 50/50 split. I am a huge Dylan fan (20+ shows) and a huge Neil Young fan. I find it too difficult to compare, and who I like more really depends what mood I am in at that moment. Right now I would say I am listening to more Neil, but that could change tomorrow.

Although I do agree Dylan "lost" it for a few years in mid the 80's, he quickly "regained" it in the late 90's when Time Out Of Mind was released. I find his newer stuff just as strong as his earliest stuff.

If you were asking me who was the better song writer..............I love ya Neil, but Dylan wins that one hands down. He is a true poet and his lyrics can give me goosebumps at times.

[The Horrible Esthete]

If you were asking me who was the better song writer..............I love ya Neil, but Dylan wins that one hands down. He is a true poet and his lyrics can give me goosebumps at times.

But there is a huge difference between "songwriter" and "lyricist".

Dylan's lyrics improve his songwriting skills, but lyrics are just one component of a "song".

I'd probably give Dylan the nod over Young in the lyrics department, but he's not even close to Young in the compositional aspects (imo).

[SoylentGreg]

If you were asking me who was the better song writer..............I love ya Neil, but Dylan wins that one hands down. He is a true poet and his lyrics can give me goosebumps at times.

But there is a huge difference between "songwriter" and "lyricist".

Dylan's lyrics improve his songwriting skills, but lyrics are just one component of a "song".

I'd probably give Dylan the nod over Young in the lyrics department, but he's not even close to Young in the compositional aspects (imo).

This.

Dylan can write better lyrics, but nothing he puts out musically is on the level of "Cortez the Killer" or "Powderfinger."

[Tthip]

Musicology is an underrated album

Na, it's all Illusion, Coma, Pimp & Circumstance :wink:

[Shane Kroeker]

While driving in a car with 4 random university students (mix of males, females, and an international Chinese exchange student), the topic of what CD we should listen to came up. Neil Young's name was proposed, and magically everyone in the car agreed to listen and enjoy the music. The widespread appeal of Neil's music is what made my decision easy.

[skippy the wonder dog]

Bob for me.

The notion that Bob is good at lyrics but not at the rest of songwriting is just silly. The guy is a great songwriter. His output is pretty varied, his live show can be erratic, and so on, but his influence on music in our time is huge. At his best, Dylan smokes Neil, much as I like Neil Young. At his worst ... well, why would I choose to listen to him at his worst?

[The Horrible Esthete]

Bob for me.

The notion that Bob is good at lyrics but not at the rest of songwriting is just silly. The guy is a great songwriter. His output is pretty varied, his live show can be erratic, and so on, but his influence on music in our time is huge. At his best, Dylan smokes Neil, much as I like Neil Young. At his worst ... well, why would I choose to listen to him at his worst?

No doubt Dylan has had a bigger "influence on music" than Neil. Just...no doubt.

I certainly would never say that Dylan "isn't a good songwriter", either. But there are many others who, all things considered, are better in my opinion -- and to me, Neil is one of them.

Neil himself has been quite influential, both in terms of his ability to inspire artists from a couple generations, and in terms of cultural/political commentary/criticism that has been so common in his material. I think he still plays second fiddle to ol' Bob in this arena, but he isn't really that far off.

But when you consider the realm of musical composition in the songwriting craft, I think Neil has a distinct edge. It's JMO, and probably somewhat a matter of subjective taste, but that's the way i see it.

[skippy the wonder dog]

It's ... probably somewhat a matter of subjective taste, but that's the way i see it.

Well, it's almost entirely a matter of subjective taste. I agree that Neil is a great songwriter, without a doubt.

It's tough to argue that any single figure in popular music post-1960 is more influential than Bob Dylan, but that's a moot point when it comes to the question of who you'd rather listen to. That's entirely a question of which flavour of ice cream you like best.

[sean.bonner]

I just wanted to add this...

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