"Greatest Hits" is too mild a term.

You cannot argue that Bob Dylan is the best songwriter ever to have lived, period. If you would, you're probably too wrapped up in Eminem or Usher. But neither of them have a fraction of the talent that Dylan has.



There is not a bad song on this album. "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35", AKA the "Everybody's Already Stoned" song, is a good party song and reminds me of something that a bunch of drunk marching band guys would do. "Blowin' In the Wind" is a good, socially-consious testament to the trouble of the times. "The Times They Are a-Changin'" is a prophetic song that perfectly describes the times. "It Ain't Me, Babe" is a nice change from the usual pop of the sixties. Could Usher write a song as good as this? "Like A Rolling Stone," my favorite Dylan song ever, is laced with irony, which is why I love it. "Mr. Tambourine Man" is another ballad which, although its meaning can be argued, is to me a tribute to musicians. It also seems to be the inspiration for, "Piano Man," don't you think? "Subterranean Homesick Blues" proves that Dyaln could write a good two-and-a-half minute song. "I Want You" is a very mature love song. Could Eminem write that? "Positively Fourth Street" is so sarcastic even I think it's mean. "Just Like A Woman" can be seen as sexist, but a Joni Mitchell version replacing the woman/little girl anology with a man/little boy anology would mean the same thing.



So buy it, and buy Greatest Hits Volume II, and buy Highway Sixty-One Revisted, and buy Hard Rain, if not more. (My Dlyan obsession recently started) Go! Buy!

Good but Too short

Greatest Hits does an excellent job of summarizing Dylan's best-known songs from his first seven albums. At just ten songs, it's a little brief, and the song selection may be a little predictable, but that's actually not a bad thing, since this provides a nice sampler for the curious and casual listener, as it boasts standards from "Blowin' in the Wind" to "Like a Rolling Stone." And, for collectors, the brilliant non-LP single "Positively Fourth Street" was added, which provided reason enough for anybody that already owned the original records to pick this up. This has since been supplanted by more exhaustive collections, but as a sampler of Dylan at his absolute peak, this is first-rate.

Minor complaints, but good album.

The first two greatest hits albums are out-of-order. If you were to take every hit on both volumes one and two that was released before Blonde on Blonde, the album would look like this:

1. Blowin' In the Wind

2. Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall

3. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right

4. The Times They Are a-Changing

5. Subterranean Homesick Blues

6. Maggie's Farm

7. Mr. Tambourine Man

8. Like a Rolling Stone

9. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues

10. Rainy Day Women # 12 & 35

11. I Want You

12. Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again

13. Just Like a Woman

14. Positively Fourth Street



There, that would be more logical and I just don't see why nobody thought of rereleasing the first two Greatest Hits albums the way I suggested in the first place.



Second, there are some UNEXCUSABLE absences. I may cut a lot with my absence list, but that's because I only own four Bob Dylan albums, and only one of them has stuff that can be on this CD. The DISTURBING absences are Ballad of a Thin Man, It Takes A Lot to Laugh..., and Highway 61 Revisited. They are all awesome songs and truly belong here. If I cut anything, I humbly apologize. My parents don't think as much of Dylan as I do and my mom refuses to let me buy more than five or six.



But you MUST buy this. If you like Bob Dylan, you're just shooting yourself in the foot without Greatest Hits.