Dylan albums

[Hollis]

List from the Independent..

Bob Dylan’s 20 greatest albums

My thoughts:

Blonde on Blonde better than Blood on the Tracks?

Is any of the latter stuff - post 1980 - really that good? Isn't Planet Waves languishing in 20th place - better than most/all of them? I haven't listened to them much, should I listen to them more?

The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966, The “Royal Albert Hall” Concert (1966) - justifiably high up the list - the 'electric' CD is supurb..

 

[stavros]

I've not listened to any Dylan for a while, but I always regarded Bringing It All Back Home as his best record.

 

[danny la rouge]

Ooh, it’s been a while since I listened to a lot of his albums. And I don’t know much of his post 80s stuff.

I like More Greatest Hits. I’d put that at 1. If allowed. If not:

1. Blood on the Tracks
2. Desire
3. Street Legal
4. Before the Flood
5. Basement Tapes

I don’t rate Hard Train. I know Blonde on Blonde was ground breaking but I don’t think it stood the test of time in its entirety. I actually quite like Budokan, although it isn’t rated, and the Rolling Thunder Revue box set is well worth a listen.

 

[Humberto]

Just my preference and not heard them all:

1. John Wesley Harding
2. Blonde on Blonde
3. Desire
4. Nashville Skyline

Then the likes of Oh Mercy, Slow Train Coming and the earliest stuff in no particular order.

 

[PTK]

We are verty influenced by how old we were when we heard a particular album.

I have not heard most Dylan albums. The most recent one that I have listened to is Infidels. Some of the lyrics on that are pretty bad.

 

[Idaho]

My favourites - in a random order because it depends on my mood:
Highway 61 revisited
Blood on the tracks
Desire
Blonde on blonde

My favourite song is not on any of these though - Boots of Spanish Leather.

 

[rutabowa]

The Tempest has got one amazing song on it... I saw him do it live at Royal Albert Hall before hearing the recording, as an encore, and it was unexpectedly awe inspiring. I expect most of his later albums have the same ratio

edit: "long and wasted years" is the song..... it was an almost religious experience live, with the floodlights coming up

 

[Idris2002]

Freewheeling, 61 & Bringing (counting them as one), Tracks, Budokan, & Real Live.

This evening, anyway.

 

[Idaho]

For me, there is no other songwriter who's bashed out such a quantity of classic songs. All while not really being able to sing too!

 

[Sasaferrato]

Nashville Skyline
Blood on the tracks
Slow Train
Self Portrait
Oh Mercy (Which contains one of his greatest tracks, The man in the long black coat.).

 

[PTK]

Freewheeling, 61 & Bringing (counting them as one), Tracks, Budokan, & Real Live.

This evening, anyway.

How can you count 61 and Bringing as one?

 

[Idris2002]

How can you count 61 and Bringing as one?

They form a natural pair. On reflection though, I'd choose Bringing if I had to choose.

 

[PTK]

They form a natural pair. On reflection though, I'd choose Bringing if I had to choose.

Bringing was the first Dylan album that I ever heard. It made a big impact on me.

 

[two sheds]

Don't know many albums but

Desire
Budokan (disk 1, I love the arrangements, not heard anything like them)
Blood on the tracks

 

[SpookyFrank]

Another vote for the Budokan live album. Love the arrangements of 'Mr Tambourine Man' and 'It's alright Ma'.

Blood on the Tracks, Blonde on Blonde and Bringing it all Back Home in a three-way tie for best album overall.

 

[Knotted]

Blonde on Blonde is twee hippy pap sell out nonsense. But everything up till then is alright to great. Free Wheeling and Highway 61 seem like the two obvious greats.

 

[Idaho]

Blonde on Blonde is twee hippy pap sell out nonsense. But everything up till then is alright to great. Free Wheeling and Highway 61 seem like the two obvious greats.

Interviews with Dylan show that he was always looking for a popular sound.

 

[Humberto]

Never likes to be typecast and a bit of a contrarian in that respect.

 

[PursuedByBears]

It's impossible to have a top-whatever Dylan albums list, you have to break it down by decade. I've given this some thought - max 3 top albums per decade:

1960s:
Highway 61 Revisited
Blonde on Blonde
Bringing It All Back Home

1970s:
Blood On The Tracks
Desire
Street Legal

1980s:
Oh Mercy

1990s:
Time Out of Mind
Good As I Been To You
World Gone Wrong

2000s:
Love and Theft
Modern Times

2010s:
-

2020s:
-

Live albums:
Rolling Thunder Revue
Royal Albert Hall
1974 Live Recordings (new and improved Down In The Flood)

 

[8ball]

I love the first one, and Highway 61 revisited the most.

No objectivity there though- these are just the first two I got out of the library when I was 16 and bored the ears off my mates about.

I inflict them on my mates at poker nights.

There are loads I haven’t even heard, but Blood On The Tracks never gelled with me for some reason (everyone seems to bang on about that one - I think it’s ok).

 

[Humberto]

I just realised John Wesley Harding is a portrait of a fascinating subject. Blonde on Blonde though...

 

[scooter]

I feel like Modern Times goes under the radar. I had it on constant rotation when it came out. Some stand out tracks on it but the album works best if you listen to it as a whole. The first song is good and then each subsequent song is better than the last until you get to Workingman Blues #2 which is just great by any standards.

 

[Eric Jarvis]

I feel like Modern Times goes under the radar. I had it on constant rotation when it came out. Some stand out tracks on it but the album works best if you listen to it as a whole. The first song is good and then each subsequent song is better than the last until you get to Workingman Blues #2 which is just great by any standards.

Pretty much my favourite Dylan album.

 

[seeformiles]

Not the biggest Dylan fan but, if pushed to pick 3, it would be:

“Bringing it all Back Home”
“Nashville Skyline”
“Desire”

 

[BigMoaner]

Bootleg 1-3 is fricken amazing too

 

[Hollis]

I'd probably go with:

Blood on the Tracks
Bringing it all Back Home
The Freewheelin'
Highway 61
Blonde on Blonde

I don't really listen to much these days - played them all to death in my teens/twenties... when I do listen it tends to be the 70s stuff and Infidels.

I gave 'Love and Theft' another go - but just doesn't do anything for me.

 

[BigMoaner]

I'd probably go with:

Blood on the Tracks
Bringing it all Back Home
The Freewheelin'
Highway 61
Blonde on Blonde

I don't really listen to much these days - played them all to death in my teens/twenties... when I do listen it tends to be the 70s stuff and Infidels.

I gave 'Love and Theft' another go - but just doesn't do anything for me.

I’m the same though the modern ones are great too so I go to them if I fancy a spin.

The man has had more of profound impact on me than anyone I think outside of family, friends and a few writers.

And I am also happy that he never ever posted on social media. I like that he’s totally cut off and non visible (cept when the needs to be). Genius and I don’t use that word lightly.

 

[BigMoaner]

Times They Are a Changing is a haunting album where the phrasing and character play is mind bending on its own. Spooky levels of talent.

 

[BigMoaner]

What’s incredible really is that he fully deserved the Nobel Prize for Literature. It wasn’t just trendy flag waving like some suggested.