A Complete Unknown, which is now being nominated for 8 academy awards, was just as incredible a movie as the artist it was made for, but I’m not here to do a movie review, I’m here to tell you how great the soundtrack was.
The soundtrack was incredibly faithful to Bob Dylan’s original songs and great at portraying some of the best moments throughout Dylan’s early career.
Some of the greatest musical moments of Dylan’s concerts were portrayed perfectly in this soundtrack, and I almost couldn’t narrow down what to review. Luckily, I was able to pick out some of my favorites.
My all-time favorite song from this album, which also happened to be one of my favorite Bob Dylan songs, was the performance of ‘It Ain’t Me, Babe’. The performance of the song in this soundtrack almost mirrors the real-life performance with Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, and the song’s original meaning, in general, is gut-wrenching. Has there ever been a person you love, or that loves you, but you knew that you two couldn’t work, that even if you wanted a relationship with that person, it can’t be you? This song encapsulates that feeling completely. This song, and specifically the performance between Bob and Joan, was their letter to each other that they could not work together in a relationship, even though they tried and failed before, they kept trying, knowing they would only let each other down.
My second favorite song off this soundtrack was the performance of one of Dylan’s biggest hits and the most pivotal song in Dylan’s change from classic acoustic folk to the electric jive of the ’60s, the song, “Like a Rolling Stone”. The song itself is an amazing tribute to the original, but the little extra additions create a new personality for the song. The slight differences such as having a few additional notes and licks of electric guitar in the recording bring a unique flair to the song and make it more engaging to listen to while sitting in the theater. I will continue to say that this is just a great tribute, Timothee Chalamet mimics Dylan’s voice better than many actors could, everyone who sang for this soundtrack was amazing and it all cultivated a great soundtrack for the film and an exceptional listen as a stand-alone album.
