This is probably the best Bob Dylan album from the ones I’ve listened to so far. It’s sadder than most of his more popular material; it uses a fairly minimal acoustic sound, and is mostly focused on failed relationships. Lyrically this is very strong; Dylan’s imagery and storytelling is as good as pretty much anyone in music, the first two songs stand out especially as being strong poetry. “Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts” is a long thriller about a robbery, a murder and a man’s two lovers. Where this album becomes weak is on songs when it descends into more simple lyrics, which don’t work well over the fairly average instrumentals. This doesn’t happen often though, and so overall I would recommend this album to fans of sad folk music, or just music with poetic lyrics in general; 4/5.
- @zlogan of the Teen Review Board at the Hamilton Public Library