Bob Dylan Chart by 
Mercury 
UPDATE: about 7 years ago when I first gained custom chart abilities round these parts, the first thing I did was this chart. I was indeed listening intently to Dylan each day in chronological order, trying to write a sensible review, and then ranking them. Years went by and I never got past the 80s (go figure...lol) but I now will open this up and make it public again. I have added every album i think and then i'll rank them without reviews in some cases. But for now the first 30 is all done and reviewed and then the next 40 or so are just the very long chronological list of what I have left to do.
I do plan on (yes I know I have said the following before) continuing and giving new listens to all these albums.
Let me know what you think.
- Chart updated: 09/25/2021 04:45
- (Created: 08/23/2013 08:22).
- Chart size: 73 albums.
There are 14 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Bob Dylan Chart has an average rating of 93 out of 100 (from 21 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.
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8 January 2014
Boy, top to bottom this thing is very solid. At times this record just thrills. There is a sense of joy and rediscovery that comes from the band and Bob throughout, and this energy makes it all the more excellent of a listen.
The playing is just pure energy on the rock tracks and tender and gorgeous in the folk tracks and other soft stuff. This really captures with absolute perfection the energy of those gorgeous early concerts of The Rolling Thunder Review. I don't know exactly how they managed this... It must have to do with the clear remastering. The production just pops. The drums jump out at you and the melodies and harmony and detail all sound crisp. It's a work of art how well this stuff was recorded and presented.
And the vocals of Dylan are at all times absolutely spot on and passionate as hell. And did I mention the band on here is just about as great as any band I've ever heard play with Dylan? Yeah.
There are a couple points where I do lose some interest in it. This could just be me. I feel that the acoustic rendition of "Simple Twist of Fate" is lacking a certain conviction. In contrast to the first disc, it's a little bit of a let down.
The harmonies with Joan Baez don't always work all that well, especially on "Blowin' In The Wind". But overall I really love her contribution on the other tracks she's featured on. I don't know what happened, I'm actually finding myself liking her voice now. I used to hate it.
Overall, this thing is excellent and highly recommended to say the least.
Grade: 93/100 [First added to this chart: 01/26/2014]
Boy, top to bottom this thing is very solid. At times this record just thrills. There is a sense of joy and rediscovery that comes from the band and Bob throughout, and this energy makes it all the more excellent of a listen.
The playing is just pure energy on the rock tracks and tender and gorgeous in the folk tracks and other soft stuff. This really captures with absolute perfection the energy of those gorgeous early concerts of The Rolling Thunder Review. I don't know exactly how they managed this... It must have to do with the clear remastering. The production just pops. The drums jump out at you and the melodies and harmony and detail all sound crisp. It's a work of art how well this stuff was recorded and presented.
And the vocals of Dylan are at all times absolutely spot on and passionate as hell. And did I mention the band on here is just about as great as any band I've ever heard play with Dylan? Yeah.
There are a couple points where I do lose some interest in it. This could just be me. I feel that the acoustic rendition of "Simple Twist of Fate" is lacking a certain conviction. In contrast to the first disc, it's a little bit of a let down.
The harmonies with Joan Baez don't always work all that well, especially on "Blowin' In The Wind". But overall I really love her contribution on the other tracks she's featured on. I don't know what happened, I'm actually finding myself liking her voice now. I used to hate it.
Overall, this thing is excellent and highly recommended to say the least.
Grade: 93/100 [First added to this chart: 01/26/2014]
7
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3 September 2013-
This is a 2 disc live recording of a performance from Halloween 1964. This is the greatest live album or document I have heard from the folk years of Dylan... by far. It captures Dylan at his most relaxed, insouciant best. The back and forth between the crowd and him just makes this whole album, as an album, so special and soothing and cool. Just imagine going and seeing Dylan live in this important and transitory phase of his career when he was already a hero at the top of his game yet at the same time was working on stretching the boundaries of songwriting, that is what this is.
You can hear that while Dylan still performed his earlier songs well and professionally, most of his intention and intensity was really coming through on his brand new material. His renditions of "It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)", "Gates of Eden" and others (the material that was to be released a few months later on "Bringing It All Back Home") sound so different than his earlier songs. I imagine the people in the crowd hearing these songs were just blown out of there heads! The songwriting here still sounds absolutely towering and unmatched to this day!
A brilliant album! Even the unwelcome appearence of the annoying Joan Baez in the final tracks can't stop this from being a must-listen for anyone interested in the greatness of early Dylan.
Grade: 91/100 [First added to this chart: 09/03/2013]
This is a 2 disc live recording of a performance from Halloween 1964. This is the greatest live album or document I have heard from the folk years of Dylan... by far. It captures Dylan at his most relaxed, insouciant best. The back and forth between the crowd and him just makes this whole album, as an album, so special and soothing and cool. Just imagine going and seeing Dylan live in this important and transitory phase of his career when he was already a hero at the top of his game yet at the same time was working on stretching the boundaries of songwriting, that is what this is.
You can hear that while Dylan still performed his earlier songs well and professionally, most of his intention and intensity was really coming through on his brand new material. His renditions of "It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)", "Gates of Eden" and others (the material that was to be released a few months later on "Bringing It All Back Home") sound so different than his earlier songs. I imagine the people in the crowd hearing these songs were just blown out of there heads! The songwriting here still sounds absolutely towering and unmatched to this day!
A brilliant album! Even the unwelcome appearence of the annoying Joan Baez in the final tracks can't stop this from being a must-listen for anyone interested in the greatness of early Dylan.
Grade: 91/100 [First added to this chart: 09/03/2013]
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29 September 2013-
This album has several functions:
First of all it serves as a nice "soundtrack" to the excellent documentary of the same name.
Second is it serves as a an interesting study of Dylan's career from being an 18 year old kid playing some blues-folk in '59 to his being the most divisive figure in folk and rock come 1965-'66.
Third it is a great little batch of live cuts and alternate takes of his most classic songs in interesting and fresh forms.
And fourth it contains some essential recordings of his Newport folk festival 1965 appearance and his "Royal Albert Hall" concert.
All in all this record flows pretty well. And unlike bootleg series 9, The Witmark Demos, I feel this can be really great to even an uninitiated and new Dylan fan.
Highlights include the beautiful rendition of Woody Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land", that legendary moment when Dylan "went electric" at Newport with a downright filthy performance of "Maggie's Farm", and the much more morose and dramatic live version of "Blowin' In the Wind". The song "I Was Young When I Left Home" gets me everytime. One of my new favorite Dylan songs that one is.
As for hearing Dylan at 18 and 19 with those first few tracks, I adore that! In and of themselves they aren't terribly fantastic, but knowing that is a young man who would later make so much great music is amazing!
Anyway, this is great! Possibly the best document that tracks Dylan in this period of his career. Both the album and movie are highly recommended for anyone trying to get into this great man.
Grade: 88/100 [First added to this chart: 09/29/2013]
This album has several functions:
First of all it serves as a nice "soundtrack" to the excellent documentary of the same name.
Second is it serves as a an interesting study of Dylan's career from being an 18 year old kid playing some blues-folk in '59 to his being the most divisive figure in folk and rock come 1965-'66.
Third it is a great little batch of live cuts and alternate takes of his most classic songs in interesting and fresh forms.
And fourth it contains some essential recordings of his Newport folk festival 1965 appearance and his "Royal Albert Hall" concert.
All in all this record flows pretty well. And unlike bootleg series 9, The Witmark Demos, I feel this can be really great to even an uninitiated and new Dylan fan.
Highlights include the beautiful rendition of Woody Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land", that legendary moment when Dylan "went electric" at Newport with a downright filthy performance of "Maggie's Farm", and the much more morose and dramatic live version of "Blowin' In the Wind". The song "I Was Young When I Left Home" gets me everytime. One of my new favorite Dylan songs that one is.
As for hearing Dylan at 18 and 19 with those first few tracks, I adore that! In and of themselves they aren't terribly fantastic, but knowing that is a young man who would later make so much great music is amazing!
Anyway, this is great! Possibly the best document that tracks Dylan in this period of his career. Both the album and movie are highly recommended for anyone trying to get into this great man.
Grade: 88/100 [First added to this chart: 09/29/2013]
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24 August 2013 -
This is a collection of early live recordings from late 1962. It's a very nice, surprisingly good sounding document from that time just after the release of his debut album and before his sophomore album, "Freewheelin' Bob Dylan".
The songs "A Hard Rains A-Gonna Fall" and "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" and "John Brown" all sound fresh and exciting here. "John Brown" is down right heartbreaking! It is truly one of the greatest and poignant anti-war songs ever written. And the crowd participation at the end of "A Hard Rain..." is fabulous as well.
The folk songs he covers are also very nice. "Moonshiner" and "Barbara Allen" are stand outs. As is "Rocks and Gravel" which is a cool, dark blues number originally slated to be included on "Freewheelin'...".
All in all, this is a recommended album to listen to, if for no other reason than for the curiosity of hearing Dylan perform in such an early and interesting stage in his illustrious career. This record really does show Dylan was never "just another ordinary folkie". No, he was pretty fantastic from the word go.
Grade: 80/100 [First added to this chart: 08/24/2013]
This is a collection of early live recordings from late 1962. It's a very nice, surprisingly good sounding document from that time just after the release of his debut album and before his sophomore album, "Freewheelin' Bob Dylan".
The songs "A Hard Rains A-Gonna Fall" and "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" and "John Brown" all sound fresh and exciting here. "John Brown" is down right heartbreaking! It is truly one of the greatest and poignant anti-war songs ever written. And the crowd participation at the end of "A Hard Rain..." is fabulous as well.
The folk songs he covers are also very nice. "Moonshiner" and "Barbara Allen" are stand outs. As is "Rocks and Gravel" which is a cool, dark blues number originally slated to be included on "Freewheelin'...".
All in all, this is a recommended album to listen to, if for no other reason than for the curiosity of hearing Dylan perform in such an early and interesting stage in his illustrious career. This record really does show Dylan was never "just another ordinary folkie". No, he was pretty fantastic from the word go.
Grade: 80/100 [First added to this chart: 08/24/2013]
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[First added to this chart: 02/15/2016]
Year of Release:
2001
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,445
Rank in 2001:
Rank in 2000s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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[First added to this chart: 02/15/2016]
59. (=)
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[First added to this chart: 02/15/2016]
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[First added to this chart: 02/15/2016]
Year of Release:
2006
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,122
Rank in 2006:
Rank in 2000s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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[First added to this chart: 02/15/2016]
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[First added to this chart: 02/15/2016]
Total albums: 13. Page 1 of 2
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Bob Dylan Chart composition
| Decade | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
 |
|
|
| 1930s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1940s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1950s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1960s | 9 | 12% | |
| 1970s | 13 | 18% | |
| 1980s | 10 | 14% | |
| 1990s | 8 | 11% | |
| 2000s | 13 | 18% | |
| 2010s | 18 | 25% | |
| 2020s | 2 | 3% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
 |
|
|
| Bob Dylan | 62 | 85% | |
| Various Artists | 5 | 7% | |
| Bob Dylan & The Band | 4 | 5% | |
| Bob Dylan Featuring Johnny Cash | 1 | 1% | |
| Bob Dylan & The Grateful Dead | 1 | 1% |
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93/100 (from 21 votes)
where:
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Showing latest 5 ratings for this chart. | Show all 21 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 100/100  | 11/07/2018 12:49 |  DommeDamian | | 90/100 |
| 100/100 | 09/10/2018 02:05 |  Onater | | 90/100 |
| 85/100 | 05/30/2018 01:37 |  JulianR | | 75/100 |
| 100/100 | 04/27/2018 05:21 |  AAL2014 | | 92/100 |
| 90/100 | 01/25/2016 20:19 |  Applerill | | 75/100 |
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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).
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This chart is rated in the top 1% of all charts on BestEverAlbums.com. This chart has a Bayesian average rating of 92.8/100, a mean average of 95.7/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 95.9/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 5.2.
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Bob Dylan Chart comments
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100/100
From DommeDamian 11/07/2018 12:49
DommeDamian 11/07/2018 12:49
I felt like I needed a chart like this. Bob Dylan a living legend!!!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
85/100
From JulianR 05/30/2018 01:40
JulianR 05/30/2018 01:40
This is pretty cool. I can see lots of effort has gone in to it. However you're missing some of Dylan's best albums! Oh Mercy, and then basically all the studio albums from Time Out of Mind to present are absolutely phenomenal. Time Out of Mind is especially good, my #2 Dylan album at the moment. Other than that (and the fact that Blonde on Blonde is so low! How could you??), you're doing great work. Keep it up!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From stangetzaway 12/09/2015 12:17
Great hobby to rank the albums of the grestest solo performer in the history of popular music. One piece of advice hunt down Biograph its the grandfather of the bootleg series if you like but comfortably better than any of them (except poss live 66!)
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
95/100
From Jhef9312 11/24/2015 05:16
Cool chart, but you have to finish it. Again the comments are great. Being a huge Dylan fan, I would have ranked them differently. I think I'm going to have to steal the idea for my first custom chart also, thanks!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
100/100
From RockyRaccoon 03/26/2015 18:44
RockyRaccoon 03/26/2015 18:44
I'd be interested on your thoughts on Dylan & The Dead
Come back to this!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
90/100
From 
Arthurknight 12/10/2014 04:15
Arthurknight 12/10/2014 04:15
Revisited is definitely Dylan's best work, and for that your chart definitely wins me over. i love the notes you've added btw
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
90/100
From 
Decurso 07/28/2014 14:14
Decurso 07/28/2014 14:14
Fabulous! Personally I would put Blonde on Blonde in the number 2 spot and rate Desire ahead of Blood on the Tracks...but thats just me. Bob rules!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
100/100
From RockyRaccoon 05/09/2014 04:31
RockyRaccoon 05/09/2014 04:31
I'm also interested to see what your absolute least favorite Dylan album is when this is all said and done. My bet is Under The Red Sky
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
100/100
From RockyRaccoon 05/09/2014 04:29
RockyRaccoon 05/09/2014 04:29
Love it. Of course I would've had Blood On The Tracks at #1 but that's me, #2 ain't bad. You can't go wrong with just about any of these albums. I'll be interested to see your opinion on his 80s stuff. 80s Dylan can be tough to listen to at time, but I think albums like Saved get more hate than they should.
Anyways, good chart, love it.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
95/100
From 
eclab 02/14/2014 14:25
eclab 02/14/2014 14:25
Perfect top two, and I like seeing BoB so far down.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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