Board 8 > Bob Dylan -- ranking songs and albums.

(+) Yeah! (+)

If you followed my Beatles-topic a few months ago, you know I was named after George Harrison when my mom heard Here Comes The Sun on the radio. I may not have mentioned though that I also have a brother who's named after Bob Dylan. He was even on-stage with Bob at a concert once! Even though we were named after two legendary musicians that influenced my parents' lives and an entire generation, I for one am super happy we didn't have a third sibling among us. It would have been pretty embarrassing to introduce people to Plant.....

Something else embarrassing though is that neither of ua have been real familiar with the music made by our namesakes. I fixed that with the Beatles earlier this year, and now I may as well follow through and do it for my brother's namesake too because he ain't gonna do it himself.


Anyway, here's the goal again: listen to all of Bob's albums in order, rank the songs for each album, and rank his albums after I hear them all. I may be less in-depth this time since I'm not the one named after Bob -- we'll see.


As for my personal familiarity with Bob Dylan: I know a few of his biggest singles...probably not much more though. Like A Rolling Stone, Hurricane, The Times They Are A-Changin', The Man In Me, Masters Of War, probably a few more. I know some songs he wrote too, but not as how he sung them: Knocking On Heaven's Door, House Of The Rising Sun, Man Of Constant Sorrow...maybe I'll be surprised to learn more examples here.

And of course, who can forget that holiday classic album of his? Bob may still be alive, but his voice has been dead for ages.


You tagged this topic, DIDN'T YOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUU?!
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Here are the albums I understand are his canon studio productions that cover all of his songs. Is this right on?


Bob Dylan
The Freewheelin Bob Dylan
The Times They Are A-Changin'
Another Side Of Bob Dylan
Bringing It All Back Home
Highway 61 Revisited
Blonde On Blonde
John Wesley Harding
Nashville Skyline
Self Portrait
New Morning
Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid
Dylan
Planet Waves
Blood On The Tracks
The Basement Tapes
Desire
Street-Legal
Slow Train Coming
Saved
Shot Of Love
Infidels
Empire Burlesque
Knocked Out Loaded
Down In The Groove
Oh Mercy
Under The Red Sky
Good As I Been To You
World Gone Wrong
Time Out Of Mind
Love And Theft
Modern Times
Together Through Life
Christmas In The Heart
Tempest


Bunch of albums! Thirty-five, wow...plus his live stuff and whatever else too.
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Yikes
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this is going to be tougher to do than your beatles project because 1) there's way more albums (obviously), and 2) unlike the beatles, dylan has released several albums that are flat-out terrible >_> i appreciate your ambition!
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also, that list doesn't seem to be up-to-date; he released two studio albums after tempest (shadows in the night and triplicate).
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Good to know, thanks! I may be more casual this time -- we'll see. You're right that there's much more music here, so I'll probably rank albums just within their decade.

And bring on the stinkers. I have a whole bunch of driving time ahead, so let's do it.
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Welp, this topic might be nipped in the bud early. My phone has decided not to play more than ten seconds of any song I have now. The music works fine on other devices and it shows them successfully transferred on my phone, but it just cuts to silence now after ten seconds of each song until the beginning of the next song. This problem began as just the first track of any album I had, but now it's every song.

Weird and crappy. Boooooooo.
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Dylan has some amazing tracks but yeah, certain albums will be a chore for you.
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Think I have it fixed...? Hope to have my first update tomorrow!
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I can't say I've listened to a ton of Dylan stuff but I do have his greatest hits and some other songs on CD.

If I'm not mistaken, Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde are generally considered to be his top 2 albums.
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Blood on the Tracks
Blonde on Blonde
Highway 61 Revisited

who cares after that
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My parents at some point!
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CherryCokes posted...

Blood on the Tracks
Blonde on Blonde
Highway 61 Revisited

who cares after that

Hey, Bringing it All Back Home is a really respectable fourth!
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I liked Time out of Mind
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Bob Dylan

First album, here we go! I am super-excited by all the harmonica action going on here. I think this is going to be a lot of fun to hear these new ways to play it, especially if I get to see his evolution with it across all his decades of recordings.

Bob's voice is a popular thing to criticize him for, and I agree regarding his modern-day voice nowadays. On this album though? Totally works with me. He's a singer, but he passes for a storyteller too so it's all good. Was his voice always made fun of? Sure, not every note is clean...but I like it.

Lots of A-A-B blues-structure going on with Bob...works well for the man, and he manages to keep a good amount of it peppy too. He talks about death quite a bit...it's my closest idea for his theme so far. It's not as strong as love was for the Beatles, per say, but death is readily apparent here.

I like it when Bob cracked himself up in the middle of a line. I heard it in You're No Good and Pretty Peggy-O, maybe some other songs too. It gives him an interesting variation from his other lyrics.

Talkin' New York had a nice little reference about riding a subway car I liked. It's nice to hear about NYC back in the day.

Man, I love the guitar pacing for Baby, Let Me Follow You Down. It's so friendly and casual, and the harmonica compliments it perfectly.

I've known that many artists have done covers of Bob's songs, but I didn't expect to recognize three from just his first album. I prefer all three covers to Bob's versions here, but there's still respect to be given. I take it he wrote all three songs, plus he played them by himselfbas opposed to having bands work together on the covers. Not bad at any rate!

Dude can hold a note quite awhile based on Freight Train Blues. Those harmonica-lungs...!

I appreciate him writing a song for Woody Guthrie. I saw his son Arlo Guthrie on his 40th Anniversary Tour and got my program signed by him. Nice guy!




Bob Dylan:
Baby, Let Me Follow You Down
Pretty Peggy-O
Song To Woody
You're No Good
Talkin' New York
Gospel Plow
Man of Constant Sorrow (Soggy Bottom Boys > BD)
Freight Train Blues
House Of The Risin' Sun (Animals > BD)
Highway 51
See That My Grave Is Clean
Fixin' To Die
In My Time Of Dyin' (Led Zeppelin > BD)
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I think Talkin' New York and Song to Woody are the only songs on his s/t he actually wrote himself!

S/T is one of his albums I'm less familiar with, but Freewheelin' I like quite a lot.
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Please remind me what S/T means. Maybe I never knew...?

Haha, either way I might need some help separating the covers from the originals! I'm used to people calling him a brilliant songwriter but I forgot how many songs back in this era were covers.

And yeah, I can tell the Freewheelin' Bob Dylan's gonna be fine with me.
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Quick impressions after one album from the 1960s:

Bob Dylan


I liked this album a lot more after listening to it a second time. After listening to all of the Beatles, it's fascinating to focus on a solo artist now that eventually influences the Beatles. I really like the personal touches Bob gives, like Song To Woody. This evolution of an individual will have my attention in comparison to my last topic's attention to the evolution of a group. Nice start for Bob.
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S/T means self titled
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oh, this is happening after all? nice!

not a fan of very early dylan tbh. obviously he started out as a traditional folk singer (it's no coincidence that he included a song about woody guthrie), which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but his guitar playing is so super simple that there's not much interesting going on musically. i could literally play every song from the s/t on guitar, and my guitar playing is shit.

also, i'd say his singing voice on the s/t is pretty normal and clean. would take awhile for him to reach that distinct dylan sound.
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though on tracks like talkin' new york and baby, let me follow you down he already does the "more talking than singing" thing. been awhile since i've listened to this album so i didn't exactly remember what it sounded like.

also, i agree that the guitar in baby, let me follow you down is good. the chords in this song are nice.
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Self-Titled, ah, that makes sense!

New update probably tonight.
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The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan

Alright, here's a few songs I recognize and like! This album overall reminds me of his "s/t" (Am I cool for using this now? "Self Titled," for my future self when I read this years from now and forget what it means).

Blowin' In The Wind gives us a great first sentence to kick off the album: "How many roads must a man walk down before you call him a man?" I Shall Be Free ends the album on a great final bit too: "Well they asked me why I'm drunk all the time. It levels my head and eases my mind. I just walk along and stroll and sing. I see better days and I do better things. I catch dinosaurs. Make love to Elizabeth Taylor. Catch hell from Richard Burton." Nice way to bookend an album!

Girl From The North Country...interesting take of the Simon and Garfunkel song, though I don't think they called it by this name (Scarborough Fair?). I sung this song for the one real singing class I took in college...and now I'll leave it for the professionals.

Masters Of War, hell yeah. Tell 'em how you really feel, Bob!

Down The Highway has an interesting acoustic guitar strum here in place of the harmonica. These A-A-B blues schemes don't sound like this often. It gets a little repetitive, but it's still fascinating.

A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall is my first example that reminds me of Bob Dylan's stereotype of unusual lines that come out of seemingly nowhere. This isn't entirely the stereotype I think of since some of these lines make sense individually, but together I'm not so sure and they tend to feel like they're rambling without a strong rhyme scheme.

Don't Think Twice, It's All Right is my kind of passive-aggressive song. "I gave her my heart, but she wanted my soul."

Bob Dylan's first two albums have Bob Dylan in the title: Bob Dylan and the Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. Bob Dylan also has two songs with Bob Dylan in the title in the Freewheelin' Bob Dylan: Bob Dylan's Blues and Bob Dylan's Dream. BOB BOB DYLAN DYLAN AM I MAKING MY OBSERVATION CLEAR YET?

Hey, touching on race relations on Oxford Town and I Shall Be Free. Nice to see his perspective from this era.

"I'll let you be in my dream if I can be in yours. I said that." Good way to finish Talkin' World War III Blues.


The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan:
Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
Blowin' In The Wind
Masters Of War
Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance
I Shall Be Free
Oxford Town
A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall
Talkin' World War III Blues
Down The Highway
Bob Dylan's Blues
Bob Dylan's Dream
Corrina, Corrina
Girl From The North Country (BD > Simon and Garfunkel)
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Scarborough Fair is an English folk ballad, not an original S&G song.

I'm quite fond of Girl From the North Country and Don't Think Twice, so I'm all over the place on your ranking of this album!
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I aim to please and disappoint.
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Quick impressions after two albums from the 1960s:

The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan

The songs I recognize are fine songs! S/T's lows don't go as low as Freewheelin' goes, but Freewheelin' is more solid in its top half of songs. Not sure which album has the best song yet...but Baby, Can I Follow You Down and Don't Think Twice, It's All Right are both damn good.
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Maybe another update today.
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The Times They Are A-Changin'

The album starts with a great classic song, but then the rest of the album isn't really my speed. Its slower pacing through-out wears me down. It's got some lines I like though:

"Your children are so hungry that they don't know how to smile." --Ballad Of Hollis Brown

"The country I'm from is called the midwest." --With God On Our Side

Bob can drop some slick lines when he wants, but ultimately it was a downer without much upbeat -- lyrically or tonally -- to break this album up. Oh well.


The Times They Are A-Changin':
The Times They Are A-Changin'
When The Ship Comes In
Only A Pawn In Their Game
With God On Our Side
One Too Many Mornings
The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll
North Country Blues
Restless Farewell
Ballad of Hollis Brown
Boots Of Spanish Leather
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HaRRicH posted...

Boots Of Spanish Leather

no way! that song is excellent

I really like this album but totally get that it's pretty slow and that it might not be your thing. Some of the songs are kinda weak tbqh. But Boots Of Spanish Leather is pretty sweet
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Wow, I can't believe anyone would but Boots that low. It's an amazing song, one of his best.
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I like its gentle guitar-picking, but I dunno why it stands out from the rest of the album. *shrug* For what it's worth though, I've listened to this album the least of the three discussed so far.
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Quick impressions after three albums from the 1960s:

The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
The Times They Are A-Changin'

Too slow-paced and only its eponymous title track was particularly good to me. It was the opening track too, so it was all downhill from there.
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i don't even like the title track tbqh. it's a significant song but i don't think it's a great song to listen to.
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There are songs of Bob's I know that I prefer to it -- probably more to come too -- but it's fine with me.

Sneak peek on the next two albums: they're better than this past album.
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Another Side Of Bob Dylan

Alright, back in business with a stronger album! This one's pretty varied in style but I like that it's more playful after the slower album The Times They Are A-Changin'.

All I Really Want To Do is like a friendzone-anthem, haha. I needed this in high school.....

Black Crow Blues introduces the piano to Bob Dylan's canon. No idea if he plays it or not, but I thought his music consisted mostly of guitar and harmonica. Nice to include a new tool for future reference though.

Chimes Of Freedom is okay, but man it goes on awhile. Bob's not afraid to hit 7+ minutes as he sees fit. Much different from the Beatles around this period where they rarely broke the three-minute barrier.

Kinda funny to hear Bob talk trash on Russia in I Shall Be Free No 10, given today's context on politics. I don't know well what USA's political relationship with Russia was in the 1960s though.

I'm continuing to enjoy Bob's odd sense of humor. He laughs at himself in All I Really Want To Do, he talks about beating up Cassius Clay in I Shall Be Free No 10, he jokes about liking Fidel Castro and his beard in Motorpsycho Nightmare, and sometimes his timing alone can get a random smile from me. That timing can be when he says his words or even just when he hops on and off of the harmonica between breaths.

I've wondered what the name of I Don't Believe You was for a long time! I love its final line: "And if anybody asks me 'is it easy to forget?', I'll say it's easily done. You just pick anyone, and pretend that you never have met." Its lyrical structure and harmonica timing is spot on too. Such a good song about holding in feelings.



Another Side Of Bob Dylan:
I Don't Believe You
All I Really Want To Do
It Ain't Me Babe
Spanish Harlem Incident
I Shall Be Free No 10
Motorpsycho Nightmare
My Back Pages
To Ramona
Chimes Of Freedom
Ballad In Plain D
Black Crow Blues
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Quick impressions after four albums from the 1960s:

The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
Another Side Of Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
The Times They Are A-Changin'

Bob found his playfulness again and reunited me with a song I've long forgotten as unidentified. He's got some funny storytelling here too and plenty of variation. Good album!
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ugh ballad in plain d second to last? one of my favorite bob dylan songs ever.
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Not done disappointing yet, I'm sure.
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I only own Highway 61 and this nice compilation - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Essential_Bob_Dylan - but am enjoying thus far. Oh, the next one should rank highly, it even opens right away with...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGxjIBEZvx0
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SHB is my favorite Dylan song
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It's a good one! Don't expect to break hearts with its ranking, but I need to listen to this album more before I grt all official about it.
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More tonight?
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Nope, not tonight! Practicing the harmonica again now though, so I'm listening a little more closely to Bob's harmonica playing.
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Up.
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Maybe tonight? Plans are in the air.
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Just get on it you lazy bum.
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Argh, thought I had a date tonight but shit happened with her and then I got caught up with a few things here too.

Writing now...we'll see if I finish one tonight.
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did you walk with her like bob and suze rotolo on the cover of the freewheelin' bob dylan? :-O
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I was wondering who that cutie was!

But nope, now yet anyway. One of the people she works with had a car wreck and it's her job to deal with their emergencies like that.


Incoming write-uuuuuuuuuuuup!
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Bringing It All Back Home

What's this? Sounds like new production values! I have no idea if creative support changed for Bob here or his philosophy did, but it sounds different right away. Is this about the period where he did some work with the Band? Just curious where the influence has come from.

Subterranean Homesick Blues kicks us off to a fun-sounding song I've long forgotten about. Bob sounds more nasally than before and this album starts off with the exciting addition of drums into his music. Is that electric guitar, too? It's hard to tell since the song has a fun "noisy" quality to it. Weird to think he went four albums without such core instruments in so much of music today, but hey...not gonna question it.

Speaking of electric guitars, I heard Bob Dylan was the original punk rocker because he upset some concert when he went electric once upon a time. Do I have my details right? What happened?

There are other songs I recognized here too! Mr. Tambourine Man and It's All Over Now, Baby Blue are songs I've heard once upon a time. Both are quality songs too, though Tambourine gets more abstract and makes me wonder what he's talking about sometimes.

Maggie's Farm has a funny little structure to it, specifically its spacing. The set-ups with Maggie's farm/brother/Ma/Pa and the small but notable gaps between those lyrocs and the other lyrics stand out to me.

Bob's clearly enjoying himself as he laughs during the beginning of Bob Dylan's 115th Dream! There's a great line in the middle of the song -- "The man said 'get out of here, I'll tear you limb from limb.' I said 'you know they refused Jesus too.' He said 'you're not him.'"



Bringing It All Back Home:
It's All Over Now, Baby Blue
Mr. Tambourine Man
Maggie's Farm
Subterranean Homesick Blues
Bob Dylan's 115th Dream
It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)
Gates Of Eden
She Belongs To Me
On The Road Again
Outlaw Blues
Love Minus Zero/No Limit
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