Customer Reviews

Playlist: The Very Best of Bob Dylan 70's

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

It seems here upon reading that the reviews for 'Playlist: '60s and '70s' have been combined into one. This was obviously a mistake on Amazon's part, but I will review both so you can get an in depth analysis on both.

PLAYLIST: THE VERY BEST OF BOB DYLAN '60S
Review: While this idea is perhaps the most original idea for a Dylan comp yet (release greatest-hits albums by the decade), it still is incredibly lackluster and disappointing. First, as other reviewers have said, nothing from 'Blonde on Blonde,' which is considered by many to be Dylan's biggest moment (I personally like 'Bringing it all Back Home' better, but both are excellent albums), so to have a 'Best of the '60s' album for Dylan and not include anything from that album is disappointing, to put it bluntly. Also, it's missing so many essential songs. 'Lay Lady Lay,' anyone? Nothing from the 1962 self-titled debut? 'Fixin' to Die' and 'Song to Woody' are among my favorite songs of his for the decade, and to see them absent here is quite disappointing (especially 'Song to Woody,' which has garnered some recognition in recent times). 'Blowin' in the Wind' is also absent, as is 'Mixed Up Confusion' (a 1963 'Freewheelin'' outtake that later appeared on 1985's classic box set 'Biograph' -- which is definitely worth checking out, but that is another review). What's here is great. 'Positively 4th Street' is one of the angriest songs in Dylan's catalogue, and is perhaps my favorite song of the decade of his. Why it never appeared on 'Highway 61 Revisited' in 1965 is a mystery to me (it was a rare single until its release on 'Greatest Hits' in 1967).

OVERALL: An okay starting point, but definitely purchase with 'Blonde on Blonde,' and perhaps 'Greatest Hits' for a more accurate portrait of the decade for Dylan. A good starting point, but for a seasoned fan like myself, avoid this. It's unnecessary, and brings nothing new to the table. RATING: 2.5 out of 5 stars = disappointing.

PLAYLIST: THE VERY BEST OF BOB DYLAN '70S
Review: MUCH, MUCH better than the '60s installment, this album features almost every essential song of the decade from Dylan. 'Changing of the Guards,' 'One More Cup of Coffee,' 'Hurricane,' 'Knockin' on Heaven's Door' and 'Tangled Up in Blue' all appear here for the casual listener, as well as the fast version of 'Forever Young' from 'Planet Waves' (and not the ballad version that is heard far more commonly). But, like its sister compilation, it is missing plenty of essentials. 'Oh Sister,' 'Simple Twist of Fate,' 'Dirge,' 'Slow Train,' 'When He Returns,' 'Senor (Tales of Yankee Power)' and others absolutely belong here. The inclusion of one of these songs could bump the star rating, but what's here is great, especially for the new or casual Dylan fan who wants to hear more than just the '60s greatest hits (and believe me, as someone who has all of Dylan's albums and over 100 bootlegs of his, there is A LOT more to Dylan than just the 1961-1970 time period). However, pair this with the newly released 'Playlist: '80s' compilation of Dylan's (just came out two weeks before this review was written) and you have a pretty thorough anthology of Dylan's work. An interesting compilation containing plenty of favorites. Much better than its predecessor.

OVERALL: Buy it if you are new along with 'Greatest Hits Volume 3,' but again, if you are a die-hard like me, this is an absolutely useless compilation. Nothing new to see here for the Dylan faithful -- move along. RATING: 3 out of 5 stars = good for the casual fan.

While both are admittedly underwhelming sets, they do have their benefits for what they are.

"Down Along The Cove" is the worst song on John Wesley Harding. Why is that on here and not something from Blonde on Blonde like Visions of Johanna, Just Like A Woman, Rainy Day Women, or One of Must Know (Sooner or Later)? This is bizarre.

alright...i've been a dylan fan from his first album on (yes, i'm old), and all i can say about this cd is...it's dylan, and any dylan is usually good dylan...and this is no exception...

as a cd, it's wonderful listening...as a compilation for his 70's output, a little dissapointing...

now, one thing you have to keep in mind is the fact that, artists back then put out alot of music...

in one year's time, they may put out 3 brilliant albums worth of stuff, while nowadays, it takes current artists three years to put out one mediocre album's worthy of garbage...

so...with that in mind, baring the chance of a two-cd set, they did an o.k. job, but...they still, at least, have to include essential tracks like 'shelter from the storm' and 'idiot wind' from "blood on the tracks"...

and yes...one of my favorites as well, "simple twist of fate" would have been nice...

but, if you buy this, God bless...enjoy, because you will be getting some great music...but...

i would suggest picking up a copy of "blood on the tracks" while you are at it...then you will have the essential dylan for the 70's...

so i skimmed over the previous reviews and i'll admit i don't know a lot about bob dylan but i do know what good music is. and all i have to say is, its BOB DYLAN. this is great cd if you don't know a lot about bob dylan and want to get your foot wet as far as listening to a forefather, a legend, to the music we have in America today. all the reviews kind of just get caught up in details. buy the cd. its cheaper than the other bob cd's and its just as good. my favorite songs are the times are a changing, postively 4th street, like a rolling stone, and of course all of them!

First off, a couple reviews, asked why nothing was included from "Blonde On Blonde"? Answer, because it was from 1966, and this is a '70s compilation. So why should those songs be included here?
My question is, why is it that "George Jackson",a top 40 hit in 1972, for Dylan, continuely gets omitted? If this is for rare receordings, and forgotton recordings etc, why not put this song on it?

So part of this product's description reads, "beautifully remastered songs on this CD, unlike the compromised sound of an MP3 file". Cute. Sorry guys, but physical format music is on the way out, and digital files are going to be all we have left, so stop fighting this losing battle. In ten years, CDs will be about where cassette tapes are today.

That was my main point for writing this review, but it looks like there's some music on this disc as well. It's a nice sampler of Dylan in the '70s, especially since they try and steer away from the traditional 'greatest hits' retread and include some good album tracks. Unfortunately that also means that there is no theme here, just some hits and other tracks on random shuffle. I'd count "You Ain't Going No Where" as a '60s song, though this version was recorded in 1971. "The Might Quinn" was recorded live in 1969, but it appears on the 1970 album Self Portrait. "On a Night Like This" is a decent song, and "Precious Angel" and "Buckets of Rain" are amazing, but these are still random choices. I haven't read the liner notes, but I can't imagine they can convincingly justify what album tracks are in and which ones are out. In the end, the Playlist series is just trying to get you to pay for what you could easily do with your iPod: shuffle a few songs.

Five stars for the music, one star for the concept. If this collection interests you, you are either an obsessive collector of everything Dylan or you are vaguely interested in the Man. If you are the latter, I would highly recommend Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits, Vol. 2.

Music: 5 stars; Compilation: 3 stars

In late 2008, a similar compilation was issued focusing on the best of Bob Dylan in the 1960s, and that was truly a horrible compilation. Not that the music was bad, of course not, but somehow they were able to issue that without so much as a single song from the "Blonde on Blonde" album, are you kidding me? Now comes the next volume in this set, focusing on the 1970s.

"Playlist: The Very Best of Bob Dylan 70s" (14 tracs; 63 min.) is intended to do just that, namely bring Dylan's best songs from that decade. And let me state upfront that there is a lot of GREAT music on here, in fact, one could argue that there isn't a weak moment on here: starting with "If Not For You", to "Forever Young" to "Knocking on Heaven's Door" to "On a Night Like This", and on to "Tangled Up in Blue" and "Hurricane", etc. The 1970s were definitely a decade of tremendous creativity for Dylan.

There are several important flaws in this compilation: (i) the non-chronological sequencing makes no sense whateoever ("Gotta Serve Somebody" following "Tangled Up in Blue"?); (ii) there aer a number of absolute key tracks missing, I mean just from the "Blood on the Tracks" album we are missing "Shelter form the Storm", "Simple Twist of Fate" and "Idiot Wind", and that's just one example. There are many many Dylan compilations out there, and the decade-themed "Playlist" series is actually a cleaver 'new' take on it. I suppose that the 80s volume will follow in due course, which should be a very interesting compilation indeed. Meanwhile, this 70s Dylan compilation is not bad, but could've been better.

The idea of compilling bob dylan by decade in the playlist series is very good indeed. The concept of each cd in the serie (the very best of the 60's is very good too) is cleaver : choice of tracks that aren't to obvious (One More Cup Of Coffee, Watching The River Flow) and non chronogical tracklisting make for a new listening experience even for old time Dylan fans.

And the choice of the alternate and uptempo Forever young is tremendous. Often, as is the case for a compilation such as the essential Bob Dylan, the 70's tracks seems a bit sad alltogether. In this CD, they are cool.

Can't wait for the very best of the 80's and the 90's !

what happened to Blonde on Blonde? the best Dylan record of the 60's gets absolutely no inclusion on this disc? i'm totally disappointed in this playlist. that whole album was MONEY! it's not that the songs chosen are bad by any stretch of the imagination, but give me a break. blonde on blonde deserves some recognition!

Obviously not by monkeys who know or care about Bob Dylan. These are all good songs, but as a selection of his best work from the seventies it's laughable. Does any actual human being really think that "If Not for You" is the best song on New Morning, or that the fast version of "Forever Young," for heaven's sake, even belongs on Planet Waves, much less is one of the highlights of the album, or that to represent Blood on the Tracks, "Buckets of Rain," lovely as it is, deserves precedence over "Idiot Wind" or "If You See Her, Say Hello" or "Simple Twist of Fate" or "Shelter from the Storm" or "You're a Big Girl Now"?

And what in the world is "The Mighty Quinn" doing here? It's a live recording from 1969 of a Basement Tapes song from 1967, released in 1970, yes, but having nothing to do with what the man was up to in that decade.