A Stereophonic Masterpiece

My favorite Dylan reviewer has called the opening song on this album, "Subterranean Homesick Blues," the first rap song, and in a way it is like a rap song. There is a great Dylan video that was taken from, I believe, "Don't Look Back" where Dyaln is flipping cards with words from the song as it plays, very surrelistic. This album also that two of my favorite Dylan songs on it. "She Belongs to Me" and "Love Minus Zero/No Limit", haunting, moving portraits painted in words. "Baby Blue" is another of those, but the crowning Jewel of this Album is "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding). When he sang this on the '74 tour, when he got to the part where he screamed out, "Even the President of the United States, sometimes has to stand naked," the audience stood, applauding and cheering. Loud, real loud. Not good news for Mr. Nixon who had to resign soon after. This is also the first album where Dylan plugged it in. Ah yes, Dylan went electric, but then his words had always had the juice in 'em, the power of a lightning strike.



Jack Priest, Sailor Home from the Sea

Amazing. Pick your own superlatives...

If you only ever buy one Bob Dylan album, this should be the one.

"Bringing It All Back Home" is not a better record than "Blood On The Tracks", but it is the one where everything comes together for Bob Dylan, creating an incredible blend of folk, blues, and blistering rock n' roll, and it is the one which best represents the depth and versatility of his talent.



Several of the very best songs in Dylan's catalogue are from "Bringing It All Back Home", including the acoustic numbers "Mr Tambourine Man", "Love Minus Zero/No Limit" and "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue", and the gritty hard rock of "Subterranean Homesick Blues" and "Maggie's Farm".

"Bringing It All Back Home" is one of a handful of truly remarkable rock records. Get it!

Dylan's signature LP

By the time of this 1965 release, Dylan had already proven himself a lyrical master and a new legend in the folk universe. With his electrified performance at the Newport Folk Festival, and this half-electric/half-acoustic LP, he showed that he was not only far from done with pushing the envelope, but that he'd really only begun. In particular, his music and subject matter were now catching up to his revolutionary words and lyrical structures.



The album opens full-bore with the blistering word-puzzle "Subterranean Homesick Blues." Backed by a vamping electric blues band Dylan is at once a protesting outsider, a sardonic social critic, and a free-associating poet. It stands on it's own as an incredible piece of rock music, but as the introduction to Dylan's fifth LP it was something of a warning shot. The electric blues return for the near-rockabilly arrangement of "Maggie's Blues" and a Chuck Berry (ala "Memphis") styled "Outlaw Blues." In between, Dylan crafted extraordinary ballads, including the acidic "She Belongs to Me" and one of his best-ever love songs, "Love Minus Zero/No Limit."



Side two (tracks 7-11) retreats to mostly acoustic presentations, but even here Dylan expanded upon his earlier work with surreal stories like "Bob Dylan's 115th Dream" and the poetic folk-rock standard "Mr. Tambourine Man." The latter stretches to over 5-1/2 minutes and includes a trio of verses dropped by The Byrds in their hit cover. One of the album's most effective cuts is the 7-1/2 minute "It's Alright Ma, I'm Only Bleeding," a song Dylan had been performing live for several months before recording it. Though recorded with only an acoustic guitar, the venomous lyrics spare no target in their criticism, providing as much fire as any of the electric tunes on side one.



All in all, this is as good a portrait of Dylan's inventions as can be found. It's a showcase for his brilliant writing, his evolving musical exposition and his ability to parlay his unconventional voice into some of the world's most expressive and effective vocals.

more rock, but still Bob Dylan

"Bring It All Back Home" is one of Bob Dylan's best records. I bought this after I had already bought four of his other albums, and the only one that I think is better that this is "Blonde On Blonde." There's just a different feeling and sound in this album than there were in the other ones. It's less folk and more rock and country, especially the first half. Songs like, "Tambourine Man" and "Gates Of Eden," however, still show Dylan's folk roots. From the first song, "Subterranean Homesick Blues," though, I knew that this album was going to be amazing, and it never disappointed me.



It's hard to choose certain songs that stand out of this album because they're all good. My favorites would probably be "Subterranean Homesick Blues," "Maggie's Farm," and "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue."

My CD player won't give it back!

Seriously, it'll only give it back in exchange for more Dylan. The scary thing is my turntable is the same way, it wont let me take Blood on the Tracks off the spindle,unless also in exchange for Desire. Anyway, great early to mid era transitionary record. Half acoustic, half..blahblah you've heard that part before, all of it's great. I'll admit, I used to despise Subterranean Homesick Blues, but it took this album as a whole to convert me. For me, it's really the middle to the end where this album really begins to shine. Outlaw Blues, On the road Again and Bob Dylans 115th dream is my takeoff point, culminating with It's allright Ma(I'm only bleeding), and one of my favorites, It's all Over now, Baby Blue. I'd always heard people talk about this album, but it really wasn't until I saw the documentary 'Don't Look Back' that I really wanted to listen to this. By the way, this rerelease also happens to contain my favorite image of Bob, Its right behind the CD underneath the clear plastic that Houses the disc. It's the pic of him in his Shades, Harmonica in his hands w/ the electric guitar strapped on, whether you are a Die Hard folkie or not, I don't care, that pic screams out rock.

The Power of a Lightening Stike

My favorite Dylan reviewer has called the opening song on this album, "Subterranean Homesick Blues," the first rap song, and in a way it is like a rap song. There is a great Dylan video that was taken from, I believe, "Don't Look Back" where Dyaln is flipping cards with words from the song as it plays, very surrelistic. This album also that two of my favorite Dylan songs on it. "She Belongs to Me" and "Love Minus Zero/No Limit", haunting, moving portraits painted in words. "Baby Blue" is another of those, but the crowning Jewel of this Album is "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding). When he sang this on the '74 tour, when he got to the part where he screamed out, "Even the President of the United States, sometimes has to stand naked," the audience stood, applauding and cheering. Loud, real loud. Not good news for Mr. Nixon who had to resign soon after. This is also the first album where Dylan plugged it in. Ah yes, Dylan went electric, but then his words had always had the juice in 'em, the power of a lightning strike.



Jack Priest, Sailor Home from the Sea

This is a great one...

Dylan really must have had a blast writing the songs for this album because he seems to be beside himself with joy during all of the performances. In fact, on one track you get to hear him and the engineer laughing their heads off before beginning the tune properly. Anyway, "It's Alright Ma" is my favorite song, and I think it's safe to say that it is the best version of it ever (McGuinn did pretty good on the EASY RIDER soundtrack, but Dylan's is even more intense). And with songs that range from fantasy ("Mr. Tambourine Man") and madness ("She Belongs to Me") to mystery ("It's All Over Now, Baby Blue"), the album starts off running at top speed and breaks the speed barrier by its finish. It may not be the best album ever made, but if you don't own it yet, this is one adventure that you really should take and be rewarded for.