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Bob Dylan live CDs & DVDs

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Track Listings

Disc: 1
1. Blowin' In The Wind
2. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
3. The Times They Are A-Changin'
4. It Ain't Me Babe
5. Maggie's Farm
6. It's All Over Now, Baby Blue
7. Mr Tambourine Man
8. Subterranean Homesick Blues
9. Like A Rolling Stone
10. Positively 4th Street
See all 22 tracks on this disc
Disc: 2
1. Forever Young
2. Tangled Up In Blue
3. Shelter From The Storm
4. Hurricane
5. Changin' Of The Guards
6. Gotta Serve Somebody
7. Blind Willie McTell
8. Jokerman
9. Tight Connection To My Heart (Has Anybody Seen My Love?)
10. Silvio
See all 14 tracks on this disc

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review
The two discs of The Essential Bob Dylan don't exactly provide a thorough overview of four decades of recording by one of the most important and prolific performers of his time. So the collection definitely skates over his leagues-deep oeuvre, summarizing his monumental first half-dozen years in disc one and skirting over the following 34 years in disc two. Delving into Columbia's three Dylan greatest-hits packages, Essential offers only a few surprises, opting for The Basement Tapes version of "Quinn The Eskimo" over the Self Portrait remake that made it onto Greatest Hits Volume II and tossing in "Things Have Changed" from the Wonder Boys soundtrack for completists. But this overview is designed with newcomers, not Dylan-ologists, in mind. --Steven Stolder

Description
This double CD compilation covers 37 years of the folk-rocklegend's sprawling career. It begins with his 1963 protest song 'Blowin' In The Wind' and ends with his contribution tothe soundtrack of 2000's 'Wonder Boys', 'Things Have Changed'. His exploration into folk, rock, blues, country, gospel and evangelical pop are all touched upon on this collection.

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28 Reviews

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30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

the Picasso of music, 5 Aug 2003

By	Alejandra Vernon "artist & illustrator" (Long Beach, California) - See all my reviews

Trying to make a compilation of Bob Dylan's music is equal to taking 30 of Picasso's works, and saying "this is the artist"; the immense creativity is too deep, the development and changes too wide.
There will always be songs that the listener will feel were a mistake to omit, and for me "Ballad of a Thin Man" is the one I wish had been in this collection.
Disc One starts in 1962, with the folk days of "Blowing in the Wind", to when he went electric with "Like a Rolling Stone" from the ground-breaking Highway 61 Revisited, to the soft lilting folk/country sound of "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" from John Wesley Harding, released in 1967.

Disc Two starts with the romantic "Lay, Lady, Lay" from 1969's Nashville Skyline, through the 70's and the return of acoustic guitar and harmonica with two songs from Blood on the Tracks, to end the decade with the beginning of his Christian recordings, and a great track from Slow Train Coming, "Gotta Serve Someone".

Ten years later brings him to the fabulous "Everything is Broken", from Oh Mercy, and the collection ends with "Things Have Changed" from 1999, which was featured in the film "Wonder Boys", and the reason I bought this CD set. After viewing the film, what I remembered and liked the most was this powerful, marvelous song..

I am one of those that feel no one sings Dylan better than Dylan, and truly enjoy his rough, expressive voice; it is interesting to hear it through the span of nearly forty years on one compilation...it has become huskier, with a bit more wobble, but to my ears better than ever.
Total time for Disc One is 56:24, Disc Two 68:31, and the sound quality varies somewhat from song to song, but overall it is excellent.

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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

An essential cd..., 19 Jan 2006

By	M. Alcat "bel_78" (Buenos Aires, Argentina) - See all my reviews

I was introduced to Bob Dylan not long ago, when I bought one of his cds on a whim. Truth to be told, I liked it so much that I wanted to buy another one, if possible a cd that would allow me to listen to some of his best songs without having to buy too many cds at the same time.

I am happy to say that with this cd, "Essential Bob Dylan", I managed to do just that. Among the wonderful songs included in this cd you will find jewels such as "Like a rolling stone", "Blowin´in the wind", "Subterranean homesick blues", "Positively 4th Street" and "The times they´re a- changin´".

I am pretty sure that I will go on buying Dylan´s cds, as I enjoy his songs, and specially the the fact that his creativity knows no limits. All the same, I certainly don´t regret buying this cd, and I strongly recommend it to all those who like Bob Dylan, and to those who don´t know much about him but want to give his songs a try.

Belen Alcat

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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

Unleashes all we expect from the poetic genius, 15 Oct 2001

By	john_stracey@bluesconnections.com (England) - See all my reviews

The Essential Bob Dylan unleashes all that we have come to expect from the poetic genius whilst capturing arguably his most influential songs on 2 CD's. Disk 1 catalogues Dylan's early years and his 'prophetic' rise to fame, whilst Disk 2 confirms that he is still able to produce classics in the form of 'Blind Willie McTell' and more recently 'Things have changed'. Dylan remains his enigmatic self whilst purveying a certain honesty and intensity about all his music, leaving us mortals hoping that he remains 'Forever Young'. As with all compilations, the inevitable 'flaws' debate will ensue regarding which tracks should or should not have been included. For someone buying Dylan for the first time or anyone who has taken a long sabbatical from his work over the last four decades, then this is indeed, the ideal package for you.

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