Bringing It All Back Home

It’s old Bob Dylan from 1965 just as he was delving into electric. A must own Dylan album.

Highway 61 Revisited gets lotsa fanfare as a breakthrough album (for which it does merit) thanks to the 6 minute intro song Like A Rolling Stone.However, BIABH was Bob's goodbye to the Folkies who couldn't bend their traditional beliefs and give way to electric instruments. This album needs no introduction or another boring review from me. Just listen to it and make up your own mind.

For his fifth album, Dylan drives language changes and opens up a whole chasm in the realm of possibilities in his music. He's thinking about the rock and roll that preceded him by entering the studio with his guitar plugged in.Dylan wastes no time with "Subterranean Homesick Blues" and he brightens up as soon as the Chuck Berry beat kicks in. On this edgy piece of electric music and on the Chicago blues stomp of "Outlaw Blues", he carries out the spirit that the best rock and roll is supposed to be and is - untutored, commanding and anarchic. To top those two chestnuts off, comes "Bob Dylan's 115th Dream". He's surely at ease with this set of musicians and they're fast and loud as Dylan wants it. His incorrigible and absurdist jokes poke fun at everything historical and mythical and he stuffs it all into the most raucous rock and roll on the album. He embraces the Beat attitude and style into these songs. It has Allen Ginsberg's and some of William Burroughs' stamp over them.His lighter touch gets time too with the tender and mysterious "Love Minus Zero/No Limit". I believe it's written for Dylan's soon-to-be wife Sara. In it, he presents a microscopic view of his more moving side. But, if that's one side of him, he's not shy in letting it be known there's another side of Bob Dylan on "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue". He's consumed with no guilt over a lover that he's spurned. "Strike another match, go start anew" is stunningly transparent and it's too late for him to go back now."It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" is the ultimate response to the eternal pitfalls in the outside world - hypocrisy, greed, power, etc. Every guitar strum counts here in its haunting, rhythmic tone. Its aggression amplifies its apocolyptic visions and, before you know it, you're in the rabbit hole living with it.What this breathtaking record reveals is that Dylan takes music seriously, has a lot of fun with it and puts both these things into action. The album cover photo is absolutely classic as the music itself. The red, white and blue dominate to emphasize the title. Not even a highbrow audience can dampen the adventure in "Bringing It All Back Home". So, in sum, deal with the electricity.

Was worth waiting for!

Bob Dylan, the great alchemist of folk-rock music, was booed at the Newport Folk Festival, and Scorsese's 'No Direction Home' documents the hecklers yelling out "Traitor!" at many concerts. Perhaps like any genius this is the inscrutable, but predictable development for anyone who truly innovates the wheel. 'Bringing It All Back Home' is the culprit that showcases the trajectory of when Bob, the Bard, went electric. Arguably, this album is one of the three best of his entire career. It is perhaps his most innovative, but his achievements have a scope that render the past two assertions needing a huge dose of salt.Heralding the album, "Subterranean Homesick Blues," while not as dramatic as "Like a Rolling Stone" is easily as brilliant. Complete with cutting, social commentary and plenty of images to debunk the nine-to-five existence, Dylan spills out his surreal period full throttle. Anthems rain with the raunchy "Outlaw Blues" and the folky "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)". Hypnotic, every song pulls a punch--or doesn't pull any punches! The most famous mesmerizing development is "Mr. Tambourine Man," making Dylan a troubadour for altered consciousness*. Despite the crossover, Dylan continued to be a great storyteller. The first person "Maggie's Farm" showcases his familiar wit with the details of menial labor from hell. Then, "On the Road Again" captures the same idea, but with more of a vagabond flair. "Bob Dylan's 115th Dream" meets every element at the crossroads by telling a surreal story with pointed observations. However, some of the most delightful moments reflect upon love. "She Belongs to Me" and "Love Minus Zero/No Limit" both exalt and debunk the romantic tradition he helped overthrow. "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" ends the album with a brilliant story about a misfit who trashes every sensibility of romantic notions.An unqualified achievement, 'Bringing It All Back Home' synthesizes the outlaw with the dreamer where both folk and rock, tradition and iconoclasm meet head on and make music and culture new.(*Dylan has moved on, and hopefully so can we.)

Brand new, wrapped in cellophane in pristine condition. Flawless.