The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan

Important? Sure. Historical? Yes. Fun to listen to? No.

[strums guitar gently, starts singing] “How many Bob Dylan albums must a man endure, before he’s free of this god forsaken list? The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind.” [abruptly stops strumming] …wait, no it’s not. Seven. The answer, my friend, is seven.

i don't care if i sound shallow but this is one of the best albums of all time sure his lyrics are dense and it's kinda pompous but u just gotta roll wit it

No. No Bob Dylan. I can't stand the sound of his voice, I can't stand the fawning hero worship, I can't stand his terrible paintings. I flatly refuse to even entertain the suggestion of listening to this. No.

Not my favourite Dylan album, but holds a lot of magic. So self-assured and pure. Hard Rain has been a huge influence. Don't Think Twice is one of my favourite love songs ever.

Another Dylan master class for his second album more blues and less folk, less biblical and some really profound lyrics when everyone else was singing about taking girls to discos. For a point of reference 1963 was the same year Cliff Richard released “summer holiday”. This is why Bobby D was a groundbreaking artist, maybe not the most technically gifted musician but his lyrics are more like poetry and will go down in history as great feats of English literature. In my opinion this album goes beyond music.

I honestly don't get the big deal with Bob Dylan. Bored the balls off me.

Really up my alley, don't know why I hadn't jumped into Bob Dylan's discography. That guitar strumming, that lyricism. His voice is full of emotion and carries the words so well. BUT? He sounds nasally as FUCK. An acquired taste that I have not entirely acquired.

Not my favorite of Dylan’s early all acoustic stuff (that would be The Times They Are A-Changin’) and a tad inconsistent, but “Blowin In The Wind,” “Girl From The North Country,” “Masters Of War,” “A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall,” and “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” are among the greatest songs ever written.

Bob turns up proper on his second album. Finger pointing protesting love/hate songs. This album sounds like it's going to be friendly with the finger picking acoustic and down home folky couple on the front, but it picks you up by the ear and kicks you in the balls. After that, if you still don't like it it means you haven't been paying attention. Best Tracks: Girl From The North Country; Don't Think Twice It's All Right; Talkin' World War 3 Blues

This is where Dylan began to establish himself as a serious songwriter and accidentally ended up changing songwriting itself. Starts incredibly strongly with the first three songs being absolutely timeless pillars of music that will last through the ages. It's almost as if Dylan was a human version of the monolith from "2001: A Space Odyssey" and everyone who came into contact with his music began to evolve after listening to it. He's still in the shadow of Woody Guthrie here when he wants to be, but at this point I think it's more to temper the sheer power that is pouring out of him with something more down to earth.

I can respect him as an artist. I think that Bob Dylan was a trailblazer for folk music, but personally it is not for me.

Here it is, finally! I'm not sure if this is my favorite Dylan album, but I knew it was only a matter of time until we got one that is a five star for me. This is easily one of my favorites from Bobby boy. It's that early, folksy style that I love, even veering into blues territory. There's a few classic bangers on here like "Blowin in the Wind" and "Don't Think Twice It's Alright," but the depth is extremely rewarding. I love the story-telling Dylan over acoustic guitar and some harmonica here and there, long before he expired. Take "Down the Highway" for example, just a long blues progression with a story and that repeated, lilting vocal inflection is just so addictive to me. He sounds like he's a thousand years old, like the mysterious man singing "O Death" in O Brother Where Art Thou. As much as I rag on Bob Dylan for some of his later stuff (I've given one of his albums a one star already), he's really an incredible songwriter and musician, and this album is one I will always champion. One of the best. Favorite tracks: Don't Think Twice It's Alright, Corinna Corinna, Down the Highway, Girl from the North Country, Talking World War III Blues, I Shall Be Free. Album art: One of his must unassuming. Of course I've seen it a million times, but it doesn't leave much of an impression. I like that humility. Is that Corinna he's walking with? Is she from the north country? 5/5

What if... this screeching is not harmonica but some entity that Bob Dylan came in contact with like in Saya no Uta. That thing just talks like that and he's the only one who can understand it. Aww, it's so cute, this little Lovecraftian monster is trying to help with the song! On a serious note, I don't want to be serious. It's like I'm given the same album three times already. I just can't generate a different response That being said, I think I'm warming up to this music, it was slightly more bearable again. This or the fact that I'm literally getting older

Difficult to actually hear as I know the album so well, for so many years. Struck by the skillful way he uses his voice - variety of accents, young/old, the rhythm, the poetry.

His voice infuriates me in an indescribable way

Oh yeah, this feels iconic - you can definitely see how Dylan captured the zeitgeist of the times. Most of these songs could be dropped into the soundtrack of a scene and instantly paint a picture of 60s cultural tumult... Fave track - toss up between "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall" and "Masters of War"

I think I've come to the conclusion that I prefer Dylan songs when someone other than Bobby sings them. Most of the time anyway. This has some lovely songs on it, but I'd really rather listen to, say, Peter, Paul and Mary sing them. Or Joan Baez. Or John Martyn. I'll draw the line at Clapton obviously, but there are lots of nice versions of a number of these songs that I'm very happy to listen to multiple times. Fwiw, Blowin' in the Wind might be the time when Dylan's is the better version. So, it was nice to listen to this to say that I have, but I doubt I'll ever put it on again.

Oh, fuck this. This wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Blowin’ in the Wind and Don’t Think Twice are truly fantastic songs. I suppose there is something to be said about a dude, a guitar and a harmonica being enough for a song. I didn’t really notice the lyrics and the ones I did weren’t particularly insightful, probably because I’m listening to this nearly 60 years later. Overall, I found it to be boring background music until the damn harmonica came in and steamrolled everything in the most annoying way. Like, Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance is kind of fun until the fucking harmonica just BLARES. No desire to listen to this again. This album is for boring softies.

This is my first time listening to Bored Dylan and will likely be the last. I'm sure he's great if you really like folk music though

This is my 2nd least favourite genre (folk) and it shows with this review. 1 star

boring, same thing all the time, meh

How did he sound so old so young? I can understand why he walked a little back from the political content, as it’s so powerful that I imagine he had a lot of people trying to commission him for more, and outrage never runs dry. I enjoyed this a lot, and was surprised by how stirring the raw acoustic delivery was for me, as I’d only gone through the electric albums previously. The non-sequiturs work for me- “good car to drive/after a war” - presented as afterthoughts

This man cannot sing!!

Stone cold masterpiece and the apex of Bob Dylan's early folk protest singer phase. Any record that has "Blowin' in the Wind", "Girl from the North Country", "Masters of War", "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall", "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right", and "Corrina, Corrina" in its tracklisting MUST be included in a list like this, even if the rest was made out of absolute duds. Luckily, the rest is not made out of duds, so ignore the usual grumblers complaining about Bob's voice and dive in. The words and stories are fascinating. The music is subtle and far more sophisticated than it seems, with some terrific harmonic moments. And once you get that, Dylan's vocal performance becomes perfect as well. I don't have enough time today to elaborate, sadly. But in a way, I *refuse* to elaborate. There's a very clear reason Bob Dylan became a cult figure -- in spite of himself, at first. And this album is exhibit A. for it. A lot of people telling you that he is overrated end up changing their minds at some point. I did. It's just that I didn't know what I was talking about before. So dive in as well if you haven't yet. And for those who may have questions about how I ended up changing my mind... Well indeed, the answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind. But if you end up loving this LP, you'll manage to catch said answer before it's out of your grasp. It's all up to you, really. 4.5/5 for the purposes of this list of essential albums. 9.5/10 for more general purposes (5 + 4.5) (a quick note about that grading: no album in my list of 20 records released in 1963 reaches a perfect mark. *The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan* is the best album of that year for me, followed by releases by Charles Mingus, The Beach Boys and the first two Beatles LPs. Anything beyond isn't really essential as far as albums go. So you have to put your head back then to picture what a shock for the audience this sort of album could be. Which is another good reason to include it here...) Number of albums left to review: 58 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 407 (including this one) Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 234 Albums from the list I won't include in mine: 302

although i don't think this is necessarily bob dylan at the height of his powers, this is a terrific album and one that shows essentially where he started from. maybe the most pure folk album he ever released (outside of his debut) and there is some terrific stuff on here. this album really showcases him as a pure folk singer, which i think is very important in his history, but in his relation to the evolution of popular music in the 20th century. if i can nitpick, not all of the songs are 10 out of 10 bangers, but most of them are great and there are some all-timers on here. safe to say, it's one of my favorites of his and an overall great album.

Me - "Poor predictable Bob, always takes harmonica." Dylan - "Good old harmonica, nothing beats that!"

Το άκουσα στο αυτοκίνητο οπότε δεν καταλάβαινα στίχους. Η μουσική ήταν μονότονη.

Amazing lyricist that should've been born mute

Nope. I can't bear an entire album of all-acoustic Dylan. Blonde on Blonde and the Basement Tapes are hard enough, but just him with his guitar and a harmonica going on and on like some lunatic busker? I just can't.

As boring as it is iconic

Bob Dylan does nothing for me, actually that’s not quite true. Bob Dylan makes me bored. Is it important? Sure I guess, enough people say it is but, no thanks

It’s all been said before, but my main praise is the scope: it’s thought-provoking, tender, brutal, hilarious, heartbreaking and more, all before you even flip to side two. I’ve been listening to this for 30 years now and it keeps on giving. A very early high watermark.

I was dating this Dutch girl, who always tried to prove to me that she was hip and ‘knew’ America by playing Freewheeling over and over. We took a roadtrip to Nashville, so I put on Nashville Skyline. She was like ‘what is this shit?’ I said, ‘it’s Bob Dylan.’ She said, ‘shut up, that isn’t Bob Dylan,’ then she turned off Nashville Skyline and threw Freewheeling back on. Usually, I prefer Nashville Skyline, but on that trip, I felt like Bob on the Freewheeling album cover (we did start our roadtrip from Greenwich Village) and she was that smiling, cozy girl on my arm. Hell, I didn’t care what we were listening to. Blowing in the Wind is no longer a Bob Dylan song. It’s an American folk song. It was the rallying cry for the sixties, and without it, we’d have no Beatles Revolver. We’d have no future eras of Dylan as he tried to reinvent himself to stay relevant (he’s had so many eras that watching Taylor Swift’s Eras tour is like watching a woman change clothes twenty times and then sound kind of the same on the next song). If you don’t like this album, too bad. It’s not going anywhere. It’s in everything that you listen to already. Try listening to Freewheeling forty times on a roadtrip, and the lyrics will begin to set with you. Then, a decade on, you can play it again and it’ll feel like a lost part of you returning. Just an idea for a project if you’ve got the time and an encouraging Dutch girlfriend. Dylan’s debut was a great album, but Freewheeling is a GREAT album. It’s a legend. Although Dylan went on to possibly greater heights, he never caught the ineffable ‘something’ that exists in Freewheeling again. It’s a monument of a time, a vibe, and an attitude.

Dylan’s second album is the first time this prolific songwriter really flexed his lyrical muscles. Every time I listen to this album I’m reminded of what a vivid and dynamic songwriter Dylan was. His social protest songs always get the most attention but here he also shows his ability to write romantic, whimsical and even humorous songs that still hold up after all these years. This is my favorite album of his and upon hitting play I’m always transported to a time in my youth when anything was possible and fall weather felt electric. This is the power of Bob Dylan and this is why I give this album 5 stars.

A long time ago, when I was younger and almost cool, I walked through Greenwich Village in the snow, with my arm around my beautiful girlfriend. I remember thinking, "Hey, this is the cover of that Dylan album." That was pretty great, I tell you.

Don't know what the fuck to say about this album. This is an album that stands completely out of time, and if you're not ready for it yet, you just need to be at that exact place in life where it enters in your life. Music that works like water, filling a deep hole. Or those videos of "things that fit perfectly into other things." You know the ones? With the golf balls? Basically I'm saying it's for a breakup. Put this shit on!! I've been there. Lot of us have been there. "She was once a true love of mine..." 5/5

Great

Classic early Dylan. definitely a good listen - if not every-day.

Every male be acting like this album cover come autumn/early winter.

How can a 21yo write "It's A Hard Rain.."? And include 4-5 other all-time classics on one album? Even the longer/less tuneful ones are very entertaining. Just incredible [EDIT: Mark, I hope you appreciated "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right", the motherlode of the "pedagogic goodbye" style]

Nice, easy listening music from the 60s. A classic. I seldom listen to music before the 80s, so this was a unique listen for me. I came into it expecting to not really like it, as I don't often enjoy country music/whatever genre this is, but it was nice to hear something so warm, authentic, and acoustic for once. Not the best music I've ever heard, probably would not voluntarily go out of my way to listen to it again, but its good, and it's what I needed to hear today. 4/5 stars. Favourite song: Girl from the North Country

In 4th grade chorus, we sang a mash up of Blowin' in the Wind and My Country Tis of Thee and it actually went so hard I still think about it. I think it made me woke as a 9 year old for sure

A handful of recognizable hits as well as a handful of songs that sound like the recognizable hits. He’s less of a singer than a poet soliloquizing his thoughts with a guitar and harmonica. I like when he laughs mid-speak/song.

No. 91/1001 Blowin' in the Wind 5/5 Girl from the North Country 4/5 Masters of War 3/5 Down the Highway 2/5 Bob Dylan's Blues 3/5 A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall 4/5 Don't Think Twice, It's All Right 5/5 Bob Dylan's Dream 4/5 Oxford Town 3/5 Talkin' World War III Blues 3/5 Corrina, Corrina 4/5 Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance 4/5 I Shall Be Free 3/5 Average: 3,62 This album showcases all the things I find good and bad about Dylan. Love the lyrics and songwriting on some songs. On others it feels like him rambling along to music.

Still so accurate

I think I enjoyed it but not so much due to its soft nature , I guess I am in a different mood but Bob Dylan is a great musician and a legend , I do love some of his songs <3

"How many roads must a man walk down before you can call him a man?” "Seven!" "No, Dad. It's a rhetorical question." "Rhetorical, eh? Eight!” Dylan is a hard pass for me. I get he’s a fantastic song writer tackling the big issues of the day, but these songs would be better sung be anyone else. I’m sure they would have still let him play his harmonica, but someone should have taken that mic out of his hand. Still gets 2 ⭐️ for his prolific lyrics, but buddy needed to take some singing lessons.

dadrock at its finest, thats why I can't recommend this to anyone except boomers

Normalerweise bin ich in diesem old school, tramp on train Folk super gern zu Gast, esse Bohnen aus der Pfanne, trinke Maisschnaps ausm Zinnbecher und lege meine zerzausten Gedanken auf einem Büschel Stroh zur Ruh‘ Aber dass die Größe dieses einzelnen Bobs das monumentale Genre der uramerikanischen Geschichten Erzähler überragen soll, kann ich nicht erkennen

I didn't even listen to this. Bob Dylan is the devil reincarnated and someone should have cut his vocal chords when they had the chance. Well, he sounds like they were already cut. No way anyone finds this mans music listenable...

five or six absolute all-timers (out of 13) is enough for a five-star rating, right? Or maybe it's this: if more than one song on the record can almost bring me to tears. FIVE STARS

Ahead of me there are two men named Bob. I approach the younger one. ~~{*}~~ I remember there was a time where I'd be excited to get a Bob Dylan album. Y'know, back when I started this project, and I was so fresh-faced and innocent, a Bob Dylan album would pop up and I'd go, "Wow!" Because why shouldn't I? It's Bobby D! Ol' Robert Zimmerman! He's one of the greatest artists of all time (so I'd been told, so I'd accepted)! So many of his albums had shown up on the Rolling Stone 500! Why would I've had any reason to assume I wouldn't love these albums? And maybe in the beginning I did. I'm not saying I was lying to myself to reinforce the legends I'd been told about Dylan — but at a point, I had to start admitting things to myself. To begin with, I couldn't even begin to understand the lyrics. It seemed to me as if Big Important Critics™ called them some of the greatest of all time because they were so meaninglessly obtuse that you could apply any meaning to them, if you squinted at them hard enough. And with my AuDHD, I couldn't even **begin** to squint. And if you're not into the lyrics, the music itself wasn't going to do anything for you. Before he went electric, it was a lot of acoustic strumming and harmonica honking — nothing particularly interesting. Even when he went electric the music was still only there to support the lyrics, without many hooks. For my kind of brain, it just didn't do it for me. Eventually I had to break and put it all in words, which I did in my babble about the "Royal Albert Hall" concert. It's not like I'd had much luck outside of Dylan, either. I mean, if I can handle Dylan, what made me think I was gonna be able to tolerate Joni Mitchell? Or Leonard Cohen? These 60's folk singer-songwriters — pretty soon they all sounded like poets who thought they could pretend to be musicians just because they could play a few chords. And I did not come to music very often for poetry. Just the kind of person I am. So when the Randomizer™ pulled up 'The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan', there was a part of me that kind of groaned. Another Bob Dylan album — another collection of songs I wouldn't even begin to be able to parse. Another album where my review where I'll say the same shit as I have for 'Court & Spark' or 'Songs Of Leonard Cohen', except with a side of tryna grapple with how I've bought into the legend of Dylan despite never clicking with his music. Here we go again. And yet ... the strangest thing happened. When I put this album on, and once I got past its biggest hit ("Blowin' In The Wind"), I ... kind of felt like I was getting it, actually? I listened to a song like "Girl From North Country" and I actually got what Dylan was saying. It's written somewhat poetically, as I expected, but I can parse it out! This is incredible! This is amazing! But, wait, wait. I had to recognize: "Girl From North Country" is a love song. Of course I could understand it; love songs are never too difficult to decipher. I was sure that once I hit one of Dylan's "finger pointin' songs," "Masters Of War", I'd be right back to square one not understanding. Much to my amazement, though: I **did** get it! I got what he was talking about! And it felt **relevant**! Relevant to shit that was still happening all the way here in 2025! I could nod along to his words and go, "Damn, you're right." And it kept going like that! Song after song, I was actually making heads and tails of them. And every time I did, the music underneath them kept getting better, even if it was just acoustic strumming and harmonica honking. Surprisingly, when you get the words, the music can actually support and elevate them, and vice versa. I had to wonder, what was even going on here? What was **this album** doing that all of the others didn't? It's real simple, sis: this is Bob Dylan's second album. This was his first album of largely original material; his self-titled debut only had **two** written by him. As this is so early in his career, he's yet to grow into those more "incomprehensible purple prose-listic" tendencies that would go on to define his body of work. So while he **is** writingly poetically on this songs, it's not to the one where you'd need an English degree and a few thesis to even begin to parse them out. I suppose it helps as well that this album **was** from Dylan's "finger pointin'" song days, which, by their nature **need** to be a little direct. I think the ones my group had gotten previously had all come from after he'd stopped doing those. And it really is something to be so engaged with Dylan's words. I can tell you for sure that if I wasn't, if I'd had the reaction to this album I'd assumed I would, I would not have even had time for shit like "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" or "Talkin' World War III Blues". Long songs about whatever the hell he's goin' on about ... I wouldn't've been able to stand it! But since his writing's a bit more direct, I can appreciate what each song is going for. Y'know, "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" is about how the narrator's seen, heard and met so much awful in the world, yet he's still gonna go singin' his songs, even before he knows them. It can come across as repetitive across seven minutes, but I appreciate its build. And then in "Talkin' World War III Blues", I was just really taken by this concept where everyone is dreaming about being the only one to survive World War III, and being the last person left alive and all alone. And, jus', the part at the end where Dylan says, essentially, "I'll be in your dream if you be in mine" ... in the whole context, it got me. I'unno. (I wanna shout out the end of "I Shall Be Free", too. Like, it's just funny that the entire album concludes on, essentially, "I'm gonna make love to Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton's gonna be **pissed** at me." Also, there was something about dinosaurs before that? Good stuff.) It's nice, too, to be able to consider what a good player Dylan is. Sure, I don't think anyone would say he's a top 10 guitarist (or even harmonica blower), but ... I mean, I've gotta realize that I always **did** kind of like this sparse guitar-and-harmonica arrangement stuff. It gets me thinking that maybe the reason why I liked the parody "Royal Jelly" from the film 'Walk Hard' so much is because it allowed me to enjoy this sound without having to worry about the words "meant." (And it's still a good parody either way, but still.) I know I've said that speaking in terms of Dylan parodies I'd always reach for Weird Al's "Bob" first ... but maybe I'm actually more equal on the two than I'd thought. And you know an album's good when it's getting me to reconsider my opinions this hard. Now, I don't know what my enjoyment of this album will mean for the rest of Dylan's discography. Maybe it'll mean I'd enjoy 'Bringing It All Back Home' more, or maybe I'd understand its words even less. Similar goes for artists like Joni Mitchell or Leonard Cohen. I can't tell you. Those answers are off blowin' in the wind. But for at least this moment, here and now, it just feels good to truly like a Bob Dylan album — and one of his early ones at that. Here this, Robert Zimmerman: this is the third time I've made this reference, and the first time I've truly liked one of your strummin' and honkin' records, no strings attached. And, I'unno — it just makes me happy.

Even from album No. 2, you can tell there's something special about Mr. Dylan's songwriting and how it just absolutely dug into the 60's zeitgeist. Solid 5 Stars.

Alright, fine. It’s a 5. Yeah, I’m just as surprised at myself at this point. When we got “Highway 61 Revisited” as the 68th album in this whole thing, I wrote down that “there’s just something about Bob Dylan’s music that’ll probably stop me from giving him a 5, maybe ever”, and yet, here I am, giving the guy his third 5 in a row. I guess I’ve learned to appreciate Bob Dylan, although I do think there’s a pretty clear reason I said that back then, and it’s a reason that this album thankfully doesn’t lean into very often. It’s not confusingly verbose purple prose half the time. Much like “Time Out of Mind”, I’d say a lot of these are surprisingly straightforward, just with a little more of a flowery language meant to evoke clearer imagery, as opposed to the more enigmatic riddles of “Highway 61 Revisited” or “Bringing It All Back Home”. I don’t wanna go track by track, but there’s a great blend of progressive social commentary mixed in with some genuinely witty / biting lines for the era, in a way that makes the whole “voice of a generation” thing feel a lot more earned. He was, what, 21 or 22 when he wrote most of this album? It’s not that he’s espousing anything new, he’s just putting it into words in a way that probably felt more contemporary for the era, especially with the conversational tone he takes on a lot of these tracks. There’s a lot of great verses here, and frankly, it’s too many to note. I think it’s all very digestible though, and certainly far more understandable on a first pass than whatever the fuck “Ballad of a Thin Man” & "Desolation Row" are supposed to be about. It also helps that Bob Dylan’s presence here really is stripped down to its bare essentials: you get him, his voice (which feels shockingly controlled, melodic & genuinely good on a strong number of tracks), his guitar, and his harmonica. He can rip some damn good harmonica solos. It makes me sort of understand why the shift to a more electric soundscape on his later albums was met with some level of backlash. The conciseness of these tracks, & how present Bob Dylan feels as a narrator in them, letting the music act as more of a backing soundtrack for his delivery, all adds up to create a super effective style that lets the lyricism breathe out more. Going electric took away some of the focus on that lyricism, and I’m sure some people would’ve preferred for Bob to stay as a folksy, singing narrator as opposed to… well, a singer. Again, I don’t really wanna go track-by-track here; I think the lyricism is what sells the album decently well (though the instrumentals are pretty damn good), so a lot of this album’s enjoyment will boil down to how much you can digest those lines / the humor in some of them, as well as dealing with Bob’s vocals, which are thankfully, nowhere near as nasally here as I thought they’d be. He still can’t really hold a note, though. It is a product of its time and there are definitely some dated references that will go over a less informed head (specifically for some actresses / name brands / other singers & whatnot), but I’m lucky enough to have a big trivia base in my head that I understood a good chunk of it. To my ears, I still don’t think it’s as good as “Time Out of Mind”; I think the last 3 tracks lose a little bit of steam, with 2/3rds being covers, and the last one being just a little too silly to close out what had been a mostly serious album to that point. They’re all good tracks, mind you, they just feel out of place in the track order. It is close to being in the conversation though, which I’m surprised by. All of that said, it’s a 5. A well-earned 5 too. Good job, Bob. P.S.: “Blowin’ in the Wind” really is THAT good of a track. No wonder this is the album that made him famous.

Excellent

Incredible and while Bob's "singing" voice is a bit... Well - Bob - it's an incredible and amazing album.

As much for how classic the album is as for the quality. Its still hard to get over Dylan's voice.

Listen, he can’t sing for shit but I love this album (except for Down the Highway but whatever)

The best songwriting (lyrics) on an album ever? Dylan sings about war, love, heartbreak, politics, and absolute bullshit (I shall be free) and effortlessly flips tones (angry, contemplative, forlorn, drunk) and makes it all fit together.

Listening to “Masters of War” on the day Dick Cheney died. Five stars.

It's a timeless album. Heartbreak, heartache, anger, bitterness, contemplative; all timeless and relevant themes that Dylan explores in a way that will always ring true.

Incredible album

but dont thinkk twiceeee its allriighttt

Acoustic guitar, harmonica, and Bob. That's the best Dylan. It's iconic. The songs are musically simple but so poignant. Love him or hate him, you can't deny that this album has so much soul and feeling. It's folky and bluesy and it's still relevant. Usually when I get an album with just a guy and a guitar, I prepare to be a little bored (I know, I shouldn't pre-judge an album before listening) but that's never a concern with Dylan. The man's an icon for a reason, and he still holds up 60 freaking years later. My favorite moment of the album is Dylan so coldly delivering these lyrics: "I hope that you die, and your death will come soon.... and I'll stand over your grave 'til I'm sure that you're dead" from "Masters of War," and it's so hardcore I can't praise it enough. I feel this in my bones about so many ghouls that walk the Earth in 2025 and Dylan nailed the feeling way back in the 60s. Nothing changes. It's really hard to pick standout tracks here because they really are all so good. The whole album is standout, so I'll leave it at that. This might be one of the lowest-key albums sound-wise that I give 5 stars to, but Freewheelin' just hits so well that it deserves it. It doesn't need anything else other than the man, his instruments, and his ideas. It's haunting and every time I hear it, it grips me and makes me stop in place and just shut up and listen.

I listen to this album at least once a week. More if I’m sad, or hungover

I’m not sure if it’s a 5 because a few of the songs are annoying by themselves. But others are simply some of the best songs ever, so it’s a 5.

Pretty good songwriter for a 22-year-old. 🤪

As classic album as classic albums get.

probably more like a 4.5 bc some songs are too dylan-y for me but still fav songs: blowin in the wind, a hard rain, don’t think twice

A classic. Gorgeous. Forever relevant.

Bobs 2nd album and his first that really defined what his career would become. Some absolute classics as well as some impressively reimagined folk standards. The definitive album of his early acoustic period.

112/1001 :: Bob Dylan - The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan Heard before? ✅ Would I revisit? ✅ Rating: 9 Listen before you die: Yes Fav Songs: Masters of War, A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall, Corina Corina This is the album where Dylan became Dylan. Not sure how you could listen to songs like Masters of War, Blowin’ In The Wind or A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall and not feel something. These protest songs made Dylan the voice of generation whether he wanted that title or not. And then he follows that up with songs like Girl From The North Country, Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright and (the cover) Corina Corina just to pull on the heart strings. The one liners from this album also legendary: - How many times must a man look up before he can see the sky? - You ain't worth the blood That runs in your veins - Where black is the color, where none is the number This is definitely an all timer and he was only just getting started…

Top tier Dylan album.

Beautiful and hard hitting by turns. Proof of how much great lyrics can add to a song. There's a reason this guy won a Nobel...

Beautiful art. Killer cutting political folk, beautiful understated delivery of some trad style stuff and some of the best ballads in that style. I love the electric albums soon after this and their cryptic lyrics, but it's so good to hear him being so direct and honest and raw here first.

This was the first time I caught a glimpse of why he might’ve been such a whirlwind through the public consciousness, why he might’ve have been called the voice of a generation. Disagree, but he brung it good on this album.

A classic album from a great Nobel Prize Winner. Only his first complete originals album and already packed with timeless and actually still acutely relevant messaging. Blowing in the Wind, Masters of War, A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall, Don't Think Twice It's Alright. And how young and yet mature his voice sounds.

Bob’s first album of mostly original songs. So many classics.

Pretty good. Can’t argue

Amazing!!!!

Probably one of the best and most significant albums of all time.

Great album. Full of soul and Dylan’s truth.

Wow so voll von Ideen

Love it

Great album!

A classic, maybe more harmonica than my likely (personal opinion), but a classic none the less

I was feeling a bit guilty for giving 3 stars to albums that are quite good, but not GOOD. GOOD ones are the ones I want to listen to quite often. But then, when I put something like Bob Dylan's Freewheelin’ on, I feel good, because I know this is what EXTRAORDINARY music sounds like. These are the ones I reserve for 5 stars.

Are you fucking kidding me?! 1963?! (Essentially) his debut album?! It’s nearly unbelievable that this happened that early and that this was his first full length album of original songs. As tribute to genius, this could be top 10 on the “1001 best debut albums to listen to”. Would be interesting to go back to these near-perfect debut efforts to see if they tend to portend genius songwriting going forward….

This album is part of my DNA. I grew up listening to Dylan and then actively sought him out in high school, digging out my dad’s old dubbed Dylan tapes he made when he moved to Canada. When I started university, I picked up a copy of Freewheelin and was immediately hooked. I played it for anyone that would listen. I still think it’s one of his best and unbelievable to me that he was still in his early 20s. The songwriting is beautiful and astounding and he only got better from here.

This is my 2nd favorite Bob Dylan album right behind blood on the tracks So 9/10

Quintessential folk Dylan. Despite not loving his voice, hard to deny that this is clearly a classic. I think probably also my favorite Dylan album (or maybe Blood on the Tracks)

Listened on the subway in Manhattan. There are multiple masterpieces on this album. Maybe it’s corny but I will never not be moved by Blowin’ in the Wind. Masters of War is another 10/10, as is Don’t Think Twice. I could keep going and going

Instant classic. Timeless. Just for the opening song alone.

This one to me is a masterpiece. It has my favorite Dylan song on it, "Don't think twice it's alright." It has other incredible songs like Oxford Town, Girl from North Country and Blowing in the wind. I love his voice on this, the simplicity of the songs, and it's amazing to think he did this around the age of 20. Absolutely incredible.

Je l'aimé à 10 ans, quand mon père me l'a offert à Noël, et c'est toujours aussi bien.

Favorites: The whole album Iconic. Plenty of meaningful lines, songs that make you think.

I love this album. I know this album pretty well. It's the starter album for anyone trying to get into Bob Dylan. I listened to it a bunch in my 20s. I really enjoyed revisiting it. It's wild that Bob wrote all these songs at 22. They stand up so well 60 years later. They are so intense and beautiful and even funny at points. The lyrics are iconic: the politics, the heartbreak, the moment he's capturing in the world. And it's just him, an acoustic guitar and a harmonica (a touch of drums on 1 or 2 tracks). He does so much with so little. It's pure magic. This is probably a 4.5 for me and I'm gonna round up. It's not perfect, but there are just so many classic songs on this album. It deserves a 5. Specific track thoughts... Blowin' in the Wind - What more is there to say? It's probably the most influential protest song ever written. It's pretty great. Girl from the North Country - What a devastating song about a past a love. You can feel how much he still loves her and misses her. I almost can feel the cold of the north country when he's describing it. It's such a beautiful track. Masters of War - this one is so intense. It's one of those relentless Dylan songs about how awful things are. Sadly his critiques around governments and war are still valid today. Down the Highway - i love the chaotic blues guitar riff. It's wacky and weird and loose. I'm not normally a big traditional blues guy, but Bob pulls it off. Bob Dylan's Blues - An early diss track. I love him roasting tin pan alley song writers. They cranked out pop songs like an assembly line for decades and he's just like "i don't need a team of writers, i can writer a bunch of classics on my own, get fucked." And he was right. A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall - One of those massive, behemoth Dylan tracks that just goes and goes and goes. You can feel a whole world in this song. And the chorus hits so hard (hard hard). Don't Think Twice, It's All Right - this is my all time favourite Bob Dylan song. It's this perfect, pretty little breakup song. It's sentimental but bitter. It's witty and sad. It's beautiful. The lyrics are just incredible. So many lines that stick with me: "I give her my heart but she wanted my soul" "You just kinda wasted my precious time" "Goodbye's too good a word, babe, So I'll just say, "Fare thee well"" The way they all come together... it's insane. O and the gentle picked guitar is just magic, and so is the harmonica. Just a perfect track in my books. Oxford Town - It's a fun little country song. Just the way he delivers it, it has this endearing country twang. Corrina, Corrina - Just another pretty, kinda swinging sad bluesy song about missing someone. It's simple but it works so well. Also i think this is one of the few songs with drums on it? I didn't notice it till i was really digging into the track. Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance - this is just a goofy, funny strange rippin fast folk jam. Turns out Bob Dylan can have fun and it's great to hear. I Shall Be Free - Also another funny folk number. It's kinda silly but it's very charming and a good relief after some of the serious grinding political tracks on the album. I don't have a lot of negatives about it. There's a couple songs that i didn't review specifically that are solid, but not special in the way the rest of the album is. It's just a really great album. I love it.

Some albums are classics for a good reason.

Didn’t want to give instant 5 stars because it’s Bob. Don’t think twice… it’s alright.