The release of A complete stranger means that countless new Bob Dylan fans may feel intimidated by the sheer volume of his discography and not know where to start. Although Timothée Chalamet's incredible portrait only gave a brief glimpse into Dylan's life as he made his way through the 1960s Greenwich Village folk scene and made the controversial decision to go electric, this was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to this blues, folk, and rock legend. With a career that spanned many eras, everyone will have a difficult opinion about which Dylan's best albums were.
While some prefer Dylan's earlier, more stripped-down folk records, there are others who argue that he peaked in the late 1960s by adopting a more surreal, stream-of-consciousness style of writing. There is an argument that Dylan was at his poetic best in the 1970salthough some credit the older, more robust blues vocalist with his 21st century work. As a musician who has continually reinvented himself and remained relevant for over 60 years, Dylan's music represents some of the greatest work of any artist who has ever lived.
10
Oh Mercy (1989)
Bob Dylan made a huge career comeback with his 26th studio album
After a series of poorly received records throughout the 1980s, many longtime listeners began to lose faith in Bob Dylan before the release of O mercy in 1989. However, Dylan made a big comeback with O mercya record that saw him team up with music producer Daniel Lanois for the first time. This album avoided the lackluster and overly 1980s production of Burlesque Empire and the underwhelming offerings of In the groove and was replaced by a thrilling return to form that proved Dylan still had something urgent to say.
With opening track “Political World,” Dylan echoed the passion for protest music that made him famous in the first place and hinted at the introspective sentimentality of his early days with the romantic reminiscences of “Most of the Time.” It felt like Dylan had been reinvigorated creatively from the time he made supergroup Traveling Wilburys' debut album the previous year, and that passion carried over to this album. O mercy was the first of several late-career triumphs for Dylan that showed audiences that he always found a way to get out of any creative rut.
9
John Wesley Harding (1967)
Bob Dylan returned to his folk roots with his eighth studio album
Recorded at the same time as The basement tapeshis incredible album of home sessions with The Band, John Wesley Harding it was a return to a more acoustic and folk-influenced style after the rock n' roll excesses of Bob Dylan's previous albums. With realism-based lyrics and evocative imagery, the surreal, stream-of-consciousness style of Blonde on Blonde was replaced by more simplified poetic writings about John Wesley Harding. Recorded after Dylan retreated to Woodstock following his 1966 motorcycle accident, this record found Dylan going back to basics and finding a new creative voice in the process.
Although for the average music fan the highlight of John Wesley Harding will be “All Along the Watchtower”, a song that became even more famous through the Jimi Hendrix cover, the entire album was full of Dylan's incredible reflections. Tracks like “The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest” function as parables about finding meaning and purpose throughout one’s existence, and it’s clear that this record was Dylan with a more introspective mood than the drug-infused wildness of his earlier years.
8
The Times They Are Changing (1964)
Bob Dylan Fully Embraced Protest Music on His Third Studio Album
Although many think of Bob Dylan primarily as a protest singer, this was actually just a brief period of his career that was best summarized by Times are changing. This 1964 record featured political anthems about issues of racism, poverty, and social change, which led to Dylan being characterized as the voice of his generation for his ability to capture the progressive beliefs of youth culture in the 1960s. -opening title, Times are changing immediately became a timeless statement about the need for change.
Other songs like “With God on Our Side” and “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll” revealed Dylan's unparalleled abilities to capture society's hypocrisies and evils in brief folk songs that transcend generations. While Times are changing was Dylan's most political album to date, it still contained hints of the introspective romanticism seen in The Free Bob Dylan with the song “Spanish Leather Boots”. With richly layered character dynamics and raw vulnerability, songs like this were an early indication of Dylan's future status as a Nobel Prize winner.
7
Hard and Turbulent Ways (2020)
Bob Dylan proved he's as sharp as ever with his 39th studio album
It's a testament to Bob Dylan's unparalleled legacy that an album of new material still felt like a major musical event in 2020, when he surprised everyone with the release of one of his best albums, Rough and turbulent ways. Things kicked off with the surprise release of “Murder Most Foul,” a sprawling, nearly 17-minute song that captured modern American history through the lens of John F. Kennedy’s assassination. With sharp lyricism and great intelligence, there was a true ethereal beauty to the music that was accompanied by an equally astonishing album.
It's hard to know if Rough and turbulent ways will be Dylan's last album of new materialbut if that had been the case, he would have ended his career on a high note. Tracks like “I Contain Multitudes” and “False Prophet” seemed to lean into Dylan’s life and legacy, as his rugged, older, bluesy singing style lent itself well to the record. Rough and turbulent ways I felt like an old legend playing to an eager, intimate crowd in a small, smoke-filled bar, as Dylan proved once again that he never lost control.
6
Time Out of Mind (1997)
Bob Dylan looked mortality in the face with his 30th studio album
There was a feeling that Bob Dylan was reaching the end of his line Time out of mindthe first of many albums that fans interpreted as a final farewell. With a haunting atmosphere and dark lyrics that tackled mortality head on, it seemed like Dylan had found a new musical voice with Time out of mind. Dylan seemed older and wiser on this album as he struggled with death on songs like “Tryin' to Get to Heaven” and “Not Dark Yet,” two tracks that were as profound as anything he had written in the 1960s.
Time out of mind also had commercial appeal, as his oft-covered love song "Make You Feel My Love" became a modern standard that will be well known to many non-Dylan fans through Adele's beloved rendition. Time out of mind concluded with the excellent “Highlands”, a 16-minute epic that transported listeners to another world. As Dylan's reunion with O mercy producer Daniel Lanois, Time out of mind it was his last album before he started producing all his records on his own.
5
The Free Bob Dylan (1963)
Bob Dylan really found his voice on his second studio album
Although Bob Dylan released his self-titled debut album in 1962, it wasn't until the following year that the true extent of his talent became evident with the release of The Free Bob Dylan. Although Dylan's first album had hints of songwriting skills with his self-penned track "Song to Woody", on Rotating freely, Dylan wrote practically every song, and the world was introduced to a true songwriting legend. As a record that is still imitated by countless singers and songwriters to this day, Freewheel' laid the foundations for modern indie folk and was the bible for every Bob Dylan wannabe who sang nasally with an acoustic guitar.
From the opening track, "Blowin' in the Wind", which summed up Dylan's reputation as the voice of his generation in less than three minutesto the poetic vulnerability of "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right", at just 21 it was clear that this was a writer wise beyond his years. Tracks like "Masters of War" and "A Hard Rain's a- Gonna Fall" laid the groundwork for Dylan's more protest-oriented follow-up album. Freely rotating it had aspects of everything that made Dylan great in the 1960s, and from that point on he became the benchmark by which all other folk artists judged themselves.
4
Bringing It All Back Home (1965)
Bob Dylan shocked the folk scene by releasing his fifth studio album Electric
The release of Bringing it all back home It was an important moment in the history of music while Bob Dylan crossed genres and alienated countless people along the way. Like an album divided into two distinct halves, side one featured Dylan giving his all in fast-paced, electric songs, signaling the birth of a new rock n' roll star, while side two returned to his roots with more folk music. , acoustics. oriented music. Bringing it all back home he also abandoned protest music in favor of a more surreal and enigmatic poetic lyricism.
Starting with "Subterranean Homesick Blues", this album was the emergence of the sunglasses-wearing, cigarette-smoking, speed-loving speed addict Dylan as he created an entirely new persona for himself. There's an anti-establishment punk rock energy to songs like "Maggie's Farm" while also delivering complex lyrical masterpieces like "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)." Bringing it all back home proved that Dylan could play with the best of them and that he was capable of going far beyond his folk music and traditional roots.
3
Blonde On Blonde (1966)
Bob Dylan leaned fully into a surreal, stream-of-consciousness style on his seventh studio album
Bob Dylan's sheer volume of output in the mid-1960s was astonishing, with his nonstop songwriting culminating in the epic double album Blonde on Blonde. This record leaned into the surreal, stream-of-consciousness style that Dylan had been developing since Bringing it all back home and, together with Highway 61 revisitedcompleted a trilogy of albums unmatched by any other artist, except, without a doubt, the Beatles. As a complex and enigmatic postmodern record, Blonde on Blonde captured the essence of Dylan's surreal era before things became more stripped back and grounded with John Wesley Harding the following year.
Things kicked off with the hilarious “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35,” whose repeated chorus of “Everyone should get high” highlighted Dylan’s playful nature. However, this sprawling album also included incredible love songs like “I Want You” and “Just Like a Woman,” which showed a poet at the top of his game. Though none of this compares to the final track, “Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands,” a song filled with literary allusions whose impenetrable nature was almost Joycean in its unknowable yet powerfully beautiful appeal.
2
Highway 61 Revisited (1965)
Bob Dylan innovated with his sixth studio album
Any album that started with “Like a Rolling Stone” would always rank highly, but Bob Dylan somehow managed to maintain the same level of quality throughout. Highway 61 revisited. This is the perfect Dylan album to explain to people why this folk artist was revered and to explore why, even today, people remain fascinated and enchanted by his music. Not only are all the songs Highway 61 revisited Amazing examples of an artist at the top of his game, but are full of complexity, philosophy, and intelligence.
Dylan addresses his frustrations with the media's attempts to pigeonhole him in “Ballad of a Thin Man,” whose title character leaned into the absurd nature of hapless journalists. The religious imagery found in the album's title track even shows that Dylan had a penchant for mining biblical imagery for material long before he was born again in the late 1970s. Highway 61 revisited was a perfect record and truly encapsulated the essence of Dylan's world-conquering appeal in the 1960s.
1
Blood on the Tracks (1975)
Bob Dylan Bares His Soul on His 15th Studio Album
Bob Dylan's personal life was in shambles by 1975 as his marriage deteriorated, and he had found himself in a creative slump in the preceding years, but somehow managed to take those difficulties and turn them into what was, without undoubtedly his greatest achievement. Blood on the tracks was a highly confessional and vulnerable Dylan record that many have described as the best breakup album of all time. Dylan's estrangement from his then-wife Sara informed the poetic characterization of Blood on the tracks, which felt more like a collection of beautifully constructed short stories than a typical album.
Although Dylan was rarely open about his personal life and denied Blood on the tracks was autobiographical, he also said of the opening track, "Tangled Up in Blue", that it took “ten years to live and two years to write"(through Time.) Blood on the tracks It was Dylan's most mature album to date, and he played like a man who had nothing to prove and who wanted to bare his soul for the world to see. There is a timeless beauty in Blood on the tracks which reveals itself anew to listeners at every moment of their lives.
Source: Time