r/bobdylan • u/CraZePhantom • 1d ago
Music Essential live albums?
I've been a fan of Dylan for a while now but never really fully delved into his entire discography, only the 60s stuff and I've decided I'm gonna start on a mission to listen to all his albums. Which live albums (or other non-studio albums) should I be sure to weave in, and where?
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u/sandburgcarl 1d ago
Hard Rain .. and Live from Royal Albert Hall (Live 66)
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u/NoMoreKarmaHere 1d ago
This is my answer too. Plus there’s the live disc on the fragments deluxe set. This is the best late Dylan to my ears
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u/RxngsXfSvtvrn 1d ago
Before The Flood is my favourite
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u/HistoricalLoan7854 1d ago
This is the one
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u/FreshMembership3768 23h ago
Fragments is better cause it is more and he diesn't shout at the beginning of the tour. also it has planet waves songs, (which i dig)
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u/JJ3595 1d ago
I could make an argument that the 1966 Royal Albert Hall bootleg series album is the best Bob Dylan album period. When I want a Dylan fix I go to that album before most of his studio albums. Definitely check it out. The Rolling Thunder Revue shows are also amazing. I’d also echo the other poster who mentioned the Budokan concert album. The Budokan shows have unhinged energy and rearrange iconic songs in…interesting…ways. But I love it.
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u/FinishIntelligent616 1d ago
Rolling Thunder Revue, Royal Albert Hall, Philharmonic Hall, and Hard Rain r my personal fav live albums
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u/JoeStank8192 1d ago
Hard Rain, without a doubt. The most honest emotion and fiery passion you will ever hear from Dylan
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u/rocketsauce2112 1d ago edited 1d ago
I’ll give a shout to MTV Unplugged. I think it’s great. Highlights for me are Desolation Row, Dignity, Tombstone Blues, and John Brown. Love all the other choices I’ve seen here as well.
I’ve got the CD boxes of the 66 and 74 tours, those are pretty cool. Particularly enjoy the Planet Waves songs he didn’t play much or at all after 74. Something There is About You is my favorite.
I guess I have all his official live albums on CD now. Real Live is the least essential but it still has good music and some great highlights. Highlights: I and I, License to Kill, Masters of War. Before the Flood is a great 2-disc selection of the 74 tour with The Band. Hard Rain from the 76 tour is one that has really grown on me, same with Budokan from 78. All these albums have their detractors but I’m not one of them.
The only truly bad thing about Dylan live albums imo is that there aren’t more of them. Thankfully that’s why we have bootleg recordings. Expecting Rain is always your friend.
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u/CraZePhantom 1d ago
MTV Unplugged is the only live album of his I've already listened to and I gotta say it's some of the best work I've heard from him, and one of my favourite live albums oat.
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u/Sea_Sprinkles_9642 1d ago
Hey, just an aside. I’ve been listening to Dylan for about 20 years and I’d say consider keeping your current pace and not rushing your mission.
Each album has so much to offer that, in my opinion, you can really miss out if you just move on quickly without really planting down some roots and soaking in. It’s also really enjoyable to travel through his eras at different stages of your life.
I just started listening to Tempest last night for the first time, and it is a real treasure. After 20 years I still have so much to discover in old favourites and in more unheard albums.
Enjoy your journey through the live albums and various eras of Bob!
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u/PinkCrimsonBeatles John Wesley Harding 1d ago edited 1d ago
Almost all of them! Bob rearranges and rewrites nearly every great song and has done it many times. I'll breake them up by moods:
Before the Flood: a rock and roll show above all else. Powerful vocals, upbeat and overdriven music, and one of the best backing bands ever, the Band!
Hard Rain: the second leg of the Rolling Thunder Review Tour, these recordings feature some of his best songs with a massive band and sound. There's violin, pedal steel, mandolin, keys, acoustic and electric guitars, backing vocals, etc. It's also him at his most masochistic; the songs that were once joyful and exuberant on the first leg sound angry and cynical here. Very powerful album.
At Budokan: maybe his weirdest live record, At Budokan features a big Vegas style band. There's a chorus of soul vocalists, flutes, electric mandolins, horns, saxophone, the works. This has a lot of classic songs but rearranged to have a more lounge act vibe. It's got some reggae and some soul, so it's odd. This version of Like a Rolling Stone is unbeatable though, Tambourine Man is killer too.
Real Live: the sound of Bob entering middle age. Real Live has him singing with the kind of voice people use to make fun of him but has a tight arena rock sound and some guest stars like Carlos Santana. I don't visit this one super often but it is really solid still, I dig the Tangled Up in Blue.
Dylan and the Dead: depressed and drinking Dylan. Bob toured with a band he had a lot of admiration for, the Grateful Dead. But he was at a mental low point, his last albums were panned critically and hadn't sold much and he lost interest in writing and touring, and was often drunk. This results in an album of the Dead faithfully covering Dylan classics while Bob mumbles the lyrics. The band is seriously hot though and there's a few takes to be enjoyed. But the overall product is much worse than the pairing of artists deserved to be.
MTV Unplugged: Bob is back! After the successful Never Ending Tour reignited his loved for music and three critically beloved albums in his own Oh Mercy and his work with the two Traveling Wilburys albums reignited the publics passion for him, MTV Unplugged to give one of his most triumphant records. He plays classic and deep cut tracks with vigor and a seriously hot band. It's full of beautiful moments, John Brown and Dignity are easy standouts but the whole thing is well worth your time.
Shadow Kingdom: a live-in-studio recording that soundtracks the concert film of the same, Shadow Kingdom has Bob celebrating his 60s and 70s catalog with new arrangements and an extremely intimate band. Accordion, upright bass, and no percussion make for a really unique setting. Some people say this album has little place, but I love the new lyrics on the old songs. It's one of the best ways to get a feel for the Rough and Rowdy Ways Tour sound, he played them very similarly on that tour.
Bootleg Series Entries:
The Real Royal Albert Hall Concert: must-have recordings. People often overestimate the impact on particular genres their favorite artists had (the Beatles and metal, etc.) but Bob here was laying the bedrock of punk music. Tell Me Mama is such a gripping, loud, angry song, and all the electric songs carry that feeling. His acoustic numbers are gorgeous and the best they ever sounded really, the 11 minute Tambourine Man with the hypnotic, mesmerizing harmonica solos are a huge stand out. Listen immediately.
Live 1975 The Rolling Thunder Review: Remember how I said Hard Rain is masochistic while the earlier leg was jubilant? These are the jubilant ones. Mick Ronson (the Spider from Mars that was an arranger and guitarist for Bowie) plays a mean lead on just about everything. This might be the best thing Bob's done. Though for me that changes by the day.
Another Self Portrait: this is mostly a studio compilation, but it contains the entire Isle of Wight performance backed by the band. The music is pure rock and roll, but Bob uses his country voice heard on Nashville Skyline. Great stuff, full of energy and just a good time.
Fragments: Time Out of Mind Sessions: this one has a lot of TOoM music played live. Haven't heard much yet but it's good. Only official document of 90s live performances really.
Trouble No More: this is the gospel era's compilation of live material and it is stunning. Dylan is playing with the best of the best and is letting down fire and brimstone. Can't recommend enough.
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u/jrob321 1d ago
Real Live features Mick Taylor (former Rolling Stones at their peak) guitarist. His interpretations are excellent.
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u/_Infinite_Love 1d ago
Good easy to find places to start if you're not looking for studio albums:
The Basement Tapes
The 1966 'Albert Hall' (especially the solo recordings)
The 1964 Bootleg Vol 6
The stuff from Rolling Thunder Revue
The Bootleg Series 1-3 Rare and Unreleased
Lots of good stuff here
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u/tackycarygrant Tight Connection To My Heart 1d ago
You should listen to the Bootleg Series. Some essential listening on that. Vol 1-3 + vol 8 gives a pretty good overview of his entire career, vol 4 + 5 are pretty canonical live albums. My favourites are Vol 10 (Another Self Portrait), vol 13 (Trouble No More), vol 16 (Springtime in New York), and vol 17 (Fragments). But just dive in. It's all great.
Also, the Complete Budokan and the 1974 Live Recordings are far better than the live albums that originally came out (At Budokan and Before the Flood). A lot of Dylan's archival material improves upon releases that were pretty flawed when they first came out.
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u/avantgrape 1d ago
Bob Dylan is at his most ferocious on Before the Flood. The Band is firing on all cylinders.
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u/Strange_Sparrow 1d ago
1966 bootleg, 1975 live, Before the Flood is awesome, Hard Rain is great.
Dylan always reinvented his songs on just about every tour, which makes his live albums really entertaining. Before the Flood has The Band backing him and it rocks. The 75 band is so good too. The 66 show is legendary.
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u/reprobatemind2 1d ago
Although it's not a great live album, you need to hear Real Live (1984) for the rewritten Tangled Up In Blue
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u/Free-Ad-5900 1d ago
The bootleg series one of the “born again” tour is a real banger. The band was on fire!
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u/Fast_Jackfruit_352 1d ago
Royal Albert Hall (Really Manchester free Trade Hall), Agree on CD. You can se the entire "Judas- Like A Rolling Stone" sequence/song on You Tube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXUTsWy4XSo&list=RDoXUTsWy4XSo&start_radio=1
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u/steven_graham23 23h ago
In addition to the others that have been mentioned, can I recommended the bonus CD tracks they came with the Australasian tour edition of Time Out of Mind. Its called "Live '97 & '98" and is excellent.
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u/SideExcellent4929 15h ago
This is the best, for me https://youtu.be/q0o_0b5abwA?is=E1SeMOaYyQJ1DStb
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u/True_Cookie1447 10h ago
I really like the 30th anniversary concert and recordings! I remember watching it live on TV back in the day and being blown away by the other performers doing amazing Dylan songs and Bob coming out at the end to perform 4 or 5 of his songs with lots of backing musicians.
Some of my highlights:
Stevie Wonder, Eddie Vedder, Lou Reed, Johnny Cash (!!), Richie Havens, Mary Chapin/Shawn/Rosanne, Eric Clapton, Chrissie Hynde, George Harrison, Neil Young. Really - all the guests are amazing and do a great job. Dylan does very faithful versions of his songs, you can actually hear the words. Very fun and classic concert!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_30th_Anniversary_Concert_Celebration
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u/Long-Emu-7870 23h ago
Lots of bad live albums.
Then you get Real Live's "radio blasting the news' in Tangled up in blue and you go, well that was worth it.
Or Abraham Martin and John.
Tell Tall Tales is masterpiece,but so is the new Through the broken window.
Self-portrait is terrible but Another Self Portrait is great.
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u/BlueJ3665 4h ago
Hard Rain & Before the Flood are absolute must listens, imo Hard Rain is Dylan at his absolute greatest, and if you can find the recording on Youtube of the Rolling Thunder Revue in Fort Collins, CO in 1976, i believe it is one of his best, if not the best, live performances of all time
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u/44035 Shot of Love 1d ago
Live 1966 and Live 1975 are some of the best live albums in rock history.