The Basement Tapes (studio album)
by Bob Dylan & The Band

The Basement Tapes by Bob Dylan & The Band
Year: 1975
Overall rank: 1,097th   
Average Rating: 
79/100 (from 371 votes)
     
Accolades:
Award Top 20 albums of 1975 (17th)
Award Top albums of the 1970s (228th)
Award Best albums of all time (1,097th)

Listen on Spotify Spotify
Product Details
Availability

eBay
eBay
Bob Dylan and The Band The Basement Tapes: Complete (CD) Box Set
Condition: Brand New


eBay
eBay
THE BAND/BOB DYLAN - THE BOOTLEG SERIES, VOL. 11: THE BASEMENT TAPES - COMPLETE
Condition: Brand New


eBay
eBay
Bob Dylan & The Band The Basement Tapes 1975 C2 33682 Vintage Vinyl Record Read
Condition: Used


  My favourite store:  

Bob Dylan & The Band bestography

The Basement Tapes is ranked as the best album by Bob Dylan & The Band.

Bob Dylan & The Band album bestography « Higher ranked
-
This album (1,097th)
The Basement Tapes
Lower ranked (5,469th) »
Before The Flood

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

Upcoming concerts

Feb
06
Fri
19:00
TOBYMAC with Crowder & Jeremy Camp: Hits Deep Tour
Vibrant Arena at the Mark, Moline, United States. United States
Tickets from Ticketmaster Get tickets
 
Jan
22
Thu
19:00
LAERZ
The Bronze Peacock at House of Blue, Houston, United States. United States
Tickets from Ticketmaster Get tickets
 
Jan
08
Thu
20:00
Jeff Beck Tribute Concert
Historic BAL Theatre, San Leandro, United States. United States
Tickets from Ticketmaster Get tickets
 
Discover more upcoming concerts

Listen to The Basement Tapes on YouTube

Loading content from YouTube...

The Basement Tapes track list

   The tracks on this album have an average rating of 82 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

Sort by
#
Track
Rating/Comments
1.
Average Rating: 83 (63 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
3.
Track pick (850 - 68 votes)
Average Rating: 85 (68 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
4.
Average Rating: 81 (57 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
5.
Average Rating: 82 (61 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
6.
Average Rating: 81 (59 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
7.
Average Rating: 81 (55 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
8.
Average Rating: 83 (60 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
9.
Average Rating: 80 (56 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
10.
Average Rating: 80 (57 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
11.
Average Rating: 81 (57 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
12.
Average Rating: 84 (62 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
13.
Average Rating: 81 (58 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
15.
Average Rating: 81 (54 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
17.
Average Rating: 79 (55 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
18.
Average Rating: 77 (53 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
19.
Track pick (860 - 66 votes)
Average Rating: 86 (66 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
20.
Average Rating: 82 (56 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
21.
Average Rating: 82 (58 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
22.
Average Rating: 81 (56 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
23.
Average Rating: 79 (52 votes)Comments: View 1
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
24.
Average Rating: 85 (66 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify

Track pick (1000 - 100 votes) Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

The Basement Tapes rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 1,097th | 1970s rank: 228th | 1975 rank: 17th

The Basement Tapes collection

The Basement Tapes ratings

Average Rating: 
79/100 (from 371 votes)
   Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
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 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 371 ratings for this album.

Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
70/100
 !
12/07/2025 04:22 Exist-en-ciel   4,05170/100
 
15/100
 !
11/23/2025 07:20 NYAndreas   1,43243/100
 
85/100
 !
11/03/2025 02:44 Larcx13   2,85074/100
 
90/100
 !
10/07/2025 02:04 JacobMullis   72388/100
 
90/100
 !
06/27/2025 00:34 matterhornrider   4,78281/100

Rating metrics: Help 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 78.2/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 79.4/100. The standard deviation for this album is 15.3.

Please log in or register if you want to be able to leave a rating

The Basement Tapes comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 17 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)

Rating:  
80/100
From 01/06/2021 23:36 | #263958
Some really great songs, but there a couple duds. Not many, though. If you like Dylan and/or The Band, this is a must listen.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 01/04/2021 04:15 | #263797
Hard to deny some of my favorite musicians writing songs together, but this is miles removed from the peak output of anyone involved.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 11/06/2020 20:25 | #260276
Viagem no tempo! Muito bom!!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
50/100
From 05/10/2020 19:35 | #251228
Basically a collection of songs from the 'missing' era. Some better than others, but much more along the lines of what The Band produced on The Big Pink. If you like them, you'll like this.
I don't particularly.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 12/29/2019 20:19 | #246035
A musical portal.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 06/29/2019 03:27 | #238604
Younger people say, "The bootleg series is the proper version." Older people say, "Oh it was all on bootleg, anyway, everybody had already heard it."

Not if you were 14 when this came out on LP, and didn't know what a bootleg was. This was like finding some sort of occult text from another world. I used to pour over every second of this version, trying to figure out exactly what it all meant, making up my own meanings, playing along on my acoustic. This is the version that brought Dylan to the teens of the 70s, along with Blood on the Tracks and Desire.

It's like the Memphis Jug Band came back to life in the late 60s. What an album.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +5 votes (5 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 11/01/2018 10:36 | #223677
Dylan especially is inspired here.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 02/16/2018 19:50 | #208476
I "Basement tapes" di Dylan hanno il fascino rassicurante delle cose di una volta, col loro guardare alla tradizione della musica americana e con quell'assenza di produzione che li fa sembrare quello che in effetti sono, dei demo tapes appena un po' curati.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 11/18/2017 20:11 | #201595
Amazing collaboration between 2 of my favorites artists.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 03/31/2016 20:02 | #163059
This album has almost become obsolete with the release of the bootleg series version. Still, it's a good album in it's own right, but as it says on the tin, it's Bob Dylan and the band, not just Bob. About a third of the album features just the Band, the rest with Dylan. Million dollar bash, is nonsensical, but wonderful, and, clothes line saga, and, please Mrs. Henry are enjoyable. It is a fun album with The Band's, long distance operator, also fine. One of the best songs from the sessions was, sign on the cross, which we can now hear thanks to the bootleg series. Good stuff.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Please log in or register if you want to be able to add a comment

Your feedback for The Basement Tapes

Anonymous
Let us know what you think of this album by adding a comment or assigning a rating below!
Log in or register to assign a rating or leave a comment for this album.
Best Albums of 1975
1. Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd
2. Blood On The Tracks by Bob Dylan
3. Born To Run by Bruce Springsteen
4. Physical Graffiti by Led Zeppelin
5. A Night At The Opera by Queen
6. Another Green World by Eno
7. Horses by Patti Smith
8. Tonight's The Night by Neil Young
9. Fleetwood Mac by Fleetwood Mac
10. The Hissing Of Summer Lawns by Joni Mitchell
11. Mothership Connection by Parliament
12. Toys In The Attic by Aerosmith
13. The Köln Concert by Keith Jarrett
14. Zuma by Neil Young & Crazy Horse
15. Young Americans by David Bowie
16. Expensive Shit by Fela Kuti & Africa 70
17. The Basement Tapes by Bob Dylan & The Band
18. Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy by Elton John
19. Sabotage by Black Sabbath
20. Ommadawn by Mike Oldfield
Back to Top