The Big Three (plus one)

The second instalment from Q magazine's 'Five Star Albums' is every bit as good as the first. Including the classic "Blonde on Blonde" album which Dylan once said contains the 'thin wild mercury sound' you are barraged with greats songs all throughout this disc. Rainy Day Woman (with the much debated line 'Everybody Must Get Stoned'), I Want You, Just Like A Woman, Visions of Johanna ( with the organ echoing every line) are all classic songs that you and your Grandma can sing along to.

"Blood on the Tracks" however is all about pain, anger, bitterness, regret etc etc. Written as Dylan's so called 'Divorce' album it boasts Tangled up in Blue, If you see her say hello, Shelter from the storm and the heart tugging You're a big girl now. This album also contains some of the finest guitar work on any of his albums. After his much debated motorcycle accident Dylan recouperated musically by jamming with The Band and the results (a double album of tunes with Dylan and the members of The Band in fine voice) are what you get here. Laughing and joking seems to be the theme to this album with the exception of Tears of Rage a beautiful song full of despair and distress. Long Distance Operator, Yahoo street scandel and You ain't going nowhere are all catchy songs especially in contrast to The clothes line saga, which rolls along with the story of Dylan taking in the clothes. The late Richard Manuel adds a unique sound to this album with his high falsetto harmonies. Altogether this three pack is a very desirable packege covering different periods of Dylans song writing.

The Titles All Start with B, But Still a Great Collection

"Blonde on Blonde originally came out in 1966 as a double album with the long "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands" taking up one whole side. My dad says this was one of the records that hippies and antiwar protesters used to listen to while they smoked the peace pipe. I've got this good friend, Jack Priest, who writes horror stories and he tells me that they still do that, but you don't need whatever it is they're smoking to know that this is a wonderful work, a wonderful collection of music. I can only imagine what it must have been like back then, listening to stuff like this, and the Beatle's "Sgt. Pepper" when they were new, when they were fresh. Five stars.

If you had to pick out a number one Dylan record, one that shines above the rest, and that's very hard to do, but if you had to do it, you'd half to pick, "Blood on the Tracks." Recorded shortly after Mr. D's divorce, you can feel his pain. These songs are full of hurt, rage, confusion and so much else. This album starts of the heart pounding "Tangled up in Blue," and doesn't let you go, till the last note of "Buckets of Rain." "Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts," is a haunting cowboy ballad and I'm still waiting for the movie. "Shelter from the Storm," "You're a Big Girl Now," songs that speak to the soul. This record is classy, beautiful, original and one you should play till you wear out your CD (if that's possible). Five stars, would that I could give it a hundred.

"The Basement Tapes" were recorded in 1967 but not released until 1975. The Basement tapes had been around for years before they came out, bootlegged time and time again. This CD is pretty much about good time Rock and Roll, a fun album to listen too. There are serious songs here however, like "Tears of Rage," Though not in my top five Dylan faves, this is a record that I go back to again and again, in fact it's one of the first CDs I ripped into my Apple iPod. Dylan's voice is so pure on these songs, a precursor to the way he uses it on "John Wesley Harding" and "Blood on the Tracks." Five stars for this one.

You can see from my reviews above that I think these are three of the best records that Dylan has done, however what they have in common, other than Mr. D himself or the fact that the titles all start with B is beyond me. However if you don't own these wonderful records, this is a way to get the music and save a few bucks at the same time.

Reviewed by Stephanie Sane