Question for Dylan Lovers - Batman, dylan, Finn, ZRB, etc.

manny, i always recommend his debut, self-titled album-Bob Dylan

just a man, his guitar, and his harp.

some of my(other) favorites include "Desire," "Nashville Skyline", and "New Morning".

each album offers a different perspective into the wonderful catalog of a wonderful musician.

"desire" features Emmy Lou Harris and opens with "Hurricane."

"Nashville Skyline" stresses Bob's country influence, opening with "The Girl From the north Country" with Johnny Cash.


"New Morning" has a jazzy, upbeat feel to it and features "The Man in Me", which is in the movie "The Big Lebowski"

 

Personally, I was disappointed by Highway 61 Revisited. Even though it has 'Like a Rolling Stone,' it just doesn't seem like a very strong album to me, relative to others.

Bootleg Series, Vol. 4: Live 1966 is a famous UK performance with The Hawks (later The Band) featuring songs off 3 or 4 albums of that period - half acoustic, half electric. Essential.

Oh Mercy was a comeback album in 1989 - very good, although low-key. Another that I would consider essential

Time Out of Mind won him a Grammy in 1997. Rather dark and slow, but still very very good.

Hope this helps.

 

You've got the main ones....try Time out of Mind for recent stuff and try his collaborations with The Band.

 

Ditto what RMT said. Love and Theft and Time Out of Mind are both extremely good recent albums but TOOM is probably a better choice as it is a bit more "representative" of Dylan imo. You also really don't want to miss out on Bringing It All Back Home. It's prob my 3rd fav Dylan album with such songs Maggie's Farm, Gates of Eden, It's Alright Ma, Baby Blue, etc.

Lastly if you want some more "fun, frivelous" Dylan I suggest The Basement Tapes. It's Dylan and The Band recording a whole bunch of stuff while Dylan was recovering from his motercycle accident. Some of it is more serious stuff but a lot is just them fooling around. Million Dollar Bash is one of my favs from that album.

Hope the advice helps...

 

PS: Tickets for Bob Dylan's 4/22 & 4/23 shows in Houston at Verizon Wireless Theatre go on sale Saturday March 15th at 12:00 noon.....$45 for general admission on the floor.

 

I like the Dylan and the Dead album, although the bootlegs are far superior.

 

I have never heard said album but from everything I know I wouldn't buy it blind. Most people I know dislike it pretty strongly. That doesn't mean it's bad of course, just that I would try to check it out first.

 

First, you need Bringing It All Back Home.

Next, you need the first one. "Bob Dylan."

Next, I'd suggest Another Side of Bob Dylan.

Next, you really, really need Biograph and Bootleg Series 1-3.

110th has some great suggestions as well. I'm with him on all of them.

Thoughts on other posts:

I deplore Dylan and the Dead. Dylan can't even remember the words and, to me, the Dead is deadly boring. Sucks all the life out of those tunes. Slow Train Coming's about the only track I can stomach. For a good live album, go with either Before the Flood (double record with the Band) or Hard Rain. Real Live's not great, but if you're a Blood on the Tracks fan, it features some very alternate lyrics and very different takes on a few of those songs. Bootleg Series V is a great live record from the Rolling Thunder Revue, but you won't be able to truly appreciate it til you hear the original studio versions from Desire.

Oh Mercy's okay, but really nothing special. Standout songs are Most of the Time, Ring Them Bells and Shooting Star.

Time Out of Mind and Love and Theft are both special, but TOOM gets the edge there for sure.

Some amazing albums no one's mentioned:

World Gone Wrong and Good As I Been To You. Both recent, solo, cover albums. Amazing. Especially WGW.

Infidels. Mark Knopfler's guitar and production threaten to ruin it but some of the songs are just too good. Sweetheart Like You, Don't Fall Apart on Me Tonight and Jokerman are as good as any Dylan tunes for my money.

I also love Street Legal and Empire Burlesque, but they are very acquired tastes. I'd wait on these til you're totally hooked.

Other good (but not so essential) stuff: John Wesley Harding and Planet Waves. I'd put Oh Mercy in this category as well.

I also have affection for the Christian phase, but it too is an acquired taste. It's a trilogy. Slow Train Coming, Saved, Shot of Love.

Albums to never, ever buy: Under the Red Sky, Down in the Groove, Dylan and the Dead.

Albums others will tell you to never buy but that I love: Self Portrait, Dylan.

Hope that helps.

 

Man BJ, our tastes in Dylan are so similar it's scary. World Gone Wrong and Infidels are excellent. WGW is Dylan with his guitar and harmonica. No band, no fancy sound effects. The emotion he puts in those songs is incredible.

One CD I will add to the list: "Bob Dylan Unplugged (MTV)"



Tombstone Blues
Shooting Star
All Along the Watchtower
The Times They Are A-Changin'
John Brown
Desolation Row
Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
Love Minus Zero/No Limit
Dignity
Knockin' on Heaven's Door
Like a Rolling Stone
With God on Our Side

Shooting Star has to be my favorite, Dignity is very good and John Brown will pull on your heartstrings (especially with war on everyone's mind).

John Metzger's review: http://www.musicbox-online.com/dyl-unp.html

 

Nashville Skyline, Time Out of Mind, Love and Theft, Oh Mercy- and the latest, Live 1975. I highly recommend them all.