Bob Dylan - The Essential Bob Dylan (CD 2005)

There is not a lot to say, if you like BD or poetry in general this is as good as it gets, in a word Brilliant!

I bought this cd as I was a teenager in the 60's and loved Dylans music, but could not afford to buy records then, so now I like to listen to the songs and it brings back happy memories

I`ve been listening to Bob Dylan songs for over 40 years. A bit like the Beatles songs, they were simply part of growing up for people of my age. And yet I didn`t have a single one on CD - just old cassettes and records. So it was time to buy a CD that gave a large cross-section of his most well-known songs, and the Essential Bob Dylan does just that. Two CDs containing 36 songs by this great artist. Just the job.

Hard core Dylan fans will probably buy this and everything else in the Dylan cannon. The casual fan, like me, will have heard a few of these before like Rolling Stone and Blowing on the Wind and be blown away by quality of the rest. There are so many other top tracks here that you will have heard before, covered by other great artists, Jimi Hendrix to name one, you'll be wondering how you lived so long without Dylan in your life.
The second disc is only "really good", the first(containing earlier material)is absolutely Essential.
If you're at all curious about Bob Dylan and his music do yourself a favour and try this soon. (Oh and try catching Bob Dylan's themed radio evenings too, the man is a great DJ.)

I already have about two thirds of the songs on other compilations and original albums but thought it worth getting fairly cheaply for the rare Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window. Apart from an expensive box set import from Australia ( Biograph ) this is the first time its appeared on any of his compilations. Excellent song too, from the electric Positively 4th St/Like a Rolling Stone era. If you don't have any other compilations this is the one to get. The sound on some of the tracks, e.g. Blowing in the Wind,is incredible, excellent remastering.

If you're into Bob Dylan you won't go wrong with this album. Great classic songs delivered in Dylan's ageless style. They don't make them like this anymore.

Excellent album. A must for anybody who likes bob dylan or thinks they would like to try an album by him. Crammed with favourites spanning over thirty years.If anyone deserves to go down in musical history, it is this man.