Top Dylan Albums




Here are the top 10 according to Rolling Stone readers (followed by my commentary)

1. Highway 61 Revisited - Lauded for several reasons: marked Dylan's full transition from folk to rock. Like A Rolling stone becomes one of the greatest songs of all time.

2. Blood on the Tracks  - one of my favorite albums of all time by any artist. This album and The Joshua Tree are albums that I can listen to straight through form beginning to end. Dylan's post divorce ruminations are startling in their honesty.

3. Blonde on Blonde - Not a huge fan of this album, although it is part of the trilogy of Bringing it home and Highway 61.

4. The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan - One of my fave albums - pure folk. Contains Mr. Tambourine Man. His second studio album, and the songs are way more polished than his first album.

5. Bringing It All Back Home - Probably my favorite Dylan album. Great lyrics - hard rains a'gonna fall is some of the best poetry ever written.

6. Love & Theft - Part of the second great trilogy in Dylan's career. This album seems like further exploration from the Time out of Mind sessions.

7. Desire - I don't know this album at all. Contains the song Hurricane, about the boxer.

8. Modern Times - Love this album. Cutting lyrics for the twilight of the Bush administration.

9. Time Out of Mind - This album made me a Bob Dylan fan. I don't know how I got a hold of it. I think I read an interview w. Elvis Costello - there was a picture of him holding this album to the camera, saying it was one of the greatest thing he has ever heard. The album opens with the line "I'm walking through streets that are dead", which sets the mood for what follows. I was in the front row when Dylan played Saskatoon on this tour. Will never forget the way he looked straight at me during one of the last songs.

10. Oh Mercy - Don't like this album very much either. Curious it was on the list.

Other albums I like by Mr. zimmerman:

Another Side of Bob Dylan
The Times They Are A'Changin'
John wesley Harding
Basement Tapes
Slow Train Coming - This should have really been on the list.

Comments

Jeff Logan said…
The Basement Tapes is the first Dylan I had. It was a copy of a copy of a classmate's older brother (taped onto another copy). I got it in high school and it is still kicking around somewhere in a box of mix tapes - unfortunately I never labeled my tapes because I ripped off from my dad's office at the university and they were his lectures etc. I always figured they were safer that way because nobody would steal an intro to business admin lecture tape!!

My daughter's name is Maggie and the first place I heard Maggie's Farm was from a few bits and piece's of live tracks that were mixed on to the back end of my bootleg version of the Basement Tapes.
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