# Best (of the worst) Bob Dylan studio albums (poll) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [November 2, 2022, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-worst-bob-dylan-studio-albums-poll/974211 "2022-11-02T11:31:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2022, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-worst-bob-dylan-studio-albums-poll/974211/1 "2022-11-02T11:31:27Z")
These are the Dylan albums from the previous two polls that have received zero votes. Select one. _Poll ([view on site](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-worst-bob-dylan-studio-albums-poll/974211/1))_ ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2022, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-worst-bob-dylan-studio-albums-poll/974211/2 "2022-11-02T12:08:00Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > These are the Dylan albums from the previous two polls that have received zero votes. This is not strictly true-- I voted for “World Gone Wrong” in the ’ [Best Bob Dylan Studio Albums (POLL) Part 2](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-bob-dylan-studio-albums-poll-part-2/974021)’ poll, but it looks like my vote was lost or discarded when that thread was merged into the Part 1 poll. So I voted for WGW again-- a fine, underrated gem of an album of Dylan covering obscure and semi-obscure old Folk / Country / Blues songs, just Dylan singing and playing acoustic guitar. For those who don’t like his singing voice, I understand, but personally I think Dylan can put more feeling and shades of meaning into a sung line reading than many more technically ‘better’ singers. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2022, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-worst-bob-dylan-studio-albums-poll/974211/3 "2022-11-02T12:15:41Z")
Easy. Another Side. j ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2022, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-worst-bob-dylan-studio-albums-poll/974211/4 "2022-11-02T12:24:35Z")
> [@solost](#): > > > [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > > > These are the Dylan albums from the previous two polls that have received zero votes. > > This is not strictly true-- I voted for “World Gone Wrong” in the ’ [Best Bob Dylan Studio Albums (POLL) Part 2](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-bob-dylan-studio-albums-poll-part-2/974021)’ poll, but it looks like my vote was lost or discarded when that thread was merged into the Part 1 poll. Ah, I see that now. Sorry about that. I confess I am not very familiar with that one, I will have to give it a good listen. mmm ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2022, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-worst-bob-dylan-studio-albums-poll/974211/5 "2022-11-02T12:26:03Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Ah, I see that now. Sorry about that. Hey, no problem, it gave me a chance to vote for and endorse it again 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2022, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-worst-bob-dylan-studio-albums-poll/974211/6 "2022-11-02T16:36:34Z")
There are three albums on this list that I rate among Dylan’s top ten or twelve albums, “Another Side”, “John Wesley Harding” and “Street Legal”. Out of these, “Another Side” gets my vote, especially knowing the story of its recording. It was one nightly, wine-fueled solo session in which Dylan recorded the whole album in one go, mostly first takes, and it contains classics like “My Back Pages”, “All I Really Want To Do”, “Chimes Of Freedom” (all three later beautifully covered by the Byrds) and “It Ain’t Me, Babe”. Who else could pull that off? ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2022, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-worst-bob-dylan-studio-albums-poll/974211/7 "2022-11-02T17:05:50Z")
I was waffling between Another Side and Street Legal. Another Side is certainly brilliant, but I gave the (razor thin) edge to SL because it just…_does something_ for me. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2022, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-worst-bob-dylan-studio-albums-poll/974211/8 "2022-11-02T18:04:04Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > There are three albums on this list that I rate among Dylan’s top ten or twelve albums, “Another Side”, “John Wesley Harding” and “Street Legal”. Out of these, “Another Side” gets my vote, especially knowing the story of its recording. It was one nightly, wine-fueled solo session in which Dylan recorded the whole album in one go, mostly first takes, and it contains classics like “My Back Pages”, “All I Really Want To Do”, “Chimes Of Freedom” (all three later beautifully covered by the Byrds) and “It Ain’t Me, Babe”. Who else could pull that off? In a recent New Yorker consisting of republished pieces they ran Nat Hentoff’s article about sitting in on that session. Don’t spend a lot of time looking for it, Hentoff might have been a great jazz critic, but he had no idea of what he was hearing. Wasted opportunity. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2022, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-worst-bob-dylan-studio-albums-poll/974211/9 "2022-11-02T18:34:11Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > In a recent New Yorker consisting of republished pieces they ran Nat Hentoff’s article about sitting in on that session. Don’t spend a lot of time looking for it, Hentoff might have been a great jazz critic, but he had no idea of what he was hearing. Wasted opportunity. They should have sent Robert Shelton instead. Or even better, a very young Greil Marcus. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2022, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-worst-bob-dylan-studio-albums-poll/974211/10 "2022-11-02T21:38:39Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > “…Another Side” gets my vote, especially knowing the story of its recording. It was one nightly, wine-fueled solo session in which Dylan recorded the whole album in one go, mostly first takes, and it contains classics like “My Back Pages”, “All I Really Want To Do”, “Chimes Of Freedom”… and “It Ain’t Me, Babe… Of course, I agree with every one of those, but may I respectfully add **Motorpsycho Nitemare**? It’s a side of Dylan that gets forgotten - he wrote some _really_ funny songs, and this one is laugh out loud funny. (Actually, I also really like Ballad In Plain D, as mean spirited as it is.) (And I feel I should explain the extreme brevity of my earlier post: don’t post on the dope in your dentist’s waiting room.) j ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2022, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-worst-bob-dylan-studio-albums-poll/974211/11 "2022-11-02T21:44:49Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > Of course, I agree with every one of those, but may I respectfully add **Motorpsycho Nitemare**? It’s a side of Dylan that gets forgotten - he wrote some _really_ funny songs, and this one is laugh out loud funny. I concur wholeheartedly, I also dig the funny and absurdist songs from his early career, like also “Talking World War III Blues” and a special favorite of mine, “Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream”. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2022, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-worst-bob-dylan-studio-albums-poll/974211/12 "2022-11-02T22:25:16Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > don’t post on the dope in your dentist’s waiting room. Or in the chair, after the nitrous takes effect. For me, there are a handful of albums that I first heard in Bob’s Basement… which was an oasis of hipness in a Kennedy-Era Suburb of Conformity. I’m not exaggerating when I say our eyes were opened to the wide weird world out there by every new album that Bob played us. Everything from The Mothers to early Yardbirds to Townes Van Zandt … … and the first Dylan album. So that one had the most effect on me. Of course, we bought every album as soon as they came out, and we lay around Bob’s Basement tried to figure out the lyrics, but mostly just basked in the genius. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2022, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-worst-bob-dylan-studio-albums-poll/974211/13 "2022-11-03T09:30:54Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > …a special favorite of mine, “Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream”. One of my favorite lyrics: _Well, I rapped upon a house_ _With the U.S. flag upon display_ _I said, "Could you help me out?_ _I got some friends down the way"_ _The man says, "Get out of here_ _I’ll tear you limb from limb"_ _I said, “You know, they refused Jesus, too”_ _He said, “You’re not Him”_