Bob Dylan

matabele

If you were only allowed to buy one cd of his, which one would it be?

Electric_Delta

Nashville Skyline

No, really - Blonde on Blonde

KS35116

I'm a big Bob Dylan fan and you cannot go wrong with any of his albums in the 60's. Maybe skip his first, self-titled album 'till later, but anything from Freewheelin' through Nashville Skyline is a classic artefact.

If you must get one and one only, that's tough but I'd suggest Highway 61 Revisited, which features Like a Rolling Stone. Otherwise, Blonde on Blonde is often considered one of the greatest rock albums of all time.

Once you've digested his 60's output, for intermediate level Dylan check out Blood on the Tracks (1975), Time Out of Mind (1997) and Love & Theft (2001).

I envy your days ahead of discovering one of the greats. And just let me add that Bob Dylan sings just fine, dammit!

Newch91

Highway 61 Revisited. Why? With classics like:

Like a Rolling Stone
Tombstone Blues
It Takes A Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry
From a Buick 6
Ballad of a Thin Man
Queen Jane Approximately
Highway 61 Revisited
Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues
Desolation Row

You have a fantastic and classic album.

klusterfuk

freewheelin or the times they are a changin are some of the best man.just don't get any better. i still get goose bumps when he walks on stage. you can just feel that a legend is in the house.
damn now i gotta crank up "don't think twice it's alright"

tcaporale

Highway 61 Revisited is my favorite album of all time, so definitely that one.

Apart from that, there's a shitload of other great albums to choose from:

Blonde on Blonde
Blood on the Tracks
The Times They Are a-Changin'
Another Side of Bob Dylan
The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
Bringing It All Back Home
Desire
Nashville Skyline
New Morning
Slow Train Coming
John Wesley Harding
The Basement Tapes

Even more recent albums are great:

Time Out of Mind
Love and Theft
Modern Times
Together Through Life

The guy is a legend, no doubt about it.

Zoso

where do you start there are so many great ones...

my favs

time out of mind
love and theft
hight revisted
blonde on..
blood on the
desire

you can1 wrong with dylan.

Yellow Ledbelly

Blood on the Track and Highway 61 Revisited definitely rank at the top of my list.
As modern Bob goes, you can't best Time Out of Mind....Love and Theft is excellent as well. Modern Times never really struck a chord with me like those two did.

So, if I had to choose one.....Blood on the Tracks just edges out Highway 61 i believe

Lifted

to romona might be my favorite song ever written, so, "another side of bob dylan"

Kilgore_Trout

probably blood on the tracks... it was my first album of his... great songs

gimmesometruth27

i have many of his albums, but in my opinion he was never more prolific than when he released "freewheelin bob dylan", "another side of bob dylan", and "the times they are a changin"...i love love love those three albums..

dpmay

i have come to believe bob dylan has NEVER gone through a bad period - that said, bringing it all back home is a great place to start.

matabele

I am not really new to Dylan, have always enjoyed his talent but because of the vast selection, confusion takes over, I have, Modern Times, Unplugged, Before the Flood and Together Through Life.
From the suggestions here I think I will get Highway 61 Revisited and Time Out of Mind, any opinions on Infidels please.

jamingjamers

on every Bob Dylan album is always great songs.. even those dodgy albums are great

Evacuation Rules

Every self-respecting music fan should have all of his 60's albums with the exception of his first. "Blood On The Tracks" and "Desire" are the best of the 70's. "Infidels" is his best 80's work. After that I'm not too knowledgable.

tcaporale

matabele wrote:

I am not really new to Dylan, have always enjoyed his talent but because of the vast selection, confusion takes over, I have, Modern Times, Unplugged, Before the Flood and Together Through Life.
From the suggestions here I think I will get Highway 61 Revisited and Time Out of Mind, any opinions on Infidels please.

Definitely delve into his '60s and '70s material.

whulmef

Start with
The Freewheelin', '63
Highway 61, '65
Blood on the Tracks, '75
Love and Theft, 2001

Bob is currently in this Mississippi River Boat Gambler persona thing with a cowboy backing band. The music sounds like something from the late 19th Century if Rock and Roll had existed back them. He references Shakespeare characters and the Mississippi River and cool shit like that. It kind of started with Time out of Mind in 1997 which is fantastic but a little harder to delve into than Love and Theft, which came next in 2001. Then came Modern Times in i think '04 which is also an instant classic. Just really, really beautiful songs on these albums; the most beautiful songs I have ever heard to be honest. Then a few years back, Tell Tale Signs came out which is a B sides album. It has many different versions of songs from the past 15 or so years and is a classic album in itself. Then last year Together Through Life came out which is again produced by Dylan (or Jack Frost is producing psuedonym who produced Love and Theft and Modern Times). Together Through Life could be considered a slight backstep for Bob. It is a great album with some great songs, but it just doesn't measure up to the timelessness and distinctive sounds of Time out of Minds through Modern Times, of which Dylan says is not a trilogy. Im slightly addicted to these albums as you can tell. I have started reading more Mark Twain and im even started to read Life on the Mississippi because of them. I have never seen the Mississippi river before and I need to prepare to go. I need to listen to more of the old delta blues stuff. Charlie Patton, Lightning Hopkins, Bo Didley, I think these are names I should become more familiar with. I need to read more Faulkner, Flannery O'Conner, Eudora Welty, Thomas Wolfe and Tennessee Williams. Maybe in a few years I'll be ready to see the river.

I feel like after Highway 61, every album has been made to be like that album. It was the first modern rock album ever made. Note how Rubber Soul and Pet Sounds come soon after.

On Dylan's singing, he is fantastic. Ive only ever heard two covers that are equal or better to his originals. They are Hendrix's Watchtower and Warren Zevon's Knockin on Heaven's Door (the clapton one sucks). Everyone that covers him usually misses the entire feeling of the song when they do it.

Cob

Blood on the Tracks

justam

I don't have enough of them to say which one is best to start with. I only have seven of them and he has done so many! :geek:

gimmesometruth27

i heard "lonesome death of hattie carrol" on the "faction" station on xm tonight...it was a pretty nice break from all of the punk music they play on that station...

gabers

My favorite is Blood on the Tracks as an album in its entirety but Highway 61 Revisited has his best songs, if that makes any sense.

Yellow Ledbelly

whulmef wrote:

I have never seen the Mississippi river before and I need to prepare to go. I need to listen to more of the old delta blues stuff. Charlie Patton, Lightning Hopkins, Bo Didley, I think these are names I should become more familiar with. I need to read more Faulkner, Flannery O'Conner, Eudora Welty, Thomas Wolfe and Tennessee Williams. Maybe in a few years I'll be ready to see the river.

You definitely need to visit the great state of Mizzip...visit Clarksdale, Indianola and all the other delta blues hotspots.
Clarksdale is the site of Robert Johnson's "Crossroads" plus the great blues museum. Indianola is the home of BB King and a wonderful museum was opened there a couple of years ago. BB plays a homecoming concert in Indianola every year. I toured it for the first time just a few weeks back and it is very interesting.
Also, if you're interested in life of the mississippi you would have to check out Vicksburg and Natchez. Tons and tons and tons of history in those towns

BlackCorduroy

All great recommendations so far. I'd reiterate Blood on the Tracks, Highway 61, Desire, Blonde on Blonde.

Also check out live stuff...Bootleg series vol. 4, Hard Rain, anything from Rolling Thunder tour, Before the Flood. That stuff will blow your mind

This version of Shelter from the Storm from Hard Rain is UNBELIEVABLE....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsyqQmnI0gc

Yellow Ledbelly

BlackCorduroy wrote:

anything from Rolling Thunder tour

Ah yes...shame on me for failing to mention that...excellent. Also read "on the road with bob dylan" by larry ratso sloman.

Newch91

Listening to the Volume 4 Bootleg, The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert right now. This is such an amazing album! The acoustic set is magical. Can't wait to get to the electric set.

red mos

for albums:
Blonde on Blonde or Free weelin Bob Dylan

FinsburyParkCarrots

I'd probably go with John Wesley Harding, as it's the most lyrically enigmatic, economical yet intriguing of all his albums.