Author: Brian Harris

Rank #24. Christmas in the Heart

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(**½) October 13, 2009. 34th Studio Album.

At first blush the concept of Dylan doing traditional Christmas carols seems absurd, but it really works and this is one of my favorite Christmas albums (and I have a ton  of them). Recorded shortly after Together Through Life and featuring many of the same musicians, Dylan follows in the tradition of Sinatra, Presley and  Dean Martin and breathes new life into  these classics  with his raspy vocals counterbalanced with more traditional choral singers. Rather than starting where others do with “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire,”  he restores the opening verse to “The Christmas Song,” and performs the lesser-known “Christmas Blues” with such conviction it seems like a song that was written just for him. But the absolute standout cut on this collection is “Must be Santa,” done in an outrageous polka style with an accompanying video that is so bizarre it has to be seen to be believed. And all royalties went to hunger organizations in the United States and Europe.

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Rank # 25. Under the Red Sky

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(**½) Sept. 11. 1990. 27th Studio Album

The vibe coming from Dylan’s first album of the ’90s is that of a children’s record, yet with very adult themes of destruction, dirty politicians, and an assortment of other evils in society. Musically the album is a return to more standard, blues-rock and boogie woogie, with an all-star cast of musicians including Jimmy and Stevie Ray Vaughn, Slash, George Harrison, David Crosby, Bruce Hornsby and Elton John. But really it could have been a group of studio musicians, as none of the guests take the spotlight. My favorite song is the title track, along with the eloquent ballad “Born in Time,” the throwback “T.V. Talking Song” and album closer rocker “Cat’s in the Well,” but there is no single masterpiece here, just 10 solid, if somewhat juvenile-sounding, traditional rock tracks.

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Rank #26. New Morning

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(**½) October 19, 1970. 11th Studio Album

A mere five months after releasing the disastrous Self Portrait, Dylan returns with a raw urgency in a series of songs that for me are a step above the country stylings of his previous releases of this time period. The album contains one outstanding track, “If Not for You,” a collaboration with  George Harrison who released his own version a few months later  (and Olivia Newton-John covered it as well), and fine performances on “Day of the Locusts” and the title track. A few wrong turns detract from the overall feel, but still an enjoyable release. 

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Rank # 27. The Basement Tapes

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  (**½) June 26, 1975. 16th Studio Album (recorded eight years prior to release)

I’m not a big fan of the Band, although I respect their contributions to Dylan’s career as his backup band  and what they’ve accomplished on their own. Therefore The Basement Tapes is not among my favorite albums, due to its old-timey Americana feel and The Band’s influence (eight of the songs are primarily without Dylan). Begun  as an escape for Dylan as he recovered from a serious motorcycle crash, the material was recorded in 1967 but released eight years later, after it had been widely bootlegged. While critically acclaimed, it just doesn’t do that much for me. Still it has its moments with “Tears of Rage” and “This Wheel’s on Fire.” (A six-CD edition featuring just about all of the usable moments from the recording sessions was released in 2014.)

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Rank #28. Down in the Groove

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(**½) May 30, 1988. 25th studio album

Dylan returns to a blues-rock/folk sound on the enjoyable but unspectacular late ’80s release Down in the Groove.  With a mixture of traditional folk tunes such as “Shenandoah,” and the humorous “I’m in Love with the Ugliest Girl in the World,” and five originals, some of them written with Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, the album is most notable for “Silvio,” featuring the Dead’s Garcia, Bob Weir and Phil Lesh on backing vocals, which became a minor FM radio hit and a song that still occasionally makes the setlist today in a live setting.  But my favorite on this release is “Death is Not The End,” a traditional blues number sung elegantly by Dylan with sparse instrumentation.

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Rank #29. Nashville Skyline

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(**½) April 9, 1969 Ninth Studio Album 

After  recording his last few albums in Nashville,  and following his (at-the-time) unreleased sessions with the Band near his home in Woodstock, Dylan went full-on country, adopting a laid back croon while delivering a series of songs you could listen to around the fire. It had been more than two years since his last official studio release, and it seems like worlds away from his mid-1960s early peak, but Dylan still scored a hit with “Lay Lady Lay” while dueting with Johnny Cash on Dylan’s previously recorded “Girl From The North Country.” But my standout cut is “Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here with You.”

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Rank # 30. Bob Dylan

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(** ½) March 19, 1962    First Studio album

Dylan’s first record certainly makes a statement. He comes out swinging, with biting sarcasm and observations on his life up to that point. He lets people know who he is and who inspires him with two original songs, “Talking New York” and “Song for Woody.” And he interprets traditional folk and blues songs into his own style and personality, including his take on “House of the Rising Sun.” My favorite on this album is  “Baby Let Me Follow You Down.”

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Rank #31. Together Through Life

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(**½) April 28, 2009 33rd Studio Album

Another solid album from Dylan’s latter period, similar in feel to other albums released in the same time frame but with one main difference: the accordion playing by David Hidalgo of Los Lobos. Hidalgo’s presence adds more of a Cajun/Tex-Mex influence to many of the songs, which at their root level are based in Chicago blues. Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter returns to co-write a number of the album’s 10 songs, with “Jolene” (not the Dolly Parton hit) sounding somewhat like the Dead’s Truckin’.  Themes on many of the songs are heartbreak and tough times, but “This Dream of You” is a beautiful, heartfelt ballad providing inspiration and redemption. Self-produced and backed by his touring band with guests Mike Campbell from the Heartbreakers and Hidalgo, most of the songs are mid-tempo, and  Dylan’s voice is raspy throughout but it fits the tone of the songs. The album was No. 1 on the charts in both the United States and the UK, the first time that happened since 1970’s New Morning.

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Rank #32. Fallen Angels

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(**½) May 20, 2016 37th Studio Album

 I find Dylan’s second album of traditional Americana pop tunes more enjoyable than his first, even though it’s pretty much a carbon copy of Shadows of the Night, released a year earlier. Dylan follows the same formula, with his touring band providing soft twangy jazz arrangements that are more musical and upbeat than Shadows, and Dylan’s vocal delivery showing a  more playful side. The songs chosen for this collection can also be viewed more autobiographically as well, particularly “Young at Heart,” “All or Nothing at All” and “Melancholy Mood.” Critics enjoyed it as well, although it didn’t sell as well as the previous collection. Not my favorite era of Dylan, but certainly enjoyable for the right moment.

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Rank # 33. Good as I Been to You

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(**) October 27, 1992 28th Studio Album

After a decade of inconsistent albums and styles, Dylan returns to his roots by releasing a solo acoustic album of primarily traditional folk and blues covers. With songs of love and loss, war and peace, and even the children’s novelty “Froggy Goes a Courtin,’” the album features Dylan on guitar and harmonica only, with a rich sound and evocative vocals. My favorites are “Step it Up and Go,” and “Hard Times,” but the album is consistent throughout with each song telling a story. It’s not an album I reach for often but it is enjoyable if you are in the mood for that type of thing. 

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