Click the jump to get a quick rundown on 21 Dylan albums worth checking out.
Slow Train Coming is the best album of Dylan's Christian rock period. While the lyrics all deal explicitly with religion this isn't a Michael W. Smith style set of songs. There's a lot more anger and warning in these tracks rather than a pure celebration of God. "Gotta Serve Somebody" "Slow Train" and "When You Gonna Wake Up" all warn of impending doom. "Precious Angel" and the album closing "When He Returns" do supply some much needed levity. Musically the songs are pretty great. Dylan got Mark Knopfler to play guitar and also recorded most of the album in famed Muscle Shoals Alabama. It's got a nice soul vibe going on with light horns and backup vocals complimenting the base tracks. Ultimately the album's lyrical content and the lack of real top flight material ("Serve Somebody" being the exception) hold the album back a bit bu it''s a solid release.
19. The Times They Are A-Changin' - 1964
The Times They Are A-Changin' features Dylan in full on protest mode. Every track is fighting some sort of social injustice and it's also notable for being Dylan's first album of all original compositions. The title track is the most well known of all the songs but "With God On Our Side" "Only A Pawn In Their Game" and "The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll" are just as effective. There's not a bad track here but the sense of humor Dylan had previously displayed is completely absent and sorely missed. The style and content keep this album down on my list but if you only want socially aware and angry Dylan this is the album to go to.
17. Another Side Of Bob Dylan - 1964
Dylan moved away from singing strictly protest songs on Another Side of Bob Dylan and expanded his subject matter to include love songs and it's here we get the first glimpse of the surreal imagery that would dominate his next few albums. Dylan didn't completely abandon social issues as "Chimes of Freedom" could easily fit on his previous albums but the record mostly deals with other topics. "I Shall Be Free - No. 10" and "Motorpsycho Nightmare" show off Dylan's sense of humor and give a good glimpse of what was to come. While "All I Really Want To Do," "It Ain't Me Babe" and "My Back Pages" are all fantastic tunes dealing with different aspects of relationships. "Black Crow Blues" is also the first song Dylan released that moved away from the traditional acoustic guitar and harmonica formula by featuring exclusively piano. There's a lot to love on this album and the fact that it's 17 on my list shows how many great albums Dylan has made.
16. Planet Waves - 1974
Planet Waves is a pretty low key album that I enjoy more than most probably do. It has Dylan teaming up with The Band for an album mostly full of laid back roots rock. The 2 versions of "Forever Young" are the obvious highlights but there are plenty of other fine tracks as well. "On a Night Like This," "Tough Mama," "Something There Is About You" and "You Angel You" are all excellent mid-tempo rockers while "Hazel" and "Going, Going, Gone" representing the albums softer side very well. The musicianship is very professional sounding and reserved. The musical style is much closer to The Band's late 60's albums than the wild rock they made with Dylan earlier that decade. The lack of top flight material keeps the album from being essential but it's a good listen from start to finish.
15. Together Through Life - 2009
I don't really know what to think of Dylan's latest album (X-mas album not included). I really enjoy it while I'm listening to it but it just doesn't stick with me when I'm not. There are some great songs here. "Beyond Here Lies Nothing" is a fantastic opener, "My Wife's Home Town" and "Shake Shake Mama" are great rockers and "If You Ever Go To Houston" has a nice groove to it. The whole album has a pretty tossed off, easy going feel to it and I think that holds it back from being great. There's no deep underlying theme here, just a fine collection of tunes perfect for a breezy summer day and while it's probably not a classic it's still a solid piece of work.
I like to think of Desire as Dylan's "Gypsy" album. It's wild and messy and can easily cast a spell on you. Dylan had never recorded an album this out of control before nor would he ever again. "Hurricane" is the most widely known track and while it's lyrics historical accuracy can be questioned the passion and effectiveness of it can not. "Isis" is the best song on the album, it tells a simple story with fantastic imagery and a boozy feel. "One More Cup of Coffee" is a standout duet with Emmylou Harris and "Sara" is a very emotional and straight forward plea to his wife while their relationship was falling apart. The album as a whole doesn't really gel and that keeps it from being a true classic but the individual parts can be mesmerizing.
13. New Morning - 1970
On New Morning Dylan experiments with jazz ("Sign on the Window") and spoken word ("If Dogs Run Free") and while these tracks offer a nice variety it's the more traditional songs that make this album work. "If Not For You" is great way to start the album. It's a simple folk rock song that sets the tone for the rest of the tracks. "Day of the Locusts" and the title track both feature a more pronounced rock edge while still fitting in with the overall tone of the album. "One More Weekend" is a thoroughly enjoyable blues based rocker and "The Man in Me" (thanks in large part to it's prominence in The Big Lebowski) is the most recognizable and arguably the best track here. New Morning is another fine album that falls just short of classic status.
12. John Wesley Harding - 1967
John Wesley Harding was a giant change in sound for Dylan at the time of it's release. His 3 previous albums had all been filled with wild rock and this was a laid back folk-rock album with the first real nod to country music Dylan had done. Lyrically Dylan is in storytelling mode here and forgoes the surreal imagery that had dominated the last few albums. "All Along the Watchtower" is the most famous song on the album but even Dylan has said he prefers Jimi Hendrix's cover. There isn't a bad song here and the whole album flows really well but there's just not too much here that get's me excited either. It's considered a classic album by most critics so I probably have it ranked lower than a lot of people would. Maybe it's because I haven't explored the lyrics deep enough or perhaps I'm just missing something but there are plenty of other Dylan albums I consider to be better.
11. Oh Mercy - 1989
I consider Oh Mercy to be Dylan's most underrated album. It's a ballad heavy record with the middle portion "Ring Them Bells," "Man in the Long Black Coat" and "Most of the Time" all being fantastic and moving songs. "Ring Them Bells" is my personal favorite song on the album, it has a gospel feel, great lyrics and some of Dylan's best singing of the 80's. There are a couple of of great up tempo songs as well. "Political World" is a song featuring lyrics that apply to today's political climate as much as they did in 1989 and "Everything is Broken" is a fun swampy tune. There are a couple lesser songs near the end and Daniel Lanois production hasn't aged all that well either. Finally Oh Mercy would have been improved with the inclusion of 2 songs left off the album "Series of Dreams" and "Dignity" which would both appear on various bootleg albums. Even with these shortcomings Oh Mercy is a fantastic record and easily Dylan's best album of the 80's.
10. Nashville Skyline - 1969
Nashville Skyline is Dylan's only pure country album. It's also notable for being the album where he sings in a radically different soft croon. I'm not a giant country fan but this album is pretty fantastic from start to finish. It's got a nice mix of lightweight, fun songs ("Peggy Day," "One More Night," "Country Pie") with some general classics. "Lay Lady Lay" is an obvious highlight and the Johnny Cash duet "Girl From North Country" is an excellent rerecording of an previously released song. The album closing "Tonight I'll Be Stayin Here With You," a sweet romantic tune, is the best song on the album. The album breezes by in less than a half hour and while it may not be Dylan's most significant record it's one of his most purely enjoyable.
9. Time Out Of Mind - 1997
Time Out Of Mind is where Dylan fully regained his powers after suffering through numerous lows in the 80's and early 90's. It won a much deserved Grammy for Album of the Year and kicked off what I consider to be his second golden period. The songs are all excellent and Daniel Lanios hazy, atmospheric production suits the material well even if it does restrict some of the power the performances can have. The music is a range of old blues licks and ballads with a lyrical focus that seems to be on death but still gives hope for the future. "Love Sick" kicks the album off with a slow burn before "Dirt Road Blues" rolls along with a basic blues riff. "Cold Irons Bound" is a nasty, bluesy and amazing song. It's a true highlight in an album full of highlights. "Tryin' To Get To Heaven" and "Not Dark Yet" are both beautiful pieces of music that feature Dylan giving very effective vocals. The original version of "Make You Feel My Love" completely blows away the numerous cover versions by the likes of Billy Joel, Garth Brooks and Adele. The raw emotion present in Dylan's voice is beautiful and haunting, not just on this track but throughout the album. The 16 minute closer "Highlands" is the longest song Dylan has ever recorded and it ends the album on a fairly humorous note after much of the gloom present throughout the album. The only thing that I can think of as a negative is that, as I mentioned earlier, the production tends to strip some of the power away from the songs by giving them a distant feeling but overall Time Out Of Mind is a fantastic album.
8. Modern Times - 2006
The title Modern Times is obviously meant to be ironic because there's nothing modern about the music on it. The album is full of old blues licks, rockabilly and 1940's style ballads. It's also completely enjoyable from start to finish. "Thunder on the Mountain" kicks thing of with a rolling blues with lyrical subjucts including lust for Alicia Keys, building an army of orphans and religious imagery. "Rollin' and Tumblin" "Someday Baby" and "The Levee's Gonna Break" are all up tempo rockabilly/blues. The ballads are just as effecitve with "Workingman's Blues #2" and "When the Deal Goes Down" both being beautiful songs. Album closer "Ain't Talkin" is a haunting track that ends the album perfectly. Some listeners may be put off by the old style of music featured on Modern Times but anyone willing to give it a chance will not be let down.
7. The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan - 1962
Dylan's best Folk album is easily the best album I've heard within that genre from any artist. This is record that really put Dylan on the map and it holds up better than any of his other folk records due to it's varying subject matter. While there are amazing protest songs present ("Blowin' in the Wind" "Masters of War" and A-Hard Rains Gonna Fall" although to be honest I could live without ever hearing "Blowin" again) it's the rest of the songs that make this a classic. "Girl From North Country" is a beautiful love song. "Don't Think Twice It's Alright" is an heartfelt look back at a past relationship with a fantastic final kiss-off. Dylan's sense of humor is first evident here as well with "Bob Dylan's Blues" and "Bob Dylan's Dream" giving hints at what was to come a few years later. I'm not generally a folk music fan but great music is great music no matter what the genre and Freewheelin' certainly qualifies as great.
6. The Basement Tapes- 1975
This one is kind of a cheat since it's not a pure Dylan album but it's just WAY to good to leave off the list. (Mostly) recorded in a basement (hence the title) in 1967 and heavily bootlegged before seeing an official release in 1975, The Basement Tapes feature just as much music from The Band as it does from Dylan. It really doesn't matter because the music from both artists is uniformly amazing but for the purpose of this I'll focus on Bob. Most of the songs consist of loose, rootsy rock and this could almost be considered the birth of "Americana". Lyrically Dylan is really on a roll here, the lyrics are among the weirdest, most absurd and hilarious he's ever written. "Odds and Ends" "Million Dollar Bash," "Lo and Behold!" and "Apple Suckling Tree" are all great examples of this style. It's not all lightweight fare though "Tears of Rage" and "Goin' To Acapulco" are beautiful ballads and "Crash on the Levee" and "This Wheels on Fire are haunting tales of destruction. There are plenty more great songs on here and The Bands songs hold up well next to Dylan's even if they are more straightforward. The Basement Tapes shows how great Dylan can be, especially when there are no expectations and he's just playing for fun.
5. Bringing It All Back Home - 1965
This is the album that pissed off a million folkies and reinvented what you could do on a Rock album. Not only did Dylan go electric and proceed to incorporate garage rock on the classics "Subterranean Homesick Blues" and "Maggie's Farm" but the second half of the album also features acoustic songs that went way beyond standard folk. "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" and "It's All Over Now Baby Blue" both are amazing songs that close the album and while I've personally never been a big fan of "Mr. Tambourine Man" it's a classic for a reason. "Bob Dylan's 115th Dream" is my favorite of all his "dream" songs, it rocks hard and tells a hilarious tale featuring scenes from Moby Dick and the Bible. Bringing It All Back Home would easily be the high point of 99% of all artists careers but it's just a stepping stone for what was to come in the next 2 years.
4. Love And Theft - 2001
"Love and Theft" is Dylan's late career masterpiece. It's a perfect combination of rock, blues, and ballads, with the most humor Dylan had shown since the 60's. "Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum" kicks the album off in rollicking fashion. "Lonesome Day Blues," with it's gritty groove, is the perhaps the hardest blues-rock song Dylan has ever recorded. "Summer Days" breezes on by on it's swinging beat and good time lyrics. "Mississippi" ranks among the most beautiful songs Dylan has ever recorded while the closer "Sugar Baby" is a 6 minute reflection on life and love. Lyrically this album is fantastic. There are still funny lines I catch after dozens of listens and most of the songs have a deeper meaning underneath the surface. The production is very live sounding and makes each song sound full of life something which held back Time Out Of Mind. This is probably the most joyous and fun album Dylan has ever made, it's fantastic.
3. Blood On The Tracks - 1975
A lot of people consider Blood on the Tracks to be Dylan's best album. I'm not one of them but I'm certainly not gonna argue with anyone who does. Written and recorded as his first marriage was falling apart, BOTC is obviously an album of self reflection that's at least somewhat autobiographical -- although Dylan himself has denied this numerous times -- and the result is the best breakup album ever recorded. "Tangled Up in Blue," "Idiot Wind," "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go" and "If You See Her Say Hello" deal directly with heartbreak and it's aftermath. "Shelter From the Storm is an incredibly simple but amazingly beautiful song about loss. Not everything is gloom and doom "Meet Me in the Morning" hides it's bitter lyrics in an mid-tempo blues and "Lilly, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts" is a 9 minute upbeat riddle, wrapped in a story that is open to interpretation. Musically the album features a full band playing mostly acoustic songs but the tempos vary and there's not a boring second on the entire record. It really doesn't get much better than this.
2. Blonde On Blonde - 1966
"You mean you don't own fucking Blonde on Blonde?" These words, uttered by Jack Black's character Barry in High Fidelity, immediately pop into my head when I think of this amazing piece of work. A sprawling double album that is Dylan's most eclectic and features some of his most surreal imagery and biting lyrics. This is probably the most rewarding album in rock and roll history in regards to new revelations on repeat listens. Whether it's a new lyric that never caught your attention before or some musical interplay that went previously unheard there's always a new layer being uncovered. Dylan's also in fine vocal form as well, conveying a wide range of emotion throughout, from longing and whimsy on some tracks to sarcastic rage on others. Musically the album is based in blues but supplanted by numerous other styles ranging from brass band "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35" to upbeat folk rock "I Want You" and pure balladry "Just Like a Women" "Visions of Johanna" is a startlingly beautiful track that's melody belies it's impressionistic and bitter lyrics. "Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat" and "Obviously 5 Believers" are rocking blues tracks with abundant humor. "Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again" is a fairly straight forward rock song that contains my favorite Dylan line of all time: "An' he just smoked my eyelids, and punched my cigarette." "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands" is another beautiful ballad and a perfect way to end the album. The end result is one of the greatest albums in the history of Rock and Roll.
This is the album that changed everything. Every track is a classic as Dylan moved pop music far beyond 3 minute songs about love into surreal, imaginative places never before dreamed possible. Guitarist Michael Bloomberg is easily the wildest guitar player Dylan ever employed and his electric slide work is all over the album and gives it a hard edge Dylan would never really have again. As for the individual cuts, "Like a Rolling Stone" is quite simply one of a small handful of songs that can be considered the best rock song ever. "Tombstone Blues," "From a Buick 6" and the title track are among the hardest rocking tracks Dylan ever recorded. "Ballad of a Thin Man" is probably the most atmospheric put down in music history. "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry" in it's version here is a slow blues with a fantastic guitar line. "Desolation Road is the albums closing nod to folk but it's 11 minute length and lyrical content seem more like a kiss off than an attempt to recreate the past. Lyrically almost every song is a stream of conscience tour de force. The songs don't always make immediate sense but are open to interpretations that can change with every listen. Dylan's voice is full of life throughout the album as well. There is just no way for me to heap enough accolades on this album (not like it hasn't received it's due anyway). It's surely one of the best albums of all time by any artist in any genre. It's a must own for any fan of music.
I would switch 2 and 3, but that is one great fucking list.
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