Rating:  -
The best song on the album is My Back Pages, one of his best songs and certainly his best acoustic tune. The hidden meaning is the key here. Basically, he's looking back at his protest period and saying something along the lines of, "I was wrong, I was jumping into conclusions". Another great tune is Chimes of Freedom, featuring some of his best songwriting. I also enjoy It Ain't Me Babe, the album's best-known tune, and the laugh-out-loud hilarity of I Shall Be Free No. 10. The final masterwork to be found here is Ballad of Plain D. I don't care how much the rest of the Dylan-listening world hates this track, I find it quite enjoyable. Other than the falsetto, All I Really Want to Do is a great track. And if you want a fresh dose of surreal humor, go after Motorpsycho Nitemare. Even though Black Crow Blues and To Ramona are not among Bob's best material, this is still worth several listens. If you like acoustic Dylan, you will probably love this!
Rating: -
My dad liked this album better than "Freewheelin'" but I did not. Sure it's a great record that includes "It Ain't Me Babe," A different kind of love song, way different, and "Chimes of Freedom" made popular back then by the Byrds, and "My Back Pages," the ultimate song about growing up, "I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now." How can anybody put it better than that. I may only have giving this record 4 stars, but that's because I liked what comes next sooooo much better. But four stars or not, you should own this CD. And if you are a collector, and I am, then you just gotta have the miniature LP Sleeve, really, you just gotta.
Reviewed by Stephanie Sane
Rating:  -
There are probably boat loads of people out there who will disagree with me, but I think the best song on this album is "To Ramona". It's stood the test of time, this I know, because I've got in on my favorite Dylan playlist in iTunes. It ain't just no silly lovesong, it's a portrait painted in words. Words that will take you in, move you and leave you wanting more. "I Don't Believe You" is another song like that and it's also one of the songs he chose to electrify during his 66 tour. A powerful song with our without the band. Of course, everybody is familiar with "It Ain't me Babe," a song done by a lot of people, but in the end Dylan's version is the best. And if you don't believe, like I do, that America is losing her way, give a listen to "Chime of Freedom", and just maybe you'll change your mind.
Rating: -
and if you aren't patient, you may not make it through it. It seems like each song is longer than the one that preceeded it, and this in no way is going to be stopped. I enjoy Dylan's literary lyrics, his light strumming, and his voice isn't that nerve-wracking. But this isn't BRINGING IT ALL BACK HOME. He plays piano on one blues tune, blows the harmonica so loud at other times that it hurts your ears, and does his idea of a falsetto on the opening cut (which I gather is supposed to be comical). A lot of the songs are funny, some are serious, and others are word-plays that go from 'what did he say?' to 'did he sing what I think he sang?' So if you like Dylan, pick it up because I think it is a decent album to listen to, but if you're either uninitiated or unsympathetic towwards Dylan's poetry, steer clear. The music may sound tuneless and anti-melodic, but the structures were practically designed for the words.
Rating:  -
Another Side is right. Two albums of finger-pointing songs and Bob's already bored again and ready to move on. Although many critics tend to think of Another Side Of Bob Dylan as an electric album without the electric instruments, since the words have a lot more in common with Bringing It All Back Home or Highway 61 Revisited than they do with The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan or The Times They Are A Changin'. But really it's another acoustic album. And of Bob's first four solo acoustic albums, this is my least favorite. I'm not sure why I don't like it more. It features some of the last of Bob's out-and-out funny songs (only "Bob Dylan's 115th Dream" really remain until the Traveling Wilbury days), and a lot of them ("Motorpsycho Nightmare", "All I Want To Do", and "I Shall Be Free No. 10"). He's once again attempting to expand his range with the piano-playing "Black Crow Blues". It's not that I'm upset that his lyrics have abandoned the sloganeering of Woody Guthrie for the rambling of Jack Kerouac. It's just that funny songs aren't as funny; the love songs aren't as touching. The music isn't as interesting. "My Back Pages" and "It Ain't Me, Babe" are good songs, but these performances are so uninspired that it'd take other performances (by Bob not the Byrds or the Turtles) to really show them off. "Chimes Of Freedom" is just annoying. Really, my favorite song on here is the one that everyone (including Bob himself) seems most embarrassed by: "Ballad In Plain D". First of it's a great title. The main reason I think everyone doesn't like it is because it's too personal, too mean, reveals too many details. They probably are, but I don't really mind. Not being the kind of person who digs through Bob's garbage to find out more about his private life, I couldn't tell. Really they only part of Dylan's personal life is the part he puts down on record. The rest is really none of my business - or even interest.
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