The Bootleg Series Vols. 1-3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991
by Bob Dylan
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Bob Dylan bestography
The Bootleg Series Vols. 1-3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991 is ranked 25th best out of 81 albums by Bob Dylan on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by Bob Dylan is Highway 61 Revisited which is ranked number 29 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 25,198.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
Listen to The Bootleg Series Vols. 1-3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991 on YouTube
The Bootleg Series Vols. 1-3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991 track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 77 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
The Bootleg Series Vols. 1-3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991 rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 2 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 |  Purplepash | Scrobbles Don't Lie | 22/100 | - |
| 2026 | Moondance | Ranking the years in music ~ 1960-2024 | 13/51 | - |
| 2026 | Exist-en-ciel | Top 100 Music Albums of 1991 | 7/100 | 5 |
| 2026 | cicadelic | Vox Magazine 50 Albums of 1991 | 5/50 | - |
| 2026 |  Romanelli | My Overall Chart: 2701-2778 | 16/78 | - |
| 2026 | Exist-en-ciel | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s | 75/100 | 5 |
| 2026 |  Repo | 1991: Even More Gems | 46/50 | - |
| 2026 |  AAL2014 | Top 55 Music Albums of 1991 | 16/55 | 4 |
| 2026 | mostlymor | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s | 46/100 | 11 |
| 2026 | brent13 | Top 17 Music Albums of 1991 | 9/17 | 3 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 57 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 274 | |||
The Bootleg Series Vols. 1-3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991 collection
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The Bootleg Series Vols. 1-3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991 ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 3 ratings for this album. | Show all 149 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 06/20/2026 23:06 | Exist-en-ciel | 15,671 | 70/100 |
| ! | 05/21/2026 02:09 | brent13 | 2,179 | 66/100 |
| ! | 05/05/2026 10:47 | cicadelic | 13,984 | 73/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album is rated in the top 2% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 79.2/100, a mean average of 78.0/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 79.7/100. The standard deviation for this album is 17.4.
The Bootleg Series Vols. 1-3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991 favourites
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The Bootleg Series Vols. 1-3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991 forum mentions
pedro1976 06/29/2026 15:36 in What album are you listening to? (cont.) pedro1976 03/26/2024 14:35 in What album are you listening to right now? Purplepash 05/22/2022 03:08 in You must listen to the album below you: canon editionThe Bootleg Series Vols. 1-3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991 comments
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To know Dylan - you must know this collection of unreleased songs. Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie is a poetic masterpiece. I first heard it on a bootleg way back in 1973 and it blew me away so deep, that I never doubted the perceptive spirit that dwells in Dylan. (Edited)
Best Tracks: Catfish, He Was A Friend Of Mine
The first in a series of which, fortunately, there appears to be no indication as yet that it's going to end. In retrospect though, this should have been just one volume, not three. Anyway, some great stuff here, and a little bit of rubbish too. The first two discs have some great stuff, the third is a little bit more inconsistent, although it does include, blind Willie Mctell. A good compilation, but of course there was a lot missing, especially some of the unreleased tracks that appeared on the, biograph, album. An uneven listen then, but still totally essential. (Edited)
Along with Biograph this is the essential compilation for the Dylan collector. The other bootleg series generally concentrate around an album or a specific period. This encompasses the cream of his unreleased works and outtakes over a thirty year period. Can't go wrong here.
Another great release in the "Bootleg Series".
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