Highway 61 Revisited - Bob Dylan (1965)

Listened: 8/7

I was recommended to listen to this album by another musician who said it was a 10/10 so I was very curious.. I listened to a podcast episode from the 1001 Album Club on this album I believe last summer and haven't circled back to it in any way since, so my knowledge was pretty limited going into this album. I was surprised how much I enjoyed it, Dylan's voice can annoy me sometimes in general but not all the time, and honestly I think when there's electric elements in the songs I like him more because his voice sits in the mix differently from when it's just him and an acoustic. I was familiar with Like a Rolling Stone, more by title than song, but besides that I wasn't familiar with any of the other songs. Tombstone Blues reminded me of the monkeys a bit in the intro I think it was that western type of feel, but I really liked the hook of this song. I enjoyed the hook on Ballad of a Thin Man as well, something about the melody of "something is happening here" really stuck with me. Im not gonna lie when Highway 61 Revisited started I sat there with a -_- face like I know this dude didn't just go down a slide in a circus rn what is that corny sound effect, and that specific twirly wirly sound didn't grow on me at all. Kind of like that "honk honk" in You Still Believe in Me, it just made me ctfu and honestly I couldn't focus on the other parts of the song. I think Dylan's songwriting and storytelling stood out to me the most on Desolation Row, I want to re listen to that one while reading the lyrics to absorb it better. I'm still confused why Dylan and Phil Ochs get compared to each other so much the more I listen to Dylan because I don't see the overlap much at all. Overall I think this album has a good replay-ability about it that makes me want to go back and dissect more which is always a good sign. So yes I liked it even though he was testing my composure with that Highway 61 Revisited whistle ...... Favorite songs: Like a Rolling Stone, Tombstone Blues, Ballad of a Thin Man, Just like Tom Thumb's Blues, Desolation Row.