Customer Reviews

Greatest Hits 2 (Mlps)

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Volume II" is as close to perfection as two compact discs can get. Dylan's first Greatest Hits collection gathered most of his most well know songs from the 1960s, while this volume scoops up the rest. A number of these songs were big hits for other artists, including "All I Really Want to Do" (The Byrds), "All Along the Watchtower" (Jimi Hendrix) and "The Mighty Quinn" (Manfred Mann). Selected from Dylan's incredible run of top notch 60's albums, this collection features both accoustic and electric tracks. There are sentimental romantic ballads ("Lay Lady Lay," "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You") and verbose tounge twisting rants ("Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues," ""It's All Over Now, Baby Blue"). There are angry political rants ("Maggie's Farm," "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall") and spiritually uplifting songs ("I Shall Be Released," "When I Paint My Masterpiece"). Bob shows both his folkie side and his rock and roll side and he's never been in better (uh) voice.

This is the definitive collection from Bob Dylan's classic period and is essential for any rock fan who does not own the original Dylan albums.

I think this album along with the first Greatest Hits and Street Legal are Sony/Columbia initial endeavors to remaster the entire Dylan catalog. Considering I have about 30 of his CDs this prospect is both intriguing and frightening. I picked up this disc partially because I'm a Dylan completist and partially to hear these songs in remastered glory. I'm impressed. Since most of these songs are of late 60s vintage they have a countryish lean. What immediately caught my attention was how gorgeous the steel pedal guitars were on "Lay Lady Lay" and "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight". The most notable sonic improvement, however, belongs to "Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again" from the classic but shoddy sounding (on CD) Blonde on Blonde.

Aside from the sound quality this is just a great collection of songs. Most were made famous by other artits, but nearly all of Bob's versions remain definitive. The other reason to buy this cd is that five of the tracks are unique to this edition. "Watching the River Flow", "When I Paint My Masterpiece," and "Tomorrow is A Long Time" don't appear anywhere else and "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" and "Down in the Flood" are different takes than heard on "The Basement Tapes".

All in all a excellent package and probably the best introduction to Dylan outside of his egregiously famous songs (Found on Greatest Hits Vol. 1).

Bob Dylan's greatest hits volume two is not only the best Bob Dylan compilation available, but also possibly the best compliation cd available by any artist. Top to bottom this is one of the finest CD's I own. Most of the songs are familar even to the casual Bob Dylan fan, plus some of the less familar tracks are some of the best on the CD. "Tomorrow is a long time", "Crash on the Levee" and a different version of "You ain't going nowhere" are three highlights of the disc. If you like Dylan, even a little, I cannot more strongly reccomend this compilation. BUY THIS CD.

The first Dylan hits collection has all the famous stuff from the mid-Sixties: Blowing in the Wing, Mr. Tambourine Man, Like a Rolling Stone, The Times They Are A-Changin' etc. Those songs are indispensable to any rock collection.

But I think I like volume two better. This collection has twice as many songs as the first hits album, and the songs are mesmerizingly beautiful and skillfully written.

Another reason why I like this collection better than volume one is because the songs on volume one have been played to death on the radio. I love the melodious pop folk sounds of "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue, "My Back Pages," and "I Shall Be Released."

I also like the hard rocking "Maggie's Farm," the soft rocking "All Along the Watchtower," the country melody of "If Not For You,' aw heck, I like them all.

It should also go without saying that every single Dylan album from the 1960s is absolutely 5 star material, and some of his later albums are vastly unappreciated (Slow Train Coming, Infidels).

I highly recommend Greatest Hits Volume two as a great place to experience the diverse and beautiful sounds of Bob Dylan.

When I first obtained this Collection in the early 70's as a raw juvenile, it was the one tape among hundreds that I never grew tired of listening to, partially because of the sheer range of styles and mainly because of the calibre of the songs included.This latest remastering opens up the sound even more so and lets the joy of songs like "If not for You" and "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" shine out like beacons in a fog.The bitter sweet emotion of "Don't think Twice..." and "Tomorrow is a Long Time" almost caused my own heart to break as I felt the pain and longing in the lines of those songs. Even today after 30 odd years since I first heard this collection,I still feel a little lump in my throat when I hear them again. Very few records can connect with people on this level but this is one of them and is an essential item in any real music lover's collection!A true masterpiece!

I learned a lot of BOB DYLAN from this hits package. While nowadays there are lots of DYLAN hits packages to choose from that span a lot more of his career (this was released in '71) only on this one do you get a hand picked barrel of tunes from the man himself.
And he obviously knew what he wanted on this thing. It is a volume two so all the obvious sixties hits are on volume one. You wont get ROLLING STONE or RAINY DAY WOMEN (aka Everybody must get stoned) but you do get A.) the big hits from 67-71, B.) the rest of the hits from 62-66, and C.) stuff that was unrelesed prior to this record.... So what does that mean?

Well in the A.) category you get: the countrified LAY LADY LAY (sweet) you get ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER (one of his most recognized songs ever via Hendrix) the very fun pair of I'LL BE YOUR BABY and TONIGHT I'LL BE STAYING HERE, you get the sincere warmer IF NOT FOR YOU and the also very fun QUINN THE ESKIMO... nice selection.

In the B.) category you get the ones that couldn't fit on the first HITS like DONT THINK TWICE which is better than that other song from FREEWHEELIN' the one about the wind, you know, and how its blowin. MAGGIES FARM, SHE BELONGS TO ME, ALL I REALLY WANT TO DO, one of the goods from Another Side, plus the killer tunes HARD RAIN, TOM THUMBS and BABY BLUE, all very necessary.

The highlights though are the "new" stuff in C.) WATCHING THE RIVER FLOW is one of my personal faves, really jams, WHEN I PAINT MY MASTERPEICE and the very awesome basement tape YOU AIN'T GOING NOWHERE; that one also another fave of mine recorded with The Band.

This is a unique package. If you are a casual DYLAN fan, but are looking for something a little bit different than what everyone else has- I'd go with this. Its a very ecclectic collection of early DYLAN.

'Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits, Volume 2' is part of the evidence that makes one wonder why the first Gershwin award for popular songwriting went to Paul Simon and not to Bob Dylan. Unlike some other reviewers, all but one song on this collection was immediately recognizable, from the high point of Dylan's career with Highway 61 Revisited, Blond on Blond, John Wesley Harding, and Nashville Skyline. I have to admit that Simon's career had more major hits in the '80's, '90's, and the 21st century, and Simon had almost as many 'major' hits in the '60's, but this collection demonstrates that no one in our lifetimes has ever matched Dylan's genius for songwriting. Even after all these years, I find this collection and its predecessor a great source for recalling Dylan lyrics, as when I was trying to remember the song from which the line 'But I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now'. Discovering the answer ('My Back Pages') was much easier by listening to this album than by reading a book of his lyrics. I was especially keen on listening to Dylan's original 'All Along the Watchtower', to compare it to possibly the greatest Dylan cover of all time, by Jimi Hendrix, of this song on 'Electric Ladyland'. Hendrix' rendition only shows how great is Dylan's genius at lyrics and tunes, when we see the rendition Hendrix was able to build with the song.

Bob Dylan is always at his best, but this time he may be more on top than usual. The music is fresh, concise, and delivered with enthusiasm. It reminds me of a time when the music and the story were the most important issues.

My husband gave away our old stereo equipment, including the Thorens record changer. What is a girl to do? I bought my favorite tunes from Amazon! Can't live without Bob. I got his 2006 album as well. Yah! Good!

Solid Gold, especially "tonight - I'll be staying here with you" hard to find any where else.