Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited

Like A Rolling Stone - 3
Tombstone Blues - 4
It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry - 3
From A Buick 6 - 3
Ballad Of A Thin Man - 4
Queen Jane Approximately - 3
Highway 61 Revisited - 3
Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues - 3
Desolation Row - 4
Total - 30 stars / 9 tracks = 3.33 stars

Listening to this album before Blonde On Blonde was something of a mistake. Where BoB was consistent in its greatness, Highway 61 Revisited shows flashes of what Dylan would become soon thereafter.

For poetic strength, we can look at "Tombstone Blues," which, although enjoyable, focuses too much on obscure rhyming that, rather than reflecting any kind of reality, creates its own clusterfudge imagery. Unless that's the point, in which case, touché.

"Ballad Of A Thin Man" is the bluesiest track on the album. It's just as, if not more surreal than "Tombstone Blues," but with an even better chorus.

The last song, "Desolation Row" is the most telling of what Dylan's next album would sound like. His voice is softer, even when he's howling, and there's a stronger sense of underestimated genius. It's also almost 11 minutes, so it's possible that I simply convinced myself that I liked this song so that I would be able to get through it.

Most of the songs on the album, in fact, are hella long; only three are under five minutes. I don't say this out of impatience or disdain for long songs, it just stands to be noted that this is not necessarily the most radio-friendly music that is out there. It is meant to reward attention to detail; its success at this is debatable.