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Writing aboutBob Dylanis like writing about Mount Rushmore.
How do you add insight to something that is carved into Americas landscape?
How can you find a new angle on a mountain?
Why bother, too?
Mountains dont care about interpretations.
It also could have been a one-off.
Much of this long-running project is more fascinating than good.
As an artist who never had too many traditional hits his first No.
Todd Hayness 2007 filmIm Not Theregot it right when it examined Dylan through several clashing personalities.
The same approach makes sense here.
Guthrie Dylan
The big bang, for Dylan himself and the bootleg series.
For many fans, this is still their preferred Dylan.
It was also practical.
This box set was Columbias attempt to legitimize and circulate them.
Unlike its previous bootleg release, 1973sDylan, this one was more thoughtful.
The attention to detail is clear inVolume 1, which goes up until 1964sThe Times They Are A-Changin.
For newcomers, theFreewheelindemos are wonderful.
The Bootleg Series Volume 2(1991)
Volume 2capturesA-Changinuntil 1975sBlood on the Tracks.
This may be Dylans most agreed-upon creative peak.
Its also his first valley, otherwise known as the What is this shit?era.
The Bootleg Series Vol.
Its also the product of an eager young songwriter without the baggage of fame.
Most tracks onVolume 9are already known, so the pleasure is hearing future classics in rough shape.
Dylan screws up a verse on Man on the Street.
The Times They Are A-Changin feels wobbly on the piano.
Masters of War is played on an out-of-tune guitar.
There are other silly mistakes and fitful stops that dont appear on most other volumes.
Dylan would never again sound this unsure and unremarkable.
Prophet Dylan
Thisis it.
The Bob Dylan behind (at least until2021) the greatest song of all time.
The Dylan whose albums destroyed folk music and saved popular music.
The Dylan whom Cate Blanchett and John C. Reilly channeled inIm Not ThereandWalk Hard, respectively.
(The two actors different approaches are important.
The Bootleg Series Vol.
Yes, this is the gig where some doofus very loudly yelled Judas!
Listening to disc twos electric set with fresh ears, its stunning to hear howtighteveryone sounds.
The crowd-as-mob myth is harder to believe; the Judas!
exchange sounds more silly than potent.
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or definitive live version of any songs.
(NMEs review: Young man sings good songs in big hall.
But the difference two years make is shocking.
Its peak folk Dylan.
This is the Dylan most in sync with the Zeitgeist and most comfortable in its glow.
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The man was busy.
One entire disc includesonlytakes of Like a Rolling Stone.
Yes, its a blast.
Scorsese Dylan
This is a subcategory of Prophet Dylan.
These are meant to beseen.
The latter continues to this day.
More specifically, both have connections to Martin Scorsese.
These are the two entries in which you could say, You had to be there.
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Theres also a minor yet revealing mythmaking detail.
On Spotify,Volume 4s Ballad of a Thin Man into Like a Rolling Stone cuts out Judas!
OnNo Direction Home, its impossible to miss.
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Scorsese would also reevaluate this era with a Netflix documentary that accompanied a massive reissue.
The results are mostly excellent.
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8: Tell Tale Signs: Rare and Unreleased 19892006(2008)
Volume 8is the Daniel Lanois era.
Here, they feel fresh again.
The one-two opening punch sums it up.
Mississippi and Most of the Time are stripped of Lanoiss swampy layering to sound like long-lost American standards.
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For newcomers, the obsessiveness for this era might make this the seriesPepe Silvia.
Or just listen to the Band.
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Dylans country voice still takes some getting used to, too.
Dylan sounds happy, at least, even if this era feels inconsequential beyond some good Americana.
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The biggest draw is the first disc: an official album remix.
Blood on the TracksDylan
Blood on the Tracksis the easiest Dylan album to love.
Its also one of the few studio albums with enough mystery and backstory that it justifies its own spotlight.
The bootleg series thought so, too.
More Blood, More Tracks: The Bootleg Series, Vol.
Up to Me, another What if!
There is a vocal sector of Dylanologists who believe that the New York Sessions outrank all the Minnesota recordings.
For newcomers, the idea that theres abettertake on Dylans best album is a fun discovery.
Your favoriteBlood on the Tracksis really up to you.
Its true that time has been mostly kind to this era.
But do these bootlegs teach us anything new?
The results are mixed.
This entry focuses onShot of LoveandInfidels, two albums few would consider favorites.
Some tracks that first appear here are now Dylan standards, like Blind Willie McTell.
But overall, as packaged withVolume 12,Volume 3now feels like an afterthought.
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10: Another Self Portrait (19691971)(2013)
Volume 10is the example that works.
The albums that have benefited the most from the series are Dylans two 1970 projects:Self PortraitandNew Morning.
LP that followed his frequent droughts.Volume 10argues, however, that the sessionsaroundthese albums were incredible.
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These albums, especiallySlow Train, have always been underrated musically.
And theres the irony of the fans who embraced his electric pivot now hating his gospel jams.
This collection of mostly live recordings reinforces how polarizing the era remains.
These are the best versions of an expensive-sounding band backing Dylan on his least-beloved songs.
Springtime in New York: The Bootleg Series, Vol.
The alternative version of Neighborhood Bully is fun and sounds identical to the official.
Theres nothing here outright bad.Volume 16just doesnt add much; the I told you so is literal.
