Come gather round (all ye beginners and collectors)
Happy Listener | Queensland, Australia | 03/19/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This collection of three (3) Dylan albums covers his most prolific years from 1962 to 1965. Album one "The Free Wheelin' Bob Dylan" is his second album and his first containing 100% Bob compositions including the world's most popular protest song Blowin' in the Wind as well as the beautiful Girl from the North Country, Corrina,Corinna and more. This album is early Dylan in acoustic mode. Next up there's Dylan in the middle of a transition between folk and rock with "Bringin' it all back home". Half acoustic and half electric this album contains classics like the spitfire Subterranian Homesick Blues, It's all over now baby blue and the weaving words in It's alright ma. Finally the third disc "Highway 61 Revistited" contains THE majestic Like a Rolling Stone as well as the lengthy Desolation Row and Highway 61 (including Dylan on Police Siren). This album is often considered his best by many Dylan fans (and critics) and together with the previous two albums completes a trilogy that is a must have for anyone interested in Dylans music. (Plus it's cheaper to buy them this way then seperatly)."
Freewheelin' Home on the Highway
Zachary Hackett | Reno, Nevada | 05/08/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This Box set contains three of Bob Dylan's finest records. Well, I suppose you'd have to say that Dylan has a lot more than three finest records, more like thirty or forty. Still this is a nice set, a good way to get these CDs if you don't already own them.
Freewheelin' - A Kind of Warning
Released in March of 1963 this album, unlike his first, consists mostly of songs by Mr. Dylan himself. The songs, everyone a gem, seem to be a running commentary on what it must have been like to be in young in the early Sixties and getting mixed messages from those in power. JFK was alive with the promise of hope and a New Frontier, yet the war in Vietnam was hotting up.
Songs like the lead off "Blowin' in the Wind," "Talking World War III Blues," "A Hard Rain," and "Masters of War," which appears to be just as relevant now as it was forty years ago, seem to be a somber message of the turbulent times to come.
With "Don't Think Twice," "Girl From the North Country," and "Corrina, Corrina," Mr. Dylan shows us that he's not just about protesting and complaining, that he can sing the tender ballads as well, and why not, this was a time of hope, there was tenderness in 1963, however there were storm clouds on the horizon, Dallas and a full blown war were coming and this record seems to be a warning.
Bringing It All Back Home - A Stereophonic Masterpiece
My favorite Dylan reviewer has called the opening song on this album, "Subterranean Homesick Blues," the first rap song, and in a way it is like a rap song. There is a great Dylan video that was taken from, I believe, "Don't Look Back" where Dyaln is flipping cards with words from the song as it plays, very surrelistic. This album also that two of my favorite Dylan songs on it. "She Belongs to Me" and "Love Minus Zero/No Limit", haunting, moving portraits painted in words. "Baby Blue" is another of those, but the crowning Jewel of this Album is "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding). When he sang this on the '74 tour, when he got to the part where he screamed out, "Even the President of the United States, sometimes has to stand naked," the audience stood, applauding and cheering. Loud, real loud. Not good news for Mr. Nixon who had to resign soon after. This is also the first album where Dylan plugged it in. Ah yes, Dylan went electric, but then his words had always had the juice in 'em, the power of a lightning strike.
Highway 61 - Jewels and Binoculars
Nobody spins words like Bob Dylan and the master weaver has turned this web into a psychedelic, prophetic, intense, hard driving, gut grabbing rock and roll, folk rocking masterpiece. This, in my humble opinion, is not only the best album that mastercrafter has turned out, but the best rock and roll record to come down the pike, ever. Sure the Beatles "White Album" and "Sgt. Pepper," were landmarks and without a doubt the Stones have defined the genre. The Boss has let fly with some pretty good stuff, too. Those guys may all be in contention for the number two rocker, but this record is by far number one. And for my money, "Desolation Row," is the capper of this record, though every lickin' stickin' song on this album is a masterpiece in its own right."
Track Listings (33) - Disc #1