Customer Reviews

The Essential Bob Dylan (Rm) (2CD)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I was introduced to Bob Dylan not long ago, when I bought one of his cds on a whim. Truth to be told, I liked it so much that I wanted to buy another one, if possible a cd that would allow me to listen to some of his best songs without having to buy too many cds at the same time.

I am happy to say that with this cd, "Essential Bob Dylan", I managed to do just that. Among the wonderful songs included in this cd you will find jewels such as "Like a rolling stone", "Blowin'in the wind", "Subterranean homesick blues", "Positively 4th Street" and "The times they're a- changin'".

I am pretty sure that I will go on buying Dylan's cds, as I enjoy his songs, and specially the the fact that his creativity knows no limits. All the same, I certainly don't regret buying this cd, and I strongly recommend it to all those who like Bob Dylan, and to those who don't know much about him but want to give his songs a try.

Belen Alcat

this is one of the most beatiful box sets of one of the most talented singers of all times and most of his gems find a place here like times there are a changing,mr tambourine man and blowin in the wind.this is highly recommended for the first time listener who wants an overview into dylan

The key word is essential in many ways. It was a smart move no to call it "The best of" or any of those hokey catch phrases for someone's idea of sample mix.
There is enough Dylan to satisfy just about anyone. The first hand full of songs were also made famous by other singers and you have to get over trying to compare, unless like me it has always been Dylan first. Later you get to the good songs; He may not have personally thought so, but many of the songs struck a cord with me such as "Subterranean Homesick Blues."
To understand most of theses songs it would be best to buy a biography or watch one fro A&E. However with out knowing the man behind the song they will still standout in your mind for years.

Still "The Times They Are A-Changin"

I'm very pleased with this album because I much prefer Dylan's early folksy songs to the later blues stuff, and this album has much of the older stuff of his that I love. Songs like Blowin' In The Wind and The Times They Are a-Changin' etc etc--songs like that are Dylan to me. Bob Dylan was this gloomy guy who looked like a classical composer with the big messy hair, who then wrote some of the classics of modern folk rock. A real legend. His lyrics are very good too.

David Rehak
author of "A Young Girl's Crimes"

bob dylan: the greatest solo artist would not be taking it out of proportion. the mans music has been ringing in our ears for 40 years. I decided to get this album after watching a biography on him. i wanted to get into the folk kind of music he plays. well i couldnt get an individual album because the guy has gone through so many fazes that it would be impossible for me to pick one. so i got this greatest hits. I was amazed from the first song on. although i like the second cd better the whole experience is totally gratifying. there is not one bad song on this at all.

I'm fast becoming a huge Bob Dylan fan and I have this compilation to thank for it. It was my very first Dylan "album." Later on down the road, when I got a little more serious about Bob and didn't want to settle for just his "greatest hits," I purchased an okay quantity of his CD's (twelve, to be precise, which is nothing compared to this man's mammoth output). So, sure enough, I discovered songs that should have been here but were left off. For instance, where the heck is "Idiot Wind," my favorite Dylan song? "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands?" A lot more to mention, but you get my drift.

Regardless of some head-scratching omissions, this is an excellent set of music. The first disc is the obvious highlight as it covers his 60's stint, but the second is nothing to turn your head at either. Some may quibble that a guy like Bob is an "album" artist and would consider this compilation a throw-away product, but "the Essential Bob Dylan" left it's mark on me and I have the albums of his that I own to prove it.

Certainly not an "essential" CD, but you gotta start somewhere. After you get over the fact that Bob will never win any awards for being a great singer, you'll realize what an astounding songwriter he is and will want to go further. Might take some time to get used to, but you'll get there. And when you do, I recommend "Highway 61 Revisted," "Blonde on Blonde" and, of course, his masterpiece, "Blood on the Tracks."

Some artists can have a "best of" album put out and nothing more would be needed from them; Bob Dylan is not one of these artists. If you are only a casual fan or just want some Dylan in your collection, I'd reccomend getting a real album such as Bringing it all Back Home, Blonde on Blonde, Blood on the Tracks, or Bob Dylan (a few of my personal favorite Dylan albums) instead of this "essential" Bob Dylan. It's true that Bob Dylan has re-created himself innumerable times but you can't really get a sense for that here, anyways, becuase there are only a few songs from the albums represented in this collection. There is only one song from Blonde on Blonde and it's Rainy Day Women #12 and #35 which is the only bad song on Blonde on Blonde and they skipped over some of the greatest songs from Bringing it all Back Home and don't have any from his first album, Bob Dylan. There's some stuff on the second disk that I would skip over completely as well. You'd be better off sticking with the aforementioned albums.

this is a pretty good dylan mix i think. after all they do have most the "essentials", but i think it could have been better. where is My Back Pages?????

This greatest hits is fine. It was the first bob dylan i had baught, and that was 2-3 years ago. I've had a while to think about what this compilation is missing, beacuse i have over 10 of the cds. The songs that are missing are: The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carrol, Visions of Johanna, Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat, Stuck Inside of Mobile..., Love Minus Zero/No Limit, Idiot Wind, One More Cup of Coffee, Peggy Day, Girl From the North Country(w/Johnny Cash). There are many more I can't think of right now. They should have made a 3 or 4 disc collection, even though it would have cost more, It might bring more people to like Dylan.

The essential Bob Dylan can be condensed to just 4 years of recording, 1962-1966. His first 7 albums are all you really need to hear to be able to understand his huge influence on Western popular culture. He might possibly be the most influential lyric writer in the English-speaking world, broadening forever the depth and expressiveness of lyric writing in popular song (and all before he was 25!) If he stopped making albums after 'Blonde On Blonde' his place as one of the most important figures in 20th century culture would have been assured.

However if he began his recording career in 1967 with 'John Wesley Harding' his song-writing career would have been no more remarkable than Jackson Browne or Joni Mitchell. While he may have recorded the odd great album since '66 e.g. the much talked about 'Blood On The Tracks', he's only hit these highs a few times and less so in the same period as Neil Young and Van Morrisson. As good as 'Hurricane', 'Silvio', 'Jokerman' and 'Not Dark Yet' might be, they're hardly the soundtrack of our times as 'Blowin' In The Wind', 'The Times They Are A'Changin' and 'Subterranean Homesick Blues' are woven into the social and cultural history of the 1960's.

As for Dylan's lyrical gifts, they're almost above question. However his musical inventiveness is a little more difficult to ascertain. Due in part to his large lyrical palate, he needed a musical form that would distract you from his voice as little as possible. As a consequence we have the folk/blues style of a lot of his songs where melodic variation is kept to a minimum and verses predominate. In contrast Lennon & McCartney put more melodic and harmonic ingenuity into a two minute B-side than Dylan could put in over whole albums. A fact which Dylan himself would admit to, so impressed as he was with the unusual and expressive chord changes of 'I Want To Hold Your Hand'.

What would have made a better compilation would have been a 'best of' from all his not so good albums. Then we could stick it in with the 7 or 8 essential ones and have the cream of a Dylan collection.