We are in the midst of greatness. There will never be another artist like Bob Dylan. Just as there will never be another Woody Allen or another J.D. Salinger. So the release of new Dylan album is an event unto itself. To celebrate, the next 3 days will be dedicated to Dylan. Today we will rank the 11 Best Dylan albums of all time. Tomorrow will be the 11 best songs of his career (prior to Time Out of Mind). And the third list will be the 11 best song from Time Out of Mind to the present. Without further ado...
The 11 Best Bob Dylan Albums
1. Blood on the Tracks - Not only the perfect Dylan album, it is definitely one of the greatest albums ever made. Songs like the cleverly tongue-in-cheek "Idiot Wind," the pop sensation "Tangled Up in Blue," and the sparse "Buckets of Rain" are just some of the iconic performances here. Even the weaker songs would be highlights on other albums.
2. The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan - A practical greatest hits containing the rock solid classic "Blowin in the Wind," the uplifting "A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall," the straight-forward "Don't Think Twice It's Alright," and the menacing "Masters of War."
3. Bringing It All Back Home - Dylan's 5th release finds him evolving his own sound from Guthrie stripped down bare to what would eventually be the Dylan jangle. Highlights are the happy-go-lucky "Subteranean Homesick Blues," the Donovan downer "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue," the wide-awake "Dylan's 115th Dream," and the lesser known track "Mr. Tambourine Man."
4. Blonde on Blonde - One of Dylan's most ambitious pieces with sonic hills and valleys, its sporadic nature keeps it from times of being completely accessible, but that doesn't mean it shines on tracks like "Rainy Day Woman," or finding rationality on "Just Like A Woman."
5. Planet Waves - Bob Dylan and the Band deliver an album that may not contain a well-known hit but every song is a solid as anything he's done. You have the eternal "Forever Young," the sunny bright "On A Night Like This," and the greatest love song of his career in "The Wedding Song."
6. Nashville Skyline - Dylan brings along his froggy voice and does country unlike any of those shit-kickers could ever dream of...he stands tall on "Lay Lady Lay" cashes in on "Girl From The North Country."
7. Time Out of Mind - After facing death, Dylan lives to tell the tale, which is morbidly shared on the album. We hear death knocking on "Tryin' To Get To Heaven" and learn to see the light on "Not Dark Yet."
8. Highway 61 Revisted - Young punk Dylan continues sticking it to the man on his masterpiece "Like A Rolling Stone" but brings the world together on "Desolation Row."
9. Desire - An often overlooked album that lives in Blood on the Tracks shadow. Contains the epic tornado "Hurricane" and the tender sonata "Sara."
10. Love and Theft - As Dylan gets older, his music becomes more alive, letting us wonder on "Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee," seranading us in the "Moonlight," and bring us back down on "Floater."
11. World Gone Wrong - The last Dylan album to illustrate his jangle sense of life before the mortality of his life set in. Emotions are plastered all through-out on the title track, the roaring "Broke Down Engine," visionary "Blood in My Eyes."
Dylan for the world to hear...
1. Idiot Wind from Blood On The Tracks
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