Bob Dylan

If you've ever wondered what a perfect album sounds like, here it is. Dylan's 1975 return to acoustic form set the bar high without retro backpedaling. The first track, inspired by Joni Mitchell's Blue, is perhaps the most romantic narrative he ever wrote and the lyrics on "If You See Her, Say Hello" can kill you.

Bob Dylan may be the Charlie Chaplin of rock & roll. Both men are regarded as geniuses by
their entire audience. Both were proclaimed revolutionaries for their early work and
subjected to exhaustive attack when later works were thought to be inferior. Both
developed their art without so much as a nodding glance toward their peers. Both are
multitalented: Chaplin as a director, actor, writer and musician; Dylan as a recor... More >

The first version of this album struck me as a sellout to the memory of Dylan's pre-electric period; this remix, utilizing unknown Minneapolis studio musicians who impose nothing beyond a certain anonymous brightness on the proceedings, recapitulates the strengths of that period. Dylan's new stance is as disconcerting as all the previous ones, but the quickest and deepest surprise is in the music itself. By second hearing its loveliness is almost literally haunting, an aural déjà vu. There are moments of anger that seem callow, and the prevailing theme of interrupted love recalls adolescent woes, but on the whole this is the man's most mature and assured record. (Grade - A)