(Disclaimer: Those looking for a brief description of the album will find what they're looking for in the "Review Body" section. The section titled "Track Reviews" is meant only for those who want to read detailed descriptions of the songs, and they do not constitute the essence of this review. Lastly and most importantly, this review might not be written in the point of view of a Bob Dylan fan.)

Overall Score: 14/15
Best song: “Masters of War” and “A Hard Rain's A Gonna Fall”
Worst song: Er... If I really have to toss one in the fire, I guess “Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance.”

Review Body:

Oh my. Bob Dylan gets right into it, doesn't he? After the almost throwaway quality of his debut album, he goes right around and turns in this masterpiece chock-full of original folk songs. This album was released in 1963, but in no way does it deserve to stay in that era; this will resonate with the ages forever. Take that from me. A guy born in 1982. At the precise moment Dylan was getting out of his Born-Again-Christian phase.

Amazingly, I even liked this album when I started writing music reviews in 2003. I'm only amazed by that, because I had much less tolerance for folk music back then. I mean, this music consists only of a guy singing to an acoustic guitar and occasionally playing a harmonica. There wasn't a whole lot going on, right? And yet, I loved listening to Bob Dylan singing with that creaky old voice of his.

I can almost understand why some music fans don't like his singing voice. The voice might be a lot of things, but one thing it's not is pretty. However, I put it to you: Do you think these songs would have been nearly as effective if Dylan had a pretty-boy voice? What if he sang “Masters of War” like he was Barry Manilow? Would you like it then? “And I hope that you die / and your death'll come soon / I will follow your casket / in the pale afternoon / and I'll watch while you're lowered / down to your deathbed / and I'll stand o'er your grave / 'Til I'm sure that you're dead”.

You see... his voice has a world-worn quality that makes me think he believes what he's saying. He can be stone-cold serious, and I believe him. He could be talking wistfully about a long lost love, and I believe him. He was only in his early 20s at the time, but this song sounds like somebody in their 60s should have been singing it: (“While riding on a train goin' west / I fell asleep for to take my rest / I dreamed a dream that made me sad / Concerning myself and the first few friends I had / With half-damp eyes I stared into the room / where my friends and I spent many an afternoon / where we together weathered many a storm / laughin' and singing' till the early hours of the morn”). He even breaks out his 80-year-old geezer chops for “Talking World War III Blues” and gets away with it. So, nay to you naysayers. The voice is perfect.

His lyrics are excellent, too. Some people put Bob Dylan on par with all the major poets who have ever lived, but other people say such a claim is absolutely ludicrous. Unfortunately, I am unprepared make any meaningful commentary in this debate, because I know very little about poetry. However, to people who think he sucks as a poet, I will put it to you that Emily Dickinson sucked as a songwriter.

God, the melodies on this album! They're golden! Why didn't I mention them before? Of course they're usually quite simple, but that's sometimes all you need. Songs like “A Hard Rain's A Gonna Fall,” “Blowin' in the Wind,” “Girl From the North Country,” and “Don't Think Twice, It's All Right” will linger with me forever, probably even after I die. There are a few songs in here, like “Oxford Town” and “Down the Highway” with somewhat generic melodies, but I'm able to forgive him for that since his delivery makes them sound fresh.

I'm also quite amazed that this is the first time I ever really noticed that there is a lot of diversity on this. That's a feat for an album that “merely” consists of a man singing with an acoustic guitar and harmonica. There's laid-back (“Blowin' in the Wind”), romantic (“Girl From the North Country”), bile ridden (“Masters of War”), bluesy (“Down the Highway”), voyaging (“A Hard Rain's A Gonna Fall”), crazy old-fogey (“Talking World War III Blues”), serious current events (“Oxford Town”), waxing nostalgic (“Bob Dylan's Dream”), goofy throwaway (“Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance”), and the downright hilarious (“I Shall Be Free”). So I guess it's safe to say, no matter what sort of folk you like, Dylan has something for you. ...Except for British folk, but he left that up to good friends from across the Atlantic.

Well, I was thinking about being naughty and giving this album a 13, which would be easy for me to do since this isn't even a contender for my Top 5 favorite Bob Dylan albums list. (I guess I'm a sucker for electricity.) But I gave the matter some serious thought for about 15 seconds and decided that I couldn't deny this wonderful album its deserved 14. The greatness of these songs are just too staggering to ignore—not only are the melodies overwhelmingly wonderful, but these lyrics dazzle the hell out of me. And the thing about being dazzled by lyrics is especially amazing for me, since I'm the guy who would usually prefer rock singers do all their songs like “I Zimbra.”

Track Reviews:

Blowin' in the Wind A+
Yes!!!!! Finally getting to these massively wonderful Bob Dylan classics. Even if you don't usually like music consisting only of someone strumming with an acoustic guitar and singing with it (and the occasional harmonica), I have a feeling that you'll like this. The melody is brilliant. It's not terribly complicated, but it's bold and memorable. The lyrics are just as memorable as the melody, which is saying something for me, because I'm not really a lyrics fan. But they're beautiful.

Girl From the North Country A+
One problem with reviewing folk music is that I don't really have much to describe in the track reviews, since they're all strummy acoustic guitar songs (with the occasional harmonica). Nonetheless, I can still give you my gut reactions to them, and my gut reaction is another WOW. This is more somber than the previous song, and the melody is very beautiful. The lyrics are also evocative (“Well, if you're travelin' in the north country fair / where the wind hits heavy on the borderline / remember me to the one who lives there / she was once a true love of mine / Well, if you go when the snowflakes storm / where the rivers freeze and summer ends / please see if she's wearing a coat so warm / to keep her from the howlin' winds”)

Masters of War A+
Another problem with reviewing this album is that there are so many A+-level songs that I can't immediately give away which songs are my absolute favorites. This has some of the most seething lyrics known to mankind, and Dylan's performance perfectly matches it. (“How much do I know / To talk out of turn / You might say I'm young / You might say I'm unlearned / But there's one thing I know / Though I'm younger than you / Even Jesus would never / Forgive what you do.”) ...I'd hate to be the person he was directing that at. I guess I never started any wars, so I'm pretty safe. Anyway, what else should I say about this? This is the sort of song that continues to echo in my head long after it's through playing. Great melody, powerful vocal performance, horrifying lyrics... Yeouch...

Down the Highway A-
This is more of an old-timey blues song than a hardened folk song, which of course I have no problem with. But I've always found old blues melodies to sound so similar to each other that there's a limit to how much I can get excited about it. Indeed, this melody doesn't strike me as fresh or original as the previous three songs. However, I certainly adore the way he sings it... The only proper way to sing an old blues song is if you're a cranky old fogie. Dylan might have been in his early 20s at the time, but he certainly didn't sound like it! He repeats a quickly strummed riff throughout this song, which is OK, but I'm not terribly excited by it.

Bob Dylan's Blues A
Back to the folk melodies, but this melody sounds like a lot of other folk songs that came before it. ...Of course Dylan probably knew that perfectly well, which is evident in the playful, almost tossed-off, way he sings the lyrics. He didn't take this one too seriously, and I suppose it's not one of the significant songs of this album. But I still like it! The funny monologue he delivers at the beginning as well as the especially playful harmonica he plays through this.

A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall A+
Oh man! Picking a favorite song on this album is difficult. It's either going to be this song or “Masters of War.” The first thing I want to talk about is the melody. If you think Dylan writes poor melodies (shame on you!!!) then listen to this song as a shining example of how excellent his tunes are. I can listen to Dylan sing it and love it, I can whistle it to myself and love it, I can listen to someone play it on a piano on YouTube and love it, and I can imagine Aretha Franklin singing it and love it, theoretically. I at least think I have a notoriously short attention span, and I don't think I ever noticed until now that this song is almost seven minutes long. This is just one of those songs that puts me in an immediate trance. The lyrics are beautiful. And despite me not really being a lyrics guy, I actually play close attention to them here. (“Oh who did you meet, my blue-eyed son? / Who did you meet, my darling young one? / I met a young child beside a dead pony / I met a white man who walked a black dog / I met a young woman whose body was burning / I met a young girl, she gave me a rainbow / I met one man who was wounded in love / I met another man who was wounded with hatred / And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard / It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall.”)

Don't Think Twice, It's All Right A+
This song title is proof why commas are so important to pay attention to. If you remove it, it would mean exactly the opposite thing. Let that be a lesson to ye, young apprentice... Once again Bob Dylan came out with another brilliant tune; you don't even need to pay attention to the lyrics to like it. The tone is more laid back and summery as Dylan's picking his acoustic guitar in a laid back way and singing these bittersweet lyrics in a rather endearing manner. ...This is done in such a wildly different tone than a song like “Masters of War” was. So even though these are *just* guitar-and-singing songs, they do manage to cover the entire range of its spectrum.

Bob Dylan's Dream A-
Without a doubt, it's easy to see that this song doesn't quite pack the same punch as the previous two, but it's still a mightily fine folk tune. The lyrics sound like Dylan is reminiscing of a time 30 years ago in his life, which is amazing, because he wasn't even 30 years old... It's a thoughtful song, of course, and it's very easy for me to take to heart. The melody is still good, appropriately simple and hooky, but it's not quite as memorable as the previous two. It would have been a highlight on virtually any other folk album at the time... I mean, holy crap, I'm blowing my mind just thinking about Joan Baez performing such a song in such a way in one of her early '60s folk albums... PA-POW

Oxford Town A-
This is still good, dammit. I don't know why I don't think anyone out there is going to believe me. It's a very simple song with a melody that sounds very derivative of folk music. (I'm almost certain that there are at least a handful of classic folk songs with the exact melody as this... but of course I don't have the time to find them!) What I like about the song is its sheer simplicity and the light-fingered acoustic guitar playing. The lyrics are quite harrowing, though and particularly topical for the time. (“He went down to Oxford town / Guns and clubs followed him down / All because his face was brown / Better get away from Oxford town”) It's about James Meredith, the first black student of University of Mississippi. So there you go.

Talkin' World War III Blues A
Ha! I almost hate to say this but the main reason I like this is because I find it so amusing that Dylan is playfully trying to sound like an 80-year-old man. He does an excellent job sounding like a 60-year-old man in his regular singing voice, but he has to really get his old-fogie on to get that 80-year-old man down right. He doesn't sing, but rather talks with style. (“I was feelin' kinda lonesome and blue / I needed somebody to talk to / So I called up the operator of time / Just to hear a voice of some kind / “When you hear the beep / It will be three o'clock” / She said that for an hour / And I hung up.”) ...Really this whole song is entertaining as hell.

Corrina, Corrina A
My, this is an anomaly. (Forgive me for using the term “anomaly” in the context of a rock album.) This is a cover, and it's also the only song to feature drums and a bass. You only hear the bass and drum very quietly, and they only play one simple pattern through the whole piece. It's probably easy to pick on this for being a cover and everything, but really I quite like it. I like the sweet way Dylan sings it, and that harmonica gently chugs around in a strange manner. The acoustic guitar arpeggiates in a hypnotizing way. ...I dunno. Maybe this just proves I'm too much of a Bob Dylan fanboy to think straight. (If the fact that I wanted to strangle some cowboys at a Bob Dylan concert for getting up and leaving while he was in the middle of a show wasn't evidence enough of that... I guess they were going to go buy some pot from one of Willie Nelson's dealers...)

Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance A-
This is the album's second and final cover. (I guess this album had to be the negative image of his debut album, which was two originals and the rest covers.) The goofy and exuberant manner in which Dylan performs this is certainly a product of his debut—he does a few yelps and 'woohoos' all over the place. Probably one of the more forgettable and “throwaway” pieces of the album, but I still like it. At least it goes to show that there's quite a lot of diversity on this album... I mean, for one with just an acoustic guitar, harmonica and a voice.

I Shall Be Free A+
Dylan ends this on a very humorous note. Of course it's not as soulful as a song like “A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall,” but that doesn't mean I can't take this to heart. After all, laughter is good for the soul. (I think Abraham Lincoln said that.) (“Well, my telephone rang it would not stop / It's President Kennedy callin' me up / He said “My friend, Bob, what do we need to make the country grow? / I said, “My friend, John, Brigitte Bardot / Anita Ekberg / Sophia Loren / Put 'em all in the same room with Ernest Borgnine”) I almost don't even care for the melody on this one, although it certainly helped the lyrics flow. But I don't get it... I'm not supposed to be the guy who likes lyrics more than melodies...

Concluding Remarks:

This is an AMAZZZZZZZZZING album. It's probably the best folk album that ever lived, and I think you'll like it even if you don't like folk. Can you say “no” to these heartwarming melodies and lyrics that cover the whole spectrum? Do you say you don't care for Bob Dylan's singing voice? ...Pish to that, I say! Give this album a listen, and the creaky-voiced man will speak to your SOULLLLLLL!!! It's way better at that than those dumb Chicken Soup books, anyway.

Read More Bob Dylan Reviews by Starcollector!

Bob Dylan (1962) | The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963) | The Times They Are A-Changin' (1964) | Another Side of Bob Dylan (1964) | Bringing it All Back Home (1965) | Highway 61 Revisited (1965)

Recommended: Yes