Greatest Hits- Vols. 1-3

Highway 61 Revisited Dylan was virtually gushing great songs when this masterpiece arrived in the summer of 1965. From the epochal opening of "Like a Rolling Stone" through the absurdly apocalyptic closer, "Desolation Row," his command of surrealistic language was daring and amazing. As a vocalist, h...	Blood on the Tracks Inevitably, when critics praise a new Dylan album, they label it the "best since Blood on the Tracks," and with good reason. Inspired by a crumbled marriage, and recorded after a tour with the Band had apparently re-ignited his creativity, Blood is among Dylan's masterpieces. The...	The Bootleg Series, Vols. 1-3 : Rare And Unreleased, 1961-1991 Bob Dylan has always been incredibly prolific, only releasing a fraction of what he records. Such a policy has made him a prime target for bootleggers over the years, finally prompting this sanctioned 1991 triple-disc dive into the Dylan vaults. It consists of rare tracks, unrele...	Chronicle, Vol. 1: The 20 Greatest Hits Few bands of the 1960s retained as much a sense of the roots of rock and roll as did Creedence Clearwater Revival. Their music is rife with country, rockabilly, and R&B influences, a combination that produced several hit singles--most of which are present on this collection. Thes...	Experience Hendrix: The Best of Jimi Hendrix \N
The Who: The Ultimate Collection \N	The Beatles (The White Album) Better known as the "White Album," this was meant to be the record that brought them back to earth after three years of studio experimentation. Instead, it took them all over the place, continuing to burst the envelope of pop music. Lennon and McCartney were still at the height o...	The Legend There are several Cash boxes available, but The Legend--spanning the years 1955-2002 but concentrating on his long tenure at Columbia and, to a lesser degree, his beginnings at Sun--probably belongs at the top of the list. Cash's greatest strengths are dramatized on these four, t...	Greatest Hits One question would be: What took him so long? After all, a contemporary like Van Morrison has sold boatloads of his single-disc best-of set to buyers wary of diving into that deep catalog without a primer to get them started. So three and a half decades into his solo career, Neil...	The Times They Are A-Changin'

The Three Greatest Hits Records of All Time
Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits came out after Bob Dylan's motorcycle accident. Colombia was undoubtedly trying to capitalize on Dylan's growing fame. They didn't have the man himself to make a new record, so they put this out and a fine job they did. Back then, somebody at Colombia really cared about how Dylan was presented to the public. From Roland Scherman's gorgeous cover photo to the inclusion of Milton Glasier's psychedelic poster of Dylan, this package is first rate and the material is first rate too. All of the songs were recognized by Dylan's fans as important and most were radio hits. However, the stunning "Positively 4th Street" which was recorded during the Highway 61 sessions was new and Dylan's fans loved it, probably because it sounded so much like "Like a Rolling Stone" and that's probably why it was left off of the record. Anyway, it was out now and helped make this one of Bob Dylan's all time best selling records. Bob Dylan didn't release a new record in 1971, but instead issued several unreleased songs on his second Greatest Hits record. "Tomorrow is a Long Time," is a beautiful song recorded during Dylan's 1963 Town Hall Concert. This concert was released on the Trade Mark of Quality bootleg "While the Establishment Burns" and the show is brilliant. I'm guessing, wishing, hoping that one day Bob Dylan and CBS/Sony will release the show as part of the official Bootleg Series. "Watching the River Flow" and "When I Paint My Masterpiece" were produced by Leon Russell and are both outstanding. "Watching the River Flow" was kind of a hit single and is really a rocker. "Masterpiece" makes its first appearance here. "The three songs recorded with Happy Traum are really beautiful and I would have loved to see a whole album done this way, what a joy that would have been. Still, we take what we can get from Mr. Dylan and are thankful for all he's given us. Like his first Greatest Hits record, this album was huge, going five times platinum which makes the first two Hits records his all time best sellers. Dylan's third Greatest Hits compilation is a fine stand alone record. It opens with "Tangled Up in Blue" as does [[ASIN: B00026WU7I Blood on the Tracks]], but just as you're thinking you're going to be hearing "Simple Twist of Fate" which you naturally expect to follow that opener, "Tangled" seques into "Changing of the Guard," which is a great song from [[ASIN: B00026WUAU Street Legal]] and from there we get the excellent rocker from Shot of Love, "The Groom is Still Waiting at the Alter." This is the best song on "Shot" and is well placed here. It's also nice to be able to listen to "Brownsville Girl" from Knocked Out Loaded without having to listen to the rest of that record. It's the best song from the record and the only reason to own it in my opinion, with this record, you can pass on Loaded. Also the title song on Under the Red Sky is the only reason to own that record and you can get that here as well. But the real gems here are "Dignity" and "Series of Dreams" which both seem like they are leftovers from Oh Mercy. They are great songs and until now unreleased. It's nice the way you get some new stuff with Dylan's Hit's or Best of Records. And it nice to get the haunting "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" on this record, a great way to end it. Every time I hear it, I'm put right in the movie.

Gotta Buy this One
This collection is a great jumping off point for those who are looking to get an overview of Dylan's lengthy and storied career. Of course, some great rarities and favorites didn't find their way onto these CD's. In a way, the whole thing is a bit of a misnomer given the importance of Dylan's albums taken as whole statements. But, if you are needing the essential songs of his recordings, this is the one without reservation to buy.

Perfect Gift
My oldest daughter has a thing for Bob Dylan at the moment and this CD has all of the best stuff he's ever done. Shipping , as always, was right on schedule. Thanks Amazon!

Great music, bad packaging
For music, I'd give this 5 stars. I like it all, except part of the last CD. I have the original G.H. vol 1 and 2 on LP, vol 3 on MD, vol 1 on the original CD and the remastered CD, and vol 2 on the original CD. I needed vol 2 remastered and vol 3 on CD, as the main reason I bought this box set. But my complaint is with the packaging. There are less than 2-1/2 CDs worth of music on these four CDs. CD 1 has about 41 minutes, #2 and #3 are about 38+ and 41+. Number 4 is nearly full. What they did is simply take the Greatest Hits vol 1 LP and make it a CD and take the two Greatest Hits vol 2 LPs and make that two CDs - even though both of those would fit onto a single CD. At any rate, the whole set would fit onto three CDs with more than half a CD left over. So why not cut it down to three CDs and/or add more tracks?

Has anyone seen "Dignity" like Mr Dylan's ?
I had always liked Bob Dylan's "hits", but let me tell you, I had no idea of this man's amazing talent until my husband shared his collection with me several years ago. We used to run our own shop and we cranked up the Dylan tunes! When I really listened to his lyrics, I fell in love. Nobody, and I mean nobody, can pull you in like Bob Dylan. If you're just getting to know Bob (and I think our young folks should!) and you want an awesome representation of his work, Greatest Hits, Vol I-III is it! He is just the best songwriter out there, ever enchanting us with his mystical, lyrical genius, and this collection brings all the best Dylan from the '60's to the '90's (although I find it hard to believe that "Shelter from the Storm" is not included..one of his best). We have a lot of Dylan cd's, but we had to get this collection as it has several songs we didn't have, like "Dignity" (first released on Vol III, "Drinkin' man listens to the voice he hears, In a crowded room full of covered up mirrors, Lookin' into the lost forgotten years...For dignity" - awesome lines!!), "Series of Dreams", "My Back Pages", "When I paint My Masterpiece", "Watching the River Flow", "Hard Rain" and "Under the Red Sky". His voice is heartbreakingly beautiful on songs like "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here with You" and "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight". I recall critcs early in his career slamming Bob's voice. What were they listening to?? It couldn't have been "Just Like a Woman" or "Rainy Day Women" or "Positively 4th Street" or "Lay, Lady, Lay". I also love the 2 songs produced by Leon Russell, "Watching the River Flow" and "When I Paint My Masterpiece". Having been a Leon fan from way back when, as well, from the first piano bars in "Watching the River Flow" I thought, hmmm, do I detect a little Leon Russell influence here? By the way, Leon did a fine cover of that song on the House of Blues "This Ain't No Tribute" cd of various artists doing Dylan tunes, and does anyone remember that Leon Russell had a huge hit with "Hard Rain's Gonna Fall"? Obviously, Mr. Dylan and Mr. Russell respect each other's work and collaborate well. Another interesting thing some folks might not know: "Like a Rolling Stone" was voted best rock song of all time by a huge group of Bob Dylan's own peers in the industry. This compilation is a joy for us trueblue Dylan fans. We're playing it again and again, and we highly recommend it to anyone who wants to get to know Bob Dylan at his best.