I worked on Bob Dylan's discography from early 2018 to mid-2020. Although I ultimately included grades for Dylan's classic albums, I placed asterisks next to them since I listened to them before creating the grading system. As stated a few times on this blog, Dylan is by far my favorite artist. If you're interested in Bob, I recommend you listen to all his albums from Freewheelin’ to Nashville Skyline. If you enjoy that enough, I don't see why you shouldn't listen to every Bob Dylan album up to 1976 (except Pat Garrett and Dylan) and then skip right to 1993's World Gone Wrong and listen to all the studio albums beyond that (except the Sinatra albums). Is that too much to ask?
The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963): A*
The Times They Are A-Changin' (1964): B+*
Another Side of Bob Dylan (1964): B+*
Bringing It All Back Home (1965): A-*
Highway 61 Revisited (1965): A*
Blonde On Blonde (1966): A*
John Wesley Harding (1967): A*
Nashville Skyline (1969): B+*
Self Portrait (1970): B-*
New Morning (1970): B*
Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973): C+*
Dylan (1973): C-*
Planet Waves (1974): B*
Before the Flood (1974): B+*
Blood on the Tracks (1975): A+*
The Basement Tapes (1975): A+*
Desire (1976): B+*
Hard Rain (1976): C*
Street-Legal (1978): B-*
Bob Dylan at Budokan (1979): C+*
Slow Train Coming (1979): B-*
Saved (1980): C-*
Shot of Love (1981): C+*
Shot of Love (1981): C+*
Infidels (1983): B-
Real Live (1984): B-
Empire Burlesque (1985): C+
Knocked Out Loaded (1986): C+
Down in the Groove (1988): C-
Oh Mercy (1989): B
Under the Red Sky (1990): C
The Bootleg Series Vol. 1-3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991 (1991): B-
Good As I Been to You (1992): B
World Gone Wrong (1993): B+
MTV Unplugged (1995): B-
Time Out of Mind (1997): A-
The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966, The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert (1998): B-
Love and Theft (2001): A+
The Bootleg Series Vol. 5: Bob Dylan Live 1975, The Rolling Thunder Revue (2002): A-
The Bootleg Series Vol. 6: Bob Dylan Live 1964, Concert at Philharmonic Hall (2004): C+
The Bootleg Series Vol. 7: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack (2005): B-
Live at Carnegie Hall 1963 (2005): B+
Modern Times (2006): A
The Bootleg Series Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs: Rare and Unreleased 1989-2006 (2008): B-
Together Through Life (2009): B
Christmas In the Heart (2009): B-
The Bootleg Series Vol. 9: The Witmark Demos: 1962-1964 (2010): C+
In Concert--Brandeis University 1963 (2011): C+
Tempest (2012): B+
The Bootleg Series Vol. 10: Another Self Portrait (1969-1971) (2013): B+
The Bootleg Series Vol. 11: The Basement Tapes Complete (2014): A-
Shadows in the Night (2015): B-
The Bootleg Series Vol. 12: The Cutting Edge 1965–1966 (2015): B-
Fallen Angels (2016): B
Triplicate (2017): C
The Bootleg Series Vol. 13: Trouble No More 1979-1981 (2017): C+
Live 1962–1966: Rare Performances from the Copyright Collections (2018): C+
The Bootleg Series Vol. 14: More Blood, More Tracks (2018): C+
Bob Dylan - The Rolling Thunder Revue: 1975 Live Recordings (2019): C+
The Bootleg Series Vol. 15: Travelin' Thru, 1967–1969 (2019): C+
Rough and Rowdy Way (2020): B+
The Bootleg Series Vol. 16: Springtime in New York 1980-1985 (2021): C+
The Bootleg Series Vol. 17: Fragments - Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996-1997) (2023): B+
Shadow Kingdom (2023): B
MTV Unplugged (1995):
No exceptional tracks but acoustic guitars do always sound nice with Bob's voice. B-
Love and Theft (2001):
You say his voice is gasping its last breath? Fuck that, he’s never spit so much swagger on a record. Incredibly, Dylan’s rasps are also over the best rock backing of his whole career and the lyrics--a mix of the childish Under the Red Sky and dark Time Out of Mind--are as fun as the lyrics of The Basement Tapes. Dylan declares "I’ll die before I turn senile" but, luckily for him, he doesn’t have to worry about that any time soon. It’s his best record and I won’t hear otherwise. A+
The Bootleg Series Vol. 5: Bob Dylan Live 1975, The Rolling Thunder Revue (2002):
The Rolling Thunder Revue would be one of my top Dylan tours to see. Bob's reinvention of his songs are particularly spectacular ("Mr. Tambourine Man," "Simple Twist of Fate," and “Mama You’ve Been on My Mind”). A-
The Bootleg Series Vol. 6: Bob Dylan Live 1964, Concert at Philharmonic Hall (2004):
Mostly Dylan doesn't offer enough vocally to make the songs all that interesting to hear but "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "Talkin' World War III Blues" he nails. C+
Together Through Life (2009):
Adding to Modern Times's groove, Dylan brings an accordion. Although Dylan is less consistent, "Beyond Here Lies Nothing," "I Feel a Change Coming On," and "It's All Good" are on par with the songs of Modern Times. B
Christmas In the Heart (2009):
I wasn't surprised when I found out Dylan had a Christmas album--he is a born-again Christian after all. I did not anticipate, however, that the album would really be full-on Christmas, which makes it pretty funny. Check out "Must Be Santa." B-
The Bootleg Series Vol. 9: The Witmark Demos: 1962-1964 (2010):
Poor recording quality. Valuable for some of the few songs that can't be found elsewhere like "Ballad for a Friend" or "Hard Times In New York Town", but the vast majority of the songs have better versions elsewhere. C+
In Concert--Brandeis University 1963 (2011):
Decent. If early live Dylan is what you're looking for though, Live at Carnegie Hall 1963 is significantly better. C+
Tempest (2012):
Many of these songs are a tad too long--“Narrow Way” being the biggest offense behind “Tempest”--but this may even go over your head if you, like me, are too busy admiring Dylan’s ability to make his now crumbling voice consistently work with this new batch of songs. Particularly, Dylan’s vocals on “Duquesne Whistle” and “Pay in Blood” will likely rub you the wrong way on the first or second listen. But “Pay in Blood” may just the best song here and get this: the vocals would tip it over. B+
The Bootleg Series Vol. 10: Another Self Portrait (1969-1971) (2013):
Are you a Bob Dylan fan? Do you enjoy his albums when it's mostly just him and a guitar? Well you're in luck. Slightness is this Bootleg's middle name and this may just be the most cohesive, enjoyable Bootleg album to listen to all the way through. B+
The Bootleg Series Vol. 11: The Basement Tapes Complete (2014):
Like the original Basement Tapes, this is pure fun and you should check out the songs that you don't recognize from here along with "One Too Many Mornings" and the first take of "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere," the latter having Dylan's most ridiculous lyric ever. A-
Shadows in the Night (2015):
None of this is unlistenable, but the album desperately needs a change in pace. Each time a song ended, my mind screamed for something with a bit of snarl. Alas, nothing so exciting ever comes, and while most Dylan enthusiasts will likely enjoy it, not a single one will (or should) put it above his far better cover albums Good As I Been to You and World Gone Wrong. B-
Fallen Angels (2016):
This has the musical diversity that Shadows in the Night so desperately cried for. And although there is nothing as pumped up as "Honest with Me"--the album is still quite mellow throughout--this is at least not far from Good As I Been to You. B
Triplicate (2017):
Like Shadow in the Night, this album suffers terribly of a lack of song diversification. And although, Dylan does occasionally switch up pace or genre--"Day In, Day Out" is the best switch up and perhaps the best song too--it's not nearly enough on an album of this length. C
The Bootleg Series Vol. 13: Trouble No More 1979-1981 (2017):
There are a few good moments here, although mostly these come on the famous songs that you already know: "Slow Train Coming," "Gotta Serve Somebody," "Precious Angel," etc. Outside of this, the Shot of Love songs are good which start at "Shot of Love" and go on to close the album. C+
Rough and Rowdy Ways (2020):
I wish Dylan gave songs like the menacing "My Own Version of You" more of an instrumental break. After all, a brief bluesy guitar solo on "False Prophet" helps make it one of the best songs here and even it could have been given more time to groove. It's not his best album in decades like much of the media has tried to claim--have you listened to Love and Theft?--but songs like "Key West (Philosopher Pirate)" and "My Own Version of You" sure make easy to jump there. However, "Black Rider," which goes nowhere, and "Mother of Muses," which is lacking melodically, sure make it not. B+
The Bootleg Series Vol. 16: Springtime in New York 1980-1985 (2021):
Some of these outtakes are good enough to make me wonder if all three albums--Shot of Love, Infidels, and Empire Burlesque--need a revisit and potentially even a regrade. The middle record, which has several crisp cuts with Mick Taylor and Mark Knopfler on guitar, is particularly strong. But the majority of it isn't worth exploring and the best cuts are ones I expected to be good coming into the album--alternative takes of "Blind Willie McTell," "Sweetheart Like You," and "Dark Eyes"--as well as one surprise, "Tell Me." C+
The Bootleg Series Vol. 17: Fragments - Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996-1997) (2023):
I've never cared for Lanois's production on Dylan albums. Oh Mercy stands out in the 80s mostly because his other 80s albums had even worse production and though many will count Time Out of Mind as a creative comeback, I listen to its predecessor World Gone Wrong at least as often. Plus, its successor "Love and Theft" is perhaps his greatest studio album ever in no small part thanks to Dylan's own production. With Dylan citing the blues of Charley Patton as an inspiration going into the Time Out of Mind sessions, I had fairly high expectations for what this remix might reveal. Alas, I only notice very subtle changes in the clarity of instruments and minimal change on the vocals. Admittedly, I do like some of the songs better this way but you'll ultimately be fine listening to the original album. If you have the energy to plow through the extra takes on the deluxe version, go for it. I skipped them because I just don't care that much. That said, those live performances are excellent and were well worth my time. B+
Shadow Kingdom (2023):
While many were still couped up inside and there were no tours because of the pandemic, Dylan announced a livestream performance in July 2021. Many devoted fans purchased tickets in advance expecting a live setlist but when the time came, a pre-recorded film concert played with Dylan and masked musicians miming performance to new studio recordings of classic Dylan songs. About two years later, those studio recordings were released here. I'm happy to have opted against buying a ticket to the misleading livestream, which likely would have badly colored my opinion of these fine recordings. Dylan has all but patented reimagining his own songs and with this unique band only consisting of a bass, two guitars, and an accordion, this is unlike the reimagining we most often get in a live setting. There are a few songs that I can recall have better reimagining elsewhere--"Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)" will never get better than on Before the Flood--but this offers yet another strong installment in Dylan's 21st century discography. B
