The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
by Bob Dylan

From HoldenM 05/03/2024 19:19 | #303328

There's no way this is a new take, but I have not steeped myself in the history of Bob Dylan's cultural impact or reception, so I don't know for certain, but if Bob Dylan's self-titled is technically his first album, The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan is where the Robert Zimmerman we all know and love truly arrives. TFBD is a massive step up in every regard. Instead of raspy covers with a couple of decent originals, Dylan provides a dozen new songs with only one (excellent) rendition of a traditional track. So captivating is the songcraft and storytelling on this record that you almost forget how stripped down it is. It's the confidence and clarity in lyricism and composition that only a 22-year-old with nothing to lose could muster--not to mention a reminder that there's simply never going to be another Bob Dylan.

The voice of the generation has come with his army of lyrical poetry and sparse-yet-brilliant guitar picking. Sprinkled with more classics in one album than most musicians can produce in their entire careers, Dylan shows himself the rightful heir to the people's voice. He will go on to lead the way (even ahead of the Beatles) to the countercultural revolution that will shape the boomers and the generations onward. 9.5/10!

5 excellent songs. Hard to believe this is 1963.

This is a classic singer songwriter album as well as a classic Dylan album. It is a pivotal moment in his career that still holds up reasonably well to this day. You can see all the potential that this young songwriter has and when you think about his age you can only respect the masterpieces that he was penning on this record. The quality he is writing on here would make you think this is his tenth or eleventh release with how intelligent and mature his words are but it is only his second. This leads to some phenomenal songs on here that are classic Dylan tracks such as A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall, Blowin' In The Wind, Girl From The North Country and Masters Of War. All of them are backed by his guitar, harmonica or both and have some beautiful performances on there. However, what lets this album down is the filler. There is a lot of it and it does make this release drag. Dylan would go on to dramatically reduce the filler content on later releases with his experimentation and complexities that he brought into his music but on here it does bring the album down significantly for me. Overall, a very important album not only in the discography of Bob Dylan but also in the history of music making it a must listen even if it might lack consistency.

For a 22 year old young man from Minnesota, this is an exceptional album ~ some 60 years later, there are 4 songs that have stood the test of time ~ Blowing In The Wind, A Hard Rains A Gonna Fall, Masters Of War, Don't Think Twice ~ and a few more that remain important for the more dedicated Dylan fans ~ Girl From The North Country, Bob Dylan's Dream. This album is in my top 5 of all Dylan albums.

The highs are extremely high, but the consitancy isn't there yet for this to be one of his best projects. But like every other artist, he had to start somewhere, and this is a very great one

Girl From The North Country is probably one of my favorite songs...

First great album by Dylan, My favorites are Masters of War, Blowin In The Wind and Don't Think Twice

Primera obra maestra de Dylan, contiene una de las mejores canciones de la historia de la música popular: Blowin' In The Wind.

As a follow up to his debut I rate this much higher with some excellent tracks - Blowin In The Wind; Girl From The North Country, Masters Of War; Don't Think Twice - it is folk with more protest and aggression