Though I was a big Dylan fan back in the day, and am still a big fan of his old stuff up through Desire, he lost me during his Jesus Freak period (Slow Train, Saved). Afterwards, very little of his new stuff got airplay on mainstream stations, and I didn’t have friends who were keeping up on his new stuff anymore. (Hell, by the mid-1980s, hardly any of my old friends were keeping up on any new music.)
So I’ve missed out on about 35 years of Dylan music, other than his contributions to the Wilburys albums. But I’m sure some of my fellow Dopers have some strong opinions on which Dylan songs during the past >1/3 of a century are the ones that are an indispensable part of their music collection.
So the floor is open. Name some songs. If you’re motivated to tell me what’s so great about them, that’s a bonus, but the main thing is, name your favorites.
And the Christmas album he did a few years ago is thoroughly good, but I especially enjoy the version of “Do You Hear What I Hear?” on it, along with the much more light-hearted Christmas polka he includes on the album.
While his albums in the 80s weren’t his best, I think all the albums since 1997 have been pretty great. Time Out of Mind, released in '97, has “Not Dark Yet,” which I love, and the much-covered “To Make You Feel My Love.” Love and Theft has a great, jazzy, '30s feel to it. “Mississippi” is one my favorites on that album. “When the Deal Goes Down,” on Modern Times, is a favorite for me, too.
I’m going to second anything from Love and Theft, especially “Mississippi”.
Roll On John (from ‘Tempest’) is one of my favorites from the newer albums as well. But pretty much everything since the mid-90s I’ve thought was great.
Ooh, I have lots of favorites. Off the top of my head: “Jokerman,” “Don’t Fall Apart on Me Tonight,” “Blind Willie McTell,” “Dark Eyes” (the rest of Empire Burlesque is kind of a mess, but that one is a stripped-down, haunting little gem); most of Oh Mercy, but especially “Ring Them Bells,” “Most of the Time,” and “Shooting Star”; “Dignity,” “Series of Dreams,” “Not Dark Yet,” “Mississippi,” pretty much all of Modern Times, “Cross the Green Mountain,” “Tempest.”
Agree, but the two albums before this, Good as I’ve Been to You and World Gone Wrong are pretty great also. They are acoustic covers of old songs, but you can hear Dylan connecting back to his roots. I think they were necessary to make the next step.
I tend to like stripped-down acoustic versions of things, so probably my favorite post-Jesus Dylan album is “World Gone Wrong” (from early 90s?) which is just Dylan singing old semi-obscure bluesy songs and playing guitar.
I was actually surprised at how good his guitar playing was, just hearing it on its own. And his voice, plenty bad things have been said about it, but in my opinion no one can put a tone of world-weary apocalyptic sadness into their singing like he can. Listen to the different ways he phrases the line “all the friends I ever had are gone” in each chorus of “Delia”.
Oh god, yes! Get Good as I Been to You and World Gone Wrong immediately. The first introduced me to “Arthur McBride” and “Jim Jones,” which have been two of my favorite songs for over ten years now.
Other great shit you need:
“Silvio” with backing vocals by the Grateful Dead.
“Not Dark Yet” I consider near-peak Dylan.
I also love “Highlands,” from Time Out of Mind. LONG Dylan, for those of us who like “Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands” and “Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack of Hearts.”
“Workingman’s Blues #2” from Modern Times. Also near peak Dylan!
I happen to be an expert in post-Jesus Dylan, so listen up:
Top tier:
Thunder on the Mountain – Modern Times Workingman’s Blues #2 – Modern Times High Water (For Charley Patton) – Love and Theft Po’ Boy – Love and Theft Things Have Changed – Wonder Boys soundtrack
Also:
Pay in Blood – Tempest
My Wife’s Home Town – Together Through Life
Ain’t Talkin’ – Modern Times
Mississippi – Love and Theft
Make You Feel My Love – Time Out of Mind
Love Sick – Time Out of Mind
Everything is Broken – Oh Mercy
Man in the Long Black Coat – Oh Mercy
Most of the Time – Oh Mercy
Silvio – Down in the Groove
mmm
“Mississippi” is one of those rare occurrences of Dylan allowing another artist to release the song before he would release his own version. I really like Bob Dylan’s recording of the song but by the time he released it I was already very familiar with the previously released Sheryl Crow version.
I love the driving tempo and Byrds-ish jangly power pop delivery on Sheryl Crow’s version of the song and I had had 3 years for that to become the “standard” version of the song for me before Dylan would finally release his own recording. Ultimately, I’m perfectly happy that the various versions of the song exist because each has its own merits. Still, I think I’ll always prefer the Sheryl Crow version even if only ever so slightly.
Lots of great suggestions so far. One of his best post-born-again songs that wasn’t mentioned so far is “Every Grain Of Sand” from “Shot Of Love”, which is also a religious song, but much more subtle than the sermons and spittle on the two previous albums. Check out also “The Groom’s Still Waiting At The Altar” from the same sessions, first released on “Biograph” but added to later CD editions of “Shot Of Love”. One of his best rockers.
I took a hiatus from Dylan myself after Desire. Am still a worshipper of everything he did before. But I did download Tempest, and I really like the sound he gets in Duquesne Whistle and the song about John Lennon, Roll on, John. His voice is sure different, but he still has the genius in his timing, phrasing, and lyrics.
“Brownsville Girl” is buried on one of his worst albums (Knocked Out Loaded) but it’s a strange and sometimes hilarious 11-minute epic with a few wonderfully quotable lines that I won’t spoil here.
