Live 1966 (The Royal Albert Hall Concert)

Love Dylan, love this live and iconic album.

I rate it down just because it is a double-album and because it is a live album. As always with Bob Dylan a whole album becomes a bit boring.

Not bad for Bob Dylan. Not exactly good, though.

At first I was annoyed that an artist that I'm sure is already well represented gets another entry in the list with all the same material. I'm also not super bothered about the iconic moment captured here - that alone doesn't make it a killer album for me. HOWEVER, this is a really beautiful recording of an amazing concert. These are awesome versions of some excellent material. The acoustic side is so tender, beautiful and expressive. I love the artistic variations in timing and delivery and strumming. Then the electric side is genuinely exciting. It actually gives me some sense of how revolutionary it must have felt at the time. I feel like I understand how excited Dylan is for his new sound. Marks not for the event but for the music.

It was great but I didn't like the live sound

Good

Possibly a heretical opinion, but droning was the word that came to mind. 2.

Songs are way too fucking long….

Technical use of voice - wonderful. But personally, i cant get used to his manner of singing, irritates me profoundly, like scratching on blackboard. Same with occasional use of harmonica solos, which high pitch drives holes in my brain - not pleasant.

My first thought was, "really?". He has enough albums on here already, it's got half his greatest hits and it's live. I saw him live 40 yrs later and couldn't wait for the show to end. He turned "All Along The Watchtower" into a garbled mess that I didn't recognize until 4 minutes in. He made a few songs into show tunes complete with top hat. I've never seen a crowd stream for the exits and I've been to 300+ concerts. My Bob Live experience was a poor one so I go into this with low expectations. 15 Dylan songs back to back, that's a lot of Bob. He was much folkier at this point in his career. Disc One is a slog and all sounds the same. The energy was not in the room. Disc Two was built to shock an audience of folksters, he plugged in and they didn't know what hit 'em! It's like he went electric just to shock them awake. Again, all the songs sound the same on side two. Two different shows, two sounds, neither compelling. I got my harmonica fix for the next 5 years! This album made the list because he's a great writer of songs, not for the actual performance which is uniform and without any highs. I wouldn't have been sure when one song ended and the next began if it weren't for the clapping in between. This rendition of "Mr. Tamborine Man", which I've known since I was a child, brought back memories of my horrible concert experience since the melody wasn't on point and wandered. The one highlight was the guitar work on "One Too Many Mornings". I did appreciate the final track, "Like A Rolling Stone", it had the energy the rest of the show lacked. BORING, slow, more boring and lacking any real wow moments. I don't think I could handle a show this mellow, I envision everyone was seated, wearing a dark suit, horn rimmed glasses and fedoras...clapping politely.

C'est sympa et ca s'écoute par intermittence mais bon dieu ces harmonica ils cassent tout la

Assez fou de constater l’évolution du son de Bon Dylan au fur et à mesure de l’album : on commence par du vrai folk – guitare, voix et harmonica. Et petit à petit on rajoute une batterie, un piano, une basse et tout un attirail plus « électrique ». Et puis bon bah c’est Bob Dylan, avec sa voix reconnaissable parmi 1000.

Voy a decir algo positivo sobre éste album: eventualmente termina. Nota: 1.7

I am tired of getting Bob Dylan. I do not like his voice 90% of the time. This live didn't help his case. Bonus star because instrumentals are still decent and that last song is pretty good. But please. I'm so tired with this list's borderline obsession with the guy.

2.5/5

I like folk and the others influences this album’s got, but I hadn’t such a special connection with record 1, except for Mr Tambourine Man. It’s quite a monotonous style to me. By the other hand, in record 2 I TRULLY felt myself with Tell Me Momma, and all the consequent songs. I believe listening to it again will make me enjoy and understand it a lot more, even the parts I didn’t connect too well with. It’s more like from the effect of being not exposed to the artist enough, Bob Dylan is not in my main listenings haha Nice experience to start. But not the best.

in 2020 when rough and rowdy was released, id not been a dylan fan, the opposite in fact.. but i liked the idea of his jfk tune then when i heard i contain multitudes i was struck. what an amazing track by this now-octogenarian… anywho, i then listened to his entire studio album discography in reverse chronological order from rough and rowdy down to his eponymous first album. i now love dylan only twas til yesterday that id listened to this recording and my god its amazing.

Fantastic album. It gives great insight in how Bob Dylan was doing in the second half of the sixties. Great songs on this album as well.

I like Dylan and the era, but this recording just doesn't grab me. Plodding pace and poor quality compared to other live albums on this list.

I started this project about 6 months ago and I think this is the 43rd Bob Dylan album I've heard. babaddababbaddababba*random object* drawwwwwn ouuuut woooooooord (ad infinitum... but sometimes you get 5 notes from a harmonica to liven things up!)

Dope

Don't really like live albums but it was a good listen

Album #142 and finally my first Dylan. This one surprised me, as I didn't think there'd be any live recordings from him on the list. I suppose if one made sense, this would be it though. I'm not sure how I'd have felt about this prior to April of this year, when I finally saw him live for the first time. I'd previously held out, given the many negative things heard over the years of his live performances. But a friend offered a free ticket, so I couldn't pass it up. I was mesmerized the entire show, and totally got the appeal of how he just does whatever he wants to do and the audience either comes along for the ride or doesn't. With all of that, this album is likely the time in his life when he began doing that and has clearly never stopped. And I enjoyed it very much. I was actually a bit disappointed not to be able to hear any of the booing or complaining from the crowed, but whatever. I did enjoy the second electric half more than the acoustic first, but not to a very large extent. I don't feel that I have much to say about the individual songs, as it was more about the feel for me. And it felt very good.

10/10

While I enjoy the songs in general, not really an album I enjoy listening to all the way through. More enjoyable mixed in with other stuff.

I thought Bob Dylan could not sound worse until I heard him sing for a live performance. Holy shit, few people sound worse singing live. I should not have to hear his mouth sounds right in my ear as he practically swallows the mic. An absolutely unbearable hour and a half.

Music historians love to talk about three big events that melted people’s minds: Elvis Presley gyrating his hips on The Milton Berle Show in 1956, The Beatles playing The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, and Bob Dylan plugging in an electric guitar in 1965. Oh, and Woodstock in 1969, I guess, but there seems to be considerably less hand-wringing about that. Like his shows from this time, this record is split into two sections: Disc 1: classic Bob sitting on a chair playing guitar and harmonica, and Disc 2: Electric Bobaloo. I think it’s important to note that electric instruments didn’t just change the musical delivery, they completely changed the sound. Disc 2 is very much a blues/folk rock record, and it’s understandable that people who like Chair Bob would resist Electric Bob. My hot take is that Electric Bob is the better Bob; all that extra noise really helps mask his objectively-not-great singing voice and adds some much needed flair. Again, plenty of people didn’t want that, and they showed up to the concerts to boo and cry about it. I’ve never really been a Dylan fan (of any era), and I can’t listen to Bob without hearing Dana Carvey’s SNL impression. But I actually enjoyed Electric Bobaloo, and the back-end of Disc 1 (from “Desolation Row” on).

Hard to imagine anything being worse than this fraud’s studio albums, but this tuneless caterwauling manages it.

Bueno, después de años de no conectar con la música de Dylan, el milagro por fin pasó y puedo escuchar sus discos con bastante gusto. Este concierto de 1966 tiene en su primera parte canciones de las que no me gustan tanto, como de las que hacía en sus inicios y se escuchaban igual todas; pero el segundo disco es una joya del blues, más en Dylan tardío con el que veo que estoy conectando muchísimo. Muy bien.

can't stand bob dylan, sorry

Great

тяжело...остановилась на середине, очень уж режет слух

No, no, no. There is absolutely no need for a live Bob Dylan album to be on this list. Not when there are already 6(!) other Bob Dylan albums on this list.

i've been good and listened to every album, but i draw the line here. i'mnot listening to a live unofficial bob dylan album. i refuse. instead i'm listening to by far the list's biggest snub, the infmaous by mobb deep. that gets a 5/5. drink away the pain is underrated.

Live albums only really work when you know the songs. I know three: desolation row (thanks mcr), mr tambourine man and like a rolling stone. I can't say I loved this. Bob Dylan is okay when recorded, but gosh lay off of the harmonica PLEASE! It's nice sometimes but not **that** much !!

i love his songs but this sounds just like the album versions so i dont know what the live part adds to it and most of the songs seem to go on and on getting boring after a while

accidently deleted all my notes.... side a was absolute dog shit and 2/5 at best, just really annoying voice side b was alright and had some good stuff, i really like ballad of a thin man ( just a bit long) and like a rolling stone

It's telling how many of the reviews here bemoan that the version they listened to edited out the 'Judas' moment, or describe this as a 'document' - this is one of those situations where cultural significance overwhelms the actual artefact itself. But this is about albums. I was a little apprehensive about listening to this one - an hour and a half of Bob Dylan live? Thankfully it's less gruelling than I expected. The sound quality is surprisingly good for a start. The lyrics, obviously, are the main draw - although they do verge into what feels a little like self-parody in places (like Desolation Row), and it's unclear if there's always a coherent thought behind them, but that's part of the fun. The music? Not so much. That 'voice like sand and glue' gets a little tiring to listen to, the music can be samey, and the harmonica is just ridiculous in places. Part two livens things up with the controversial band, but is somehow less than the sum of it's parts. The musicians are clearly on fire, but there's not much to distinguish one song from the next and a little more light and shade would be nice. An interesting listen, but not one I'm likely to repeat.

The first disk was unnecessary live versions of his famous songs but the second disk was pretty incredible with the full electric band

Can Bob Dylan leave me alone for one second

It's Bob

Whenever I hear Bob Dylan, I’m certain that at some point, nearly every person on earth got together and decided to play a big joke on me. I can only imagine it went something like this: “Hey let’s pick some pretentious nasally wanker who ‘sings’ completely unintelligible nonsense at unpredictable, uneven, and illogical volumes/tempos. We’ll all pretend to really love and revere that guy just to fuck with the few people that aren’t in on the joke,” Alright, good joke everyone. You got me. You really got me good. Now can we all drop the charade? Please???? They say Levon quit this tour because he couldn’t take the nightly booing, but I wonder if he just couldn’t stomach sitting through Dylan’s prickish navel-gazing one more night. That said…. THAT SAID…. even I must admit it’s not all bad. Sure, I think his lyrics are a constant stream of verbal diarrhea with no actual meaning, and his “voice” has GOT to be a joke, but there’s still some good stuff here. The electric half of this album rips. But the grump in me can’t help but ponder if that’s mostly in spite of Dylan, not because of him. 4/5 Highlights: Fourth Time Around Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat Ballad of a Thin Man Like a Rolling Stone

Harmonica

The first half was classic Bob Dylan (that I would not really consider pleasant to listen!) I did enjoy the second half much more as it included electric guitar and blues vibes.

Enjoyed the acoustic side more than the electric.

What a boring drone of nonsensical word mumbled together to form something akin but not quite like music.

It’s Bob Dylan, live, early in his career. How could you go wrong?

Disc 1: When someone does a Bob Dylan impression with the over emphasized nasally delivery, they sound just like he does on this album. Its comical at points on here. Also, I'm not convinced he actually knows how to play the harmonica. Disc 2: Much more of the Dylan I actually enjoy. But to say this should be o the 1001 list is still a stretch.

I really enjoyed this album! Unlike bob Dylan a lot and I love how they split it up between the acoustic and electric sides! Really cool to hear that!

Another live album. Sigh. So much harmonica. Too much harmonica. Sorry folkies. Dylan just doesn't do it for me.

Sorry Bob, only made it half way through. He's written some great songs, but I guess I have to be in the mood to listen. Today I wasn't.

I feel like the electric side has way more energy than the acoustic side.

The acoustic first CD is fine. The electric is much better due to The Band (but where is Levon Helm?) as his, well, band. 3.5 rounded up.

I like Dylan and I can point to other reviews to support that, but I’m not sure why we need a live album of his on the list. I’ve gotten the appeal of other live albums here (Sam Cooke, Allman Bros, James Brown, Jerry Lee Lewis — all energetic performers who brought a little something extra live). Not the case here. And if we’re going to hear this concert, we really deserve to hear the part where the dude calls Dylan “Judas.” That’s the whole point of this concert! https://youtu.be/RViHf4fABxI?si=cZS7a9SGHUoG8q75

Thoughts before listening: I imagine this will be a polarizing album for the list, especially since I bet most of these songs are already included in their studio versions. Looking at the setlist, I am going to assume this is either a mix of acoustic and electric or its all electric. Review: Well this is a very solid Dylan live album. I was correct that this is a mix of acoustic and electric, and it turns out that the electric portion was a very famous Dylan bootleg that was traded for 30+ years prior to this official release. Also, the show wasn't actually from The Royal Albert Hall although the bootlegs were mislabeled as such. As a bootleg afficionado and trader of live recordings that caught the very tail end of that phenomenon right before everything went digital, I love this story. I also am enjoying this recording quite a bit, so I can't fault its inclusion on this list. This represents a side musical history and fandom that strongly resonates with me. I'll give this 4-stars.

maybe on vinyl it would sound great oh something, sucked on app

It's two Bob Dyland sounds, acoustic with a bit of harmonica, and the second half is backed with his band the Hawks. I wasn't expecting them to be so good, granted the only other Dylan record I've listened to is The Free Wheelin' Bob Dylan which felt like a dramatization of the first half of this concert. The Hawks feel ahead of the time, but a bit behind modern day, so today in 2025 it's listenable, it's impressive, but the entire effort only really stands out because of Bob Dylan's penmanship. I think this is a good record for those who are already fans. Otherwise, so many stretched out tracks kind of gnaw at me. It feels bad to ask an acknowledged genius to hurry tf up, but it's the feeling I got. 2.8/5

Rv/g

This album is why people make fun of him. I love some Bob Dylan stuff but this was just…. Evidence of all of the jokes people make about him

Bob Dylan is one of the greatest song writers of all time, no doubt about it. I know that his vocal style is a major stumbling block for some people, but this live performance allows the emotion behind his lyrics to shine through. The first half is his traditional acoustic set, but the second half is where he goes electric, much to the dismay of some hidebound folkies in the audience. They were wrong then and they’re still wrong now. Bob plus a band adds an extra dimension to the music. Judas-tastic!

My first reaction was "do we really need a bootleg of Dylan, whereas there are already his major albums on the list?" --- and yes, you guess right, I already had an opinion on the matter. But after the first half of the very classic Bob Dylan, starts the electric Dylan part, and it is really worth listening. The fact that people in the audience are not pleased makes it almost better. I'd give a 5 to the second part, but the first part was what I was expecting from a Dylan bootleg (too much mouth harp).

He improved his delivery in later years, but his lyrics are very deep.

I feel like live albums only work if you already like the artist, and I don't really have much appreciation for Bob Dylan. I mean, I didn't die of boredom listening to this, so at least there's that. The first half is just him singing alone with an acoustic guitar and a harmonica. I guess this has charm for someone, but for me this is just boring. Bob Dylan is a great writer, but for me, instrumentation is far more important. And here, since it’s just one person and calm songs, it’s extremely monotonous and unsatisfying. Again, I understand why some people may like this, but this is just not for me. I listen to music for fun, and this is not fun. The second half of the album is an a lot more energetic folk rock gig, which is actually pretty fun. Though, apart from Like a Rolling Stone, I didn’t find any of the songs all that exciting. 5/10

Forever a timeless classic and one of my favorite musicians. Not the best album, but some are truly poetic and classic!

This is one of the most frustrating Dylan albums I’ve heard. Normally I’m quite tolerant of his unconventional vocals. They usually work. But for some reason, I found them exceptionally grating in this performance. 2.5* rounding up because he’s still Dylan.

Really interesting to hear how Dylan changed his phrasing in concerts; however, his emphasis and exaggerated vocals in the first set bordered on laughable. The second set helped me understand why people got upset with his electric change, although I really liked it. Historic (and quite clean) bootleg. Worth the listen.

Dear Lord, this is a lot of Dylan in one sitting. I like disc 2 better, as it distracts from his singing a bit. Even songs I normally like suck on this album. So glad it's over. 1.5* rounding up because I know he has talent. It's just not in the vocal arena.

A live album from Dylan's brilliant mid-1960s period, originally a bootleg. This has the famous "Judas" heckle. From the perspective of nearly 60 years, it's a bit hard to understand why there was this fuss about Dylan going electric! As a document of Dylan's transition from acoustic folkie to electric, this is an essential album.

Oh my God, Bob Dylan? Immediate five stars!!!!! Let the Mavericks chase him!!!

Still despise his music

There can be no doubt as to the historic importance of this recording. An artist in the brink having conquered one world and moving on to another. The performance shows that he was in command of both.

Day 58 I had only listened to this album once or twice before. I am a big Dylan fan! This live album really brings out his emotions and helps me better connect with his songs. A wonderful performance! (4/5)

This is an historically significant album. In this tour, folk went electric, whether the fans liked it or not. Those Canadian boys in The "Band" were absolutely cookin' on the electric disc (Disc 2). Liked Songs Added: Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat Like A Rolling Stone

Great, but did this really need to be on the list?

If you love Bob, you'll love this. If you hate Bob, you'll hate this. I personally feel pretty neutral about Bob, it's my first album of his, and I feel pretty neutral about this album too. I generally liked disc2 better, but the whole experience was very neutral for me

Voice is hard to bear

I was at a wrestling show years ago where the bad guy wrestlers were giving everyone the middle finger as was the style. And my non-wrestling fan friend was there too and pointed out how silly it was for grown men to do that, and I’ve never been able to look at them doing it the same. I feel like A Complete Unknown acted as my friend here, pointing out it’s quite a silly voice and persona and as such I found this album hard to take seriously.

Das Doppelalbum dokumentiert ein Konzert vom Mai 1966 in der Free Trade Hall in Manchester, das lange fälschlich als „Royal Albert Hall Concert“ kursierte. Aufgenommen wurde es im Rahmen von Dylans Welttournee, begleitet in der zweiten Hälfte von The Hawks, die später als The Band bekannt wurden. Dylan, US-amerikanischer Songwriter, teilt den Abend in zwei kontrastierende Teile: zunächst ein Solo-Set mit akustischer Gitarre und Mundharmonika, dann ein elektrisches Set mit voller Band. Bekannte Stücke sind „Visions of Johanna“, „Desolation Row“ und das abschließende „Like a Rolling Stone“. Das Album gilt als historisch bedeutsames Dokument eines künstlerischen Umbruchs und zeigt Dylan zwischen Folk-Tradition und Rock-Rebellion.

I'm a Dylan fan, but the first half folk set was a little tough to get through. He sounded so vulnerable stripped down to just his voice, acoustic guitar, and harmonica. And let's be honest, he's not blessed with the greatest singing voice. But the rocking half is solid. He sounds much more settled with his "loud" rock n roll band raging behind him. It really is interesting and jarring to hear the switch mid-set. I'd ordinarily give something like this a 3 at best, but it's historical significance elevates it to at least a 4. 4/5 #174

Great live record

Musikgeschichte!

Disfruté de los dos álbumes de Bob Dylan que anteriormente aparecieron en esta lista, pero no entiendo la adición de este álbum. La grabación de la sección acústica suena un tanto mediocre, los agudos están muy por encima y llega a ser molesto. La voz de Dylan se quiebra en varios momentos, la armónica perfora los oídos. Pero la sección eléctrica suena aún peor, muy mala calidad de grabación para temas que ya escuché mejor grabados e interpretados. Además la duración del álbum es excesiva, y las versiones de los temas son muy largas. La interpretación en la armónica por momentos está bien, pero en otros es bastante pobre. La mayoría son temas que ya escuché en los demás álbumes, por lo que es básicamente repetir el repertorio. Podría haber escuchado otro álbum, incluso aunque no fuese un gran álbum hubiese preferido variedad.

Live 1966 (free live album pass) starts out a bit whiny and gets worse until he goes electric, which he had done a year earlier at the Newport Folk Festival. For me, the electric set was much more listenable than the acoustic portion - but still rough. I’m surprised the audience was dissatisfied about him going electric, it was an improvement. Best song is Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat, although last four songs are decent. (1.7*s) Glad I wasn’t at this concert.

What you have here is a live one with the 2 sides of Dylan. The 1st half solo acoustic set is not the version I prefer. Find that his singing is rather annoying. Songs sound the same and were boring. When the Hawks came out for the 2nd half, the whole concert picked up. The crowd must have been a bunch of old, stuffshirts to criticize the rock set. I much preferred it but I guess if you had a stick up your ass, Dylan was straying from the folk tunes you were so accustomed to. I like the dichotomy of this album but again, it's live so had to be there for true experience. 2.03 stars.

I get it, Bob Dylan is a legend. He's a legendary songwriter and absolutely deserves to be part of the discussion of music history. Now that that's out of the way I'm not sure how to respond to Live 1966. I'll break it into 2 parts because its essentially two sides from the the same live show. Starting with the opening acoustic folk half it has all of the signature Dylan that confuses and annoys me. His vocal style is so out of control at times to the point where it sounds like a cartoon character. The various parodies I've heard of his style don't do justice to just how unhinged it gets in reality at times. Some people love this aspect and for me its some fun and games for a few minutes and then just kinda somber and annoying. I recognize why Dylan had an impact, but I don't personally want to suffer through it. The back half features Dylan with electric guitar and backing tracks from The Hawks/The Band featuring a lot of organ/keyboard. I definitely enjoyed the electric half of the setlist more, though that is a low bar to clear. It's got the other side of Dylan's typical schtick with harmonica and rambling vocals. Again, fine in doses but nothing I need for any extended length. I'm well aware of Bob Dylan's live music career and the way this list is constructed I should have expected some live Dylan. I think it's a deserving entry for its/his place in music history and the impact the Bob Dylan going electric had even if it isn't my cup of tea. Glad to have some background on it but not something I need to hear again. 1.47 stars

Certainly one of the "big" albums of Dylan. Shows that he was not only a genius in the studio but also on stage. Wonderful album, which for sure belongs to this list of 1001 albums.

Just ehh

3.5 enjoyable, but if you listen to Dylan early in the morning you would swear he placed the bagpipes.

This was the 4th or 5th Dylan album I've been served up. It was easily the best of the lot. The second part, with the band, was so much better than anything else of his I've had to listen to. I'm still a long way from being a Dylan worshipper, but I was expecting to hate his music and I've not had that feeling at all.

Famous live performance, especially since the Martin Scorsese documentary. Dylan is commanding on the microphone. He hammers the harmonica in the acoustic set with abandon. Interesting concession on this European tour where he did the first half of the show acoustic and the second half electric with backing band (the Hawks who would go on to become the Band). It’s a good live performance. Pretty much all of these songs are Dylan classics.

2.5 - Meh

Interesting to learn why this was referred to as the "Royal Albert Hall" concert. Slightly too long, and we always have our thoughts about life albums, but we enjoyed this regardless.

There are probably a half dozen Dylan albums in my personal top 100, but I don’t think there’s a live album in the top 1000.

I'm not a big fan of live albums but I love Bob and this was a pivotal moment/tour. Hard to believe so many silly people made such a fuss over the addition of electric guitars....that is definitely the better half of the concert, with the exception of Just Like a Woman and Mr. Tambourine Man

I'm not at all a member of the cult, and the first half put me to sleep, so most of these stars are for the band.

Listening to this album has me thinking there is significant meaning behind every song and I really just don’t understand. I listened to this with Will on our road trip to Indiana and we both agreed when listening that we just don’t get it. I appreciate the harmonica and now I wanna learn to play.

What is not to like.

Not really my vibe

3.5/5 The second half of this album saved it for me. I enjoy some of the raw acoustic Dylan stuff, but I don't think all of the tunes here are as well-suited to it as something like "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" or "Blowin' in the Wind." 9 verses with no changes to the music doesn't work for me too well. However, I also didn't have the time today to sit and read every lyric as I listened, so that surely didn't help. The second half, though, sounded great, man. The Band was just straight up cooking on it. They gave Bob so much more depth and feel. Yeah, I don't think I would have been booing at the Newport Folk Festival.

I love this fucker so much. Acoustic Dylan solo with a harmonica moves me to tears. Electric Dylan moves me to boogie. Coolest Jew I never knew.

Listening to Dylan live turns the volume up on the music. And Dylan the composer—like Dylan the poet—is an absolute genius. I have never loved Like a Rolling Stone more.

Blonde on Blonde is an incredible album and I love the live versions of those songs on this album. I liked the blues-y, soulful renditions on this live album a lot. It's a 4 for me.

Wow that was good

first time listen for me. wow. i think this the first time im bumping an album to a 5 solely because its prestige is greater than the parts. the acoustic versions of many great blonde on blonde songs, the primitive live versions of studio bangers, the sheer weight of it all. very cool

Someone must be listening. Just a couple days ago I predicted there’d be a Dylan album on this list that wouldn’t deserve a 5-star rating, and here it is! Okay so all the songs are great, obviously. I actually love the way he sings on the acoustic half, and I like his harmonica playing better when live than on the albums. The electric portion is dynamic and energetic. But based on this one taste, I prefer studio Dylan over live Dylan. I judge the studio albums primarily on the strength of the songs, lyrics, tracklisting, etc. I can’t do the same for live albums since these are just different performances of songs that exist on the albums. That leaves me to judge this album only on the strength of the performance, set list, energy, recording. And those things are all pretty good. It’s fun to hear the history of this moment. But this does not, and maybe cannot, bowl me over the way one of his studio albums can.

Bob Dylan has to be one of the most hilariously overrated musicians of all time. Anyone who ever covered his songs has done a better job. However, he is a good lyricist sometimes.

Fine. Pretty emotional, but I've never been keen on his vocals

Kinda feeling this the same as The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. Went into it not expecting to be that into it, but coming out of it liking it quite a bit. That said, with how much he already has on the list, do we really need a live album? I'd probably cut this one and probably another of his albums off the list to make room for underrepresented artists/genres.

I always say Bob Dylan can't sing, but in a very good way. On this album though, and the first song is an example, his signature swoops get really annoying. Maybe "vocalising" is a better word than "singing" for much of what he does, esp. live, oh my, saw him live last year and it was bad. Similarly, his harmonica playing, possibly worse than his singing, is better described as "nervously in- and exhaling through a harmonica". And yet. I love Bob Dylan despite all of this. His song-writing is peerless. His lyrics are not daft (understatement) like most. There's just something about his music that feels very "right" to me. This album in particular is significant, reflecting his (then) controversial inclusion of those damned electric instruments.

I've listened to the whole thing twice - the unofficial one the second time so I could hear the grouchy crowd in the second half. I think I love it a lot!

I don't really think I can handle an hour and half of dissonant, seesawing vocals and tinny harmonica sounds

I hadn't heard a lot of these songs, and some of the ones I did know where reiminagined in this performance, so it makes for a unique listen. I'm not always a fan of live albums for the most part, but this is a solid performance, right at the beginning of Dylan's electric period. Apparently there was heckling going on here, though they must have edited that out, because I didn't hear it. The beginning acoustic part definitely sounds more intimite. Not sure this is as important an album as the Newport folk festival performance but I guess that one wasn't released as an album. 3/5

For a song about a man with a tambourine, there's an awful lot of harmonica.

A really good live album that features acoustic and electric Dylan, side-by-side. Some of the tracks (eg, Visions of Johanna) are amazing. On other tracks (eg, Mr Tambourine Man), Dylan’s lyrical delivery is like every parody of his delivery. He is certainly a lyrical and musical savant, and he gives a great performance here; but he also displays his main weakness— he really has no idea where to put the emPHAsis on his lyrics. Recalls the scene from the documentary about the making of “We are the World,” in which Stevie Wonder shows a confused Bib Dylan how Bob Dylan woukd sing his assigned lyric. This is a provisional 3; could be a four on another listen, if I decide the gems here outweigh Dylan’s awkwardness vocally.

Really good but deserves another listen.

Legendary show.

Tuo Bob Dylanin laulutyyli on kyllä niin erikoinen miten se vääntää tuota melodiaa. Ja ohan se hyvä soittaa tuota huuliharppuakin. Alkukeikan Bob veti yksin, toisella puolella bändi tuli mukaan. Hyvä, sillä jos koko levy olisi ollut täysin akustinen niin se olisi käynyt aika pitkästyttäväksi. Parhaat: Just Like a Woman, Mr. Tambourine Man, Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues

Sublime

What a bore. Bob Dylan is monotonous at the best of times; there’s no need for an hour & a half of torturous live renditions of his songs.

Funny voice on this guy. I completely don’t know him, by the way

Bob is good even without his trademark electric sound

i like being a dylan guy now

jos olisin 1966 nainen bobin kullin imisiminen alkaisi alta aikayksikön... woo bob... boooob... holy balls eroavaisuus disk ykkösessä ja kakkosess aomg elektronic kitara. holy FUCKING SHIT!!! ja housut alas hopihopi kikkelin kiillottaminen käynnistyy ´. valtaisa. valtaisa jalomielinen hahmo vittu hahmo tämä kaveri ei mikään ihminen. ehkä ei ihan maailman kuunneltavin livealbumi kuitenkaan, parempi jos olisin paikalla hehheh mutta se oli vaikeaa... ihme että joku bootleg saanut tällaisen virallisen tyyppisen olemuksen. pitää tämän rojektin jälkeen vähän penkoa hyviä live bootleg albumeja. mutta nyt olen polvillani pekka, paljasta pili pikimmiten. desolation row

The second half of the concert was way better than the first half. Bob Dylan is a great songwriter but he needs a full band like The Hawks (The Band) to accompany him.

I like live music but this was not something I enjoyed

3 stars I generally don’t like live albums. And this is a bootleg to boot! But the recording was better than I had anticipated. I can see why people like this so much, but to me it is long and not really what I would want to listen to in hearing Dylan. It’s a nice document of the time, but i wouldn’t consider it a top album.

Classic Dylan. Dude was a repetitive screamer sometimes, but his soul was in the right place.

Not big on live albums but its pretty solid considering how influential Bobby D was

-i’m afraid i’ll just never really be able to get too into Bob Dylan. none of his work is “bad” but it just does nothing for me. very light 3 stars honestly -apparently the second half had the audience jeering and heckling? that would have been interesting to hear. although i actually liked the second half better, it kinda made the album for me -Favorites are I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met) and Baby, Let Me Follow You Down

I mean, I get it, but not for me

just terrible, bob dylan is a fraud

Sure. Bob Dylan. Live. At Royal Albert. Meh. Next.

Could not make it through a single song

I love Dyland but I'm not sure this really needed to be on the list. He's not bad as a live performer but his genius is mainly in his writing. I suppose it's interesting in terms of the history of his style as he switches to a full rock band halfway through the set, but as a live album I don't think it adds much to the recordings.

Paska. Voiskräkit, harmonikka, nenä-ääni, sama melodia koko ajan, eka levy täyttä sontaa Melkein nukahdin, mutta yhtäkkiset voice crackit herätti. Okei no ei se niin huono ollu, mutta hyvin pitkäveteinen enkä kuuntele uudestaan

Second half is much better, 6/10

Dated.

Excellent album of the controversial Judas live concert. He could really play live and the quality is excellent.

Bob doesn't play gigs like this anymore.

Disc two is much more interesting and fun. Really like Baby Let me follow you down.

I mean you got Bob Dylan playing like his best songs acoustic and then the band comes in. What more can you ask for. I will say desolation is too damn long. 4.5/5

Version on Spotify didn’t include play it fuckin loud -_- still great live album! But missing some of the boos and jeers that I’ve heard make this one so famous

It was a bit long, but fantastic all the way through. I think I enjoyed the first half with just Dylan a bit more, but both disc's were great.

Woah ok Bob

How on earth is there such a difference between the first and the second album? I'm tired of it.

That's genius - make one half on the album so bad and monotonous, that next to it, anything that has a minimal amount of energy and more instruments than just guitar and harmonica feels like a masterpiece. Well, I'm *not* falling for it.

I think it is fair to say you had to be there. This seems more notable for it's historical content than the actual listenabilty if the music. I like Dylan but I have to admit, I was a bit bored.

Dylan but live

Still don't get Dylan. Lyrically fine, but his terrible delivery always grates and the harmonica seals the deal for.me, bloody awful. For what it's worth, electric was better.

Byaab Dilughn seen so wiyrd. I was listening to it thinking about all the covers I'd heard of each song, and preferred.

Given Dylan's other albums on the 1001 list, we didn't really need this Live album... sure, the contrast (an heckling) between side one and two is an interesting Wikipedia footnote, but not enough to spend 90 minutes on. One thing that I've learnt about myself during this 1001 albums journey... how much I dislike the harmonica!

Pretty good - definitely picked up in the second half

The background about this album is fascinating, so it was good to listen through knowing the controversies and the way the audience reacted. It's a sort of window into mid-60s culture and the changes happening at that time. As to the sound itself, it's all solid early Dylan. The acoustic set is pleading and folky, while the electric set is raucous. I do think I would've been better served listening to the album in pieces rather than straight through, as at some point I got a bit tired of it.

It's Bob Dylan, so of course it's good. Some tracks have a great live composition, but if this is the most essential Bob Dylan live performance then I'm disappointed.

The Judas portion of the concert is the real reason to revisit this. The acoustic section is fine and Dylan plays some of his classic songs very well but once he goes electric, erm, it's electric. I always wonder if I would have been booing if I'd been there in 66? I hope not, but who knows, we all want to believe we're on the right side of history.

My first Dylan album is a live album I didn’t even know was on the list. It makes sense, I like any well knowledged classic rock fan know the legends of Dylan going electric to the anger of fans of his earlier work, and I know the legends of the divisive shows he was playing from 1965-1966. The first disc is the customary acoustic set. It opens with “She Belongs To Me” which is a decent opener and goes into “Fourth Time Around” and “Visions Of Johanna” both off of the Blonde On Blonde album, I personally love the latter and solidly like the former. I really like “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue”. “Desolation Row” is among my favorite Dylan songs and it’s done very well here. “Just Like A Woman” is again done well. “Mr. Tambourine Man” is a great song performed well here. The problem I have here is that all of these songs sound near identical to the studio versions but with Dylan’s voice somehow more nasally. Beginning the electric half of this record is “Tell Me, Momma” which immediately resets the vibe which is getting very low, (not boring necessarily) but this gets the energy rolling quickly. “I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)” was solidly performed. The sound quality is surprisingly good, not sure why I was surprised but I was. I dunno as you might be able to tell I’m somewhat running out of things to say. I enjoy just about everything here. I really loved the rendition of “One Two Many Mornings”. I didn’t love the rendition of “Ballad Of A Thin Man” despite it being arguably my favorite Dylan song, and ending on a great rendition of “Like A Rolling Stone”

Exceedingly boring. Nasally voice and very dull.

Love the 2nd disk, the more folk is not my thing

Still not growing on me. Should have been a songwriter and not the singer. How did this guy ever make it?

1 Not my thing

I find the harmonica V shrill. We do not gel.

6/10 Bob Dylan sang some songs. Good for him 7-24-2025

Dylan is great in small amounts. 1.5 hours is just too much all at once.

I can understand the uproar over the 1st hour vs 2 hour

First three tracks just sound like terrible versions of Bob Dylan songs. People make fun of his voice which I disagree with, but here outside of the studio its really not good. Just Like a Woman is the first fully enjoyable song. The electric stuff is easily the best sounding. Still Dylan and still decent just a pretty wide mix of good and bad music. Really love the drumming on Like a Rolling Stone at least

Fairly pedestrian folk performance, livens up considerably on the second disc 😉

Favorite Track: Like a Rolling Stone

This was actually really good! First half was acoustic and that was the highlight!

Apparently this is one of the most bootlegged performances of all time, and is considered wildly influential. I respect it for its place in history, and even enjoy some of the cuts on here, but I'd be lying if I said I was over the moon for it. Maybe I'm just not a big enough Dylan fan to love it that way.

Bra, inte så spännande dylan-låtar

A primeira vez na vida que me senti estuprado por um disco. A primeira faixa assaltou meus ouvidos com tamanha agressividade que chegou a me dar calafrios. E de lá, o abuso sonoro continuou. Quando olhei para a duração do disco para estimar se conseguiria sobreviver até o fim do espancamento, minha pressão baixou. Uma hora e meia! Pela primeira vez até então eu senti vontade de desistir de ouvir um álbum desta lista até o final, isso ainda na terceira faixa. Mas decidi manter a perseverança. Não pelo Dylan, mas por mim mesmo, que quero dizer, no final de toda a lista, que ouvi todos os seus respectivos discos até o fim, independente do quão agonizante fosse a experiência. E sim, é agonizante ouvir este álbum. É um disco torturante, ao menos pra mim. A sonoridade me machuca muito. O mais óbvio, e o que todo mundo aponta, é essa gaita que o Bob Dylan ama usar em suas canções. Geralmente, nos seus discos de estúdio, ela já me irrita mas não passa disso, uma irritação, e em algumas faixas, eu até a aprecio. Mas neste disco aqui, talvez por ele ser ao vivo, a gaita deixou de ser uma leve irritação e virou um verdadeiro abuso sexual. Além disso, temos também sons da platéia, algo típico e esperado em álbuns gravados ao vivo, mas neste disco os sons são estupidamente agravantes. Dor física mesmo. Para além das condições técnicas da gravação, a voz do Bob Dylan nunca soou tão esdrúxula pra mim quanto aqui. Esse já é o terceiro LP dele que pego na lista. Os outros dois foram o Freewheelin’ e o Blood On The Tracks. Então eu já sabia o que esperar da forma com que Dylan empregaria seus vocais, mas mesmo assim, fiquei impressionado com a forma bêbada que ele carrega suas palavras aqui, muito mais do que nos dois discos de estúdio que já ouvi até então. Combinado com a sequíssima instrumentalização (na segunda metade do álbum uma banda entra em jogo, o que acaba melhorando o disco mas não muda minha percepção geral, apenas salvou o álbum de meia estrela pra uma estrela), a gaita perfurante e noiosa, os sons da platéia, a duração tortuosamente longa, temos aqui de fato um disco terrível. Ainda aguardo um momento mágico, tal qual um relâmpago, onde de uma vez só todo o trabalho de Bob Dylan vai clicar para mim simultaneamente, e eu me tornarei um fã da noite pro dia. Mas até agora, esse momento parece sim estar extremamente distante. Álbum interminável e doloroso. 1/5

Disc 1 is Bob Dylan solo, performing plenty if classics. Good performances but nothing to significantly elevate the songs. Disc 2 is where it's at, members of The Band join on stage and they're fucking sick. The anti electric Dylan people were troglodytes.

Music artists do not warrant a live album on here unless it is an exceptional or groundbreaking piece of work. Bob Dylan's record is neither exceptional nor groundbreaking.

I am not a huge Dylan-head, but it was enjoyable to get a live snapshot of his shift away from the folk music. First side of the record is him with acoustic guitar and harmonica, not my favorite but as always some moving poetry in there. Second side you get proto-The Band playing with him, which is much more my style. Ballad of a Thin Man sounds very modern in arrangement and playing for instance. To know that half the audience was hating it is also extremely funny and bizarre.

Unnecessary.

The 5th(!) Dylan record I had to endure. Whimsy-whiney americana bla. Can‘t stand it anymore. Especially as there are also a lot of Springsteen and Neil Young records in the mix..

Despite it's name this is a recording of the legendary Manchester Free Trade Hall concert where a heckler called out "Judas" from the audience at the start of the electric set. The acoustic set includes "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue", "Just Like a Woman", and "Mr. Tambourine Man", while the electric set ends with "Like a Rolling Stone". It sounds a tad dated, so unless you're a fan, I probably wouldn't bother.

This was mostly mating cats in a bagpipe recycling facility. The only bit of enjoyment I got from this was The Band. Still though, I didn't even finish the second disc. ⭐⭐

Maybe a little too much Dylan

Some good songs, some crap, all massacred.

Oh I have this on CD. One of my favourites already

You'd had to be there...

Great songwriter but man I get sick of his voice and harmonica

I love Bob Dylan but this live concert does not make justice to some of these songs.

A fun snapshot in time, but nothing that made me say wow

It isn't like I didn't know who Bob Dylan was before I heard this album. But I never heard this album. In fact many years ago my brother took a deep dive into his archive and was blown away. I did not get involved in the project and here I am today blown away! There is radio play Bob Dylan, which is great. But then there is this! The first song I was thinking OK, I know the voice, I know the style... but what I did not know was the emotional draw-in that had me by the middle of the second song. The poetry, the near spoken word stories he tells, the depth of it all! One forgets the "Bob Dylan" voice, the musical style as you get sucked into the feeling, the meaning which still feels immediate, in the now. This is a really good Frickin' album!

Fantastisk håndverk. Skulle bare ønske noen andre kunne synge sangene, og at munnspillet blei kasta i søpla før konserten. Beste låt: Like a Rolling Stone (Selv om denne versjonen var langt mer slitsom enn plateversjonen)

Mediocre quality recording with squeaky harmonica, uninnovative guitar and nasally mumbled vocals making up some leftover Folk Rock sandwich gone bad.

Vraiment une voix particulière mais quelque chose qui fait adhérer à cette univers 🙏😉

Ah yes, bootleg live recordings. The kind you need hear before you die. Or not.

His voice is SO ANNOYING

Nope. Dylan can’t sing. His vocal lilts and nasal twang are so off putting. Made it through a bit of the album and then promptly turned it off.

i like bob dylan but i don’t like live albums in general unfortunately

If fans are heckling you at a concert maybe that’s a clue that you shouldn’t release this as a live album. First half was genuinely a painful waste of time. Second half was a bit more tolerable but even the harmonica seems to screech for help

HOW DOES IT FEEL HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE ON YOUR OWN WITH NO DIRECTION HOME

sort of fine playing quietly in the background

4 Loved the acoustic first set and electric second set. You could tell he was a little more jazzed up about the electric set lol. Great album, favorite songwriter, not my favorite singer but vocals aren’t everything in my opinion. Favorite song: tom thumbs blues. Least favorite: BOATM

quiet good! living legend man, soft voice+instrumentals, but not catchy enough - got no wow-effect

Who told these mfs it was ok to add live albums to this book 💔

This started as a mid 3 and kept growing, gets better the further into the record you get. Mid to high 4 I think

There is such a thing as too much Bob Dylan This is a 1.5 but I’m feeling generous

Garth Hudson go off

Is it weird I liked the second half more? Is that kinda Judas of me?

I’ve always suspected I wasn’t a Bob Dylan fan and this has confirmed it. Way too long, all the songs were muddling together and just not my vibe. Felt like I was forcing myself to listen to this for completeness of the listening challenge I’d set myself.

Just phenomenal. Songwriting that feels like a poet unpicking the nature of the world, and that sound that kind of stops my heart dead for a second when I hear it.

Actually kind of decent, Dylan hasn’t fallen to his lazy speech-singing style yet.

Kult nok, en del klassikere. Ikke helt min greie, hvert fall ikke per i dag.

So does anyone know if he ever stopped holding in his sneeze?

Finished.

I will never understand the hype of Dylan….

The first time I remember hearing Dylan was watching the movie The Wanderers. I remember being moved by it. All these years later I still am. He's probably one of my earliest examples of how little the singers vocal ability has to do with my enjoyment of the music. It's always been music first for me. But anyway, this album is awesome. Bob was the voice of the 60's. Whatever you think of him, dude made a huge mark on music and his generation. Also the band is on fire.

I like Dylan's writing, but that harmonica noodling is just too much sometimes.

Sir bob. Arguably better live? The change to electric was fun

Too long Live Worse versions of great songs 2 and thats generous

The first half with just him and the harmonica was brutal, then the band came in and I got excited, only to be let down again

Holy harmonica, Batman! The first half of this album certainly felt the most like folksy Bob Dylan between the nasally singing, blaring harmonica, and simple guitar. It was perfectly fine. Just fine. The second half features more of a band assemble and is certainly move lively. But again, it felt just fine for me. I don't have strong emotions for Bob Dylan either way and this album didn't move the needle one way or the other, so I kind of just land square at a 3.

I tried, but honestly I couldn't get into this one. To me it sounded like someone doing a Bob Dylan caricature with the enunciated inflections, drawn out harmonica bullshit, etc. While I can appreciate his vivid storytelling, I think it holds up best in a studio environment or draped in someone else's vocals. Second half is a bit more forgiving with the electric support, but by that point I was pretty worn of the experience. Only song I really remember is Fourth Time Around -- the rhyme scheme is kind of dumb at points, but the story is memorable at least. Not my jam -- 2 / 5.

None of this clicked for me. The guitar was perfectly good, but his voice is not good at all. It sounds like he's trying to speak in Gaelic or something. The harmonica is a bit heavy as well. Disc 1 had 1 star potential. Second half saved it. I still don't "get" Bob Dylan

Going to be honest I only listened to 3 total songs on the first disc once I determined they were all going to sound to same. Acoustic Bob by himself is not very good. Disc 2 was much better with the full band. But something about his voice with the really bad quality of this album was really hard to listen to. The bluesy instruments were just good enough to get this to a low, low 3

Man I know Dylan is super influential and all but I just can't get into it. The entire first half kinda sounded like one long song. Second half is def better with an actual band it seems but still nothing spectacular, even though I'm sure it was at the time.

I am not a Bob Dylan fan. That being said, the importance of this concert is undeniable, and it's damn great.

A lot of howling and harmonica. Not my fav Dylan record on here, but still some great songs. 3/5.

leave that harmonic alone pls

This a well recorded live album. And the band can fucking play. But it's not an essential listen. 3 stars.

Double albums are always just too much for me. Just too long, man. This is a neat concept though, an acoustic side and an electric one. I liked the electric side better. 3/5

live folk rock done in the way only dylan can do.

I just can’t deal with all the goddamned harmonica.

When people ask me what I think of Bob Dylan, I say he's a whining nag with a cold. But truth be told, I was really impressed with this album. More up tempo than I expected. Excellent lyrics, not to whiny. Un expected 4/5

super wack

I do not like live albums and I am not fond of Bob Dylan.

Ittno for mej

Oh boy, this was a slog. I'm not a Bob Dylan hater, but 1.5 hours straight of his voice got to me a little. It's not horrible, but it's not a good sign when you're just waiting for an album to end so you can listen to something else haha. Standouts: N/A Rating: 2.25/5

it's a good album but not for me

😔

Did not care for it.

I really don’t get how people like this guy

Bob Dylan's "Royal Albert Hall" Concert sounded really beautiful. His acoustic guitar, harmonica, and his voice projecting the lyrics were and still are, powerful. I wanted to pick up my guitar and play away; however, I desisted from the idea and listened. Some people do not like the harmonica Dylan uses in his songs. To me this is what Dylan is all about: Folksy, Americana.

This was good. Weird how people hated when he did electric stuff.

He talks like a south park character and the guitar strumming is the same in every single track I don't not see the appeal

It's amazing how the worst part about every Bob Dylan album is Bob Dylan himself. This is a great album with a giant Dylan-sized anchor around its neck; some of his worst and most grating vocals that I've heard. And yet the music is still really good. Makes for a very frustrating listen, as this would easily be a 5/5 if it was just someone else singing. Great performances all around otherwise

Wow, I generally don't listen to much Dylan but this was really amazing

Folk energy, but not my kind of music.

Just not my thing, on certain days I can stand it but today is not that day.

Cool, but nor for me.

Excelente registro do Dylan em um momento chave da carreira. QoA Adonis New.

Well it's the soundtrack of my childhood. Big Bobby Z fans in our household. These are all nice enough. I can't be blown away. I regret that so many of these albums just wash over me!

Stellar live record. Not a single complaint from this guy.

I thought this album was gunna be super grating and insufferable like the first several tracks, but then I was surprised with a band! I do think I like Dylan the most when there is a band supporting him. Those tracks where it is just him I find to be the most challenging to me. That being said there was a couple tracks in this album I saved, but I honestly have no idea what this album is doing on this list. It was like an ok greatest hits album.

Here’s another freeloader. Just riding on the coat tails of Houmous & Chutney. It’s remarkable to think he got so far without anyone spotting just how much he copied Ken Chutneys dress sense! 3.2

Not for me 👎

Disc 1 just felt like the same song over & over. Disc 2 a bit more lively. Idk, this live album feels like a cheap inclusion.

A snapshot of the year when rock and folk collided. Dylan is the reluctant hero of this, which spawned thousands of bands. This set is great. The playing is free and loose, and Dylan’s vocals sound great. This is a quintessential moment in rock history, preserved in wax. Reverence in the highest order.

Meh

The second half is much better than the first half, but that's because he had The Band backing him. I'm always 50/50 on live albums, but this was fine.

Was just not a huge fan of his voice. The writing is super solid but I simply do not enjoy his singing.

not for me

This legendary concert is as much historical document as it is live album. It captures Bob Dylan at the height of his controversial transformation from acoustic folk hero to electric prophet, complete with the infamous "Judas!" heckle from the crowd. The first half, just Dylan and his acoustic guitar, is stark and poetic, full of the pointed lyricism that made him a household name. Tracks like Visions of Johanna and It's All Over Now, Baby Blue have a haunting, brittle quality, and the stripped-down delivery lets the language shine. But it’s also quite dry in places, with long, winding verses that require your full attention — and patience. The second half, backed by The Hawks (who’d later become The Band), is where things get noisy — both musically and atmospherically. The electric set roars to life with Tell Me, Momma and Like a Rolling Stone, but not every song hits. Some feel bloated or dragged down by the tense energy in the room, as if Dylan’s defiance to go electric has him playing at the audience rather than for them. There's brilliance here, no doubt, but also a sense of exhaustion — from both the performer and the crowd. It’s a fascinating concert, and for fans of Dylan or rock history, essential listening. But musically? It’s uneven. The tension that gives it mythic status is also what makes it a slightly uncomfortable listen. Revered, yes. Enjoyable all the way through? That depends how much you love mid-song mumbling, feedback, and awkward applause.

Live albums should not be on this list

Great classic live Dylan.

I feel like the entirety of Bob Dylan fandom is a psy-op. I hear the consensus that he's an incredible writer and lyricist but I don't feel that many of these songs stand out. I don't enjoy his voice or music. I can't understand how folks can laud him so lavishly when someone like, say, a Paul Simon exists contemporarily? Heck, I'm sure Simon like Dylan. I just can't glom onto the thing that makes him enjoyable.

That was a lot of Dylan. Definitely prefer his solo acoustic stuff, the second half was a bit more generic and his voice steadily got on my nerves. None of the ones that were in freewheelin were on here though I think the memories from that were often based on traditional songs still maybe he prefers playing the stuff that is completely his own. He does sound pretty true to his recorded sound and I like it well enough but not a huge fan.

Probably preferred the first half. Nice to hear Bob, and he sounds great and enthusiastic. I don't necessarily think the album is justified on the list though. I think the individual songs are better on their respective albums.

Not sure about having live albums on the list, but none the less this was pretty great. Interesting about the reaction to the more electric sound. The acoustic half of the album is better though. I assume they did something to these recordings? If not or sounds incredible for 1966. 4.5

I'm not the biggest fan of live albums for some reason. I'm also not a connoisseur of Bob Dylan. I have a couple of albums. I do though, really like this album.

Love it

Never really understood the hype or mystique behind Bob dylan, an album one only reinforces that. The acoustic set is a challenge to get through with every song sounding the same, not to mention the absolutely horrendous vocals in Bob's assault on a harmonica. The second album is a little bit more enjoyable when the rest of the band comes into play, but unfortunately it's not enough to redeem the terrible first half

The recording is poor. I still love it. Dylan is great.

Wow

Fucking Dylan

Understand the historical significance of this live album. It showcases the two sides of Dylan considered controversial at the time, which was to play with an electric guitar. All in all pretty cool, but his inability (or unwillingness) to stay in tune is annoying at times.

Standout Songs: Fourth Time Around Visions of Johanna Desolation Row Tell Me, Mama I Don't Believe You Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues Leopard Skin Pill-Box Hat Starting to realize I really like folk rock, already the 3rd album like this that I’ve gotten and I’ve loved every one. This is easily the best live album I’ve heard to date.

Apart from the lyricism I don’t get the appeal. He sure has a distinct style of voice but god 90 minutes is tedious

NOT a Bob Dylan fan.

Well, here we are again. Another Dylan album, can't understand why. Oh yes this one was live. Did it make any difference? No. It was just another Dylan album, a little longer than any other, but no better. It just reaffirms that he's a wannabe Roy Harper. Who is still conspicuous by his absence. Looking back through all the albums that I have reviewed it would appear that apart from the bands you simply cannot ignore, the Beatles, the Stones, Fleetwood Mac, the Who etc British music did not exist in the 20th century. Anyway, to the job in hand. Yet another Dylan album nothing special 2.

Thank the Lord for the 2nd LP. I nearly gave up before I got there, as the 1st LP was just a monotonous moan-fest interspersed with a shite harmonica solo here and there. At least the 2nd LP was lifted by the band joining in. Almost made it listenable, although Bob’s horrendous vocal still spoilt the whole thing. The lowest of low 1 stars for LP1. 2 stars for LP2. Generously rounded up for the rousing version of ‘Like A Rolling Stone’ to finish.

Yet another reason why I hate Bob Dylan. It was not helped by it being a double album. Do people actually listen to this for enjoyment or just to annoy their pets? The only saving grace was 'Like a Rolling Stone'. I always say an artist has one classic in them and that is his. But it's not enough to give this any more than a 1 star.

Dylan's voice and way of singing are still my biggest issues with him. Whether it's the acoustic solo version or the electric with the band doesn't matter. It's still bad.

When I started writing this, I wasn't exactly sure how I wanted to rate this album. And it wasn't for a lack of opinions on Bob Dylan and his music, I should make clear. I'd never thought about him enough to call myself a fan, but given how revered he is in music history, it's hard not to think something or other about him. No, it's because... Well, I'd had a bit of a hard time thinking about this as an album. In discussing live albums before, I've mentioned that some of them exist to capture historic moments. Y'know, stuff like Muddy Waters or Duke Ellington's Newport shows, or Johnny Cash's prison concert. But I don't think either of them have captured something as mythological and legendary to music history as this does: Dylan's turn to playing electric music. Now, this isn't the **exact** moment Dylan turned electric. Simply, this is an official release of the most widely bootlegged show from the tour where he did. In fact, from what I read, this might be the most bootlegged show in rock history? Where, somehow, no one realized this show wasn't actually recorded at the Royal Albert Hall, but that's besides the point. Just the fact that we have any release marking this tour is important. I mean, if you care about that sort of thing, anyway. As someone who often plays pretend as a wannabe music historian, of course I do, but if y'don't... Well, why should the average music listener, in 2025, not so interested in music history, care if Dylan started playing with a full band? Unless you were alive and aware of the scene at this specific point in the 60's, to maybe understand why exactly his fans felt so betrayed by the move... And I'm saying this even with a biofilm out there that covers this period in Dylan's life, A COMPLETE UNKNOWN. And it's like, I **do** get why his fans were so incensed by the move. Folk music, to that point, was simple, honest, raw: nothing more than an acoustic guitar, maybe a harmonica, and a voice, speaking truth to power and pointing fingers at those who would do wrong. It was a music of the people, and that was the way they liked it, damn it. But y'know what they might've didn't liked? Rock music. The electric guitar — that's the **establishment**, y'know. **The man**. What they're singing isn't **real**. It's not the people! For the mass populace, more like. So, like, y'get it. Though, of course, y'might not if you don't even see folk music that way to begin with. In fact, you might see folk music as a lot of nonsensical gobbledygook sung by poets who think they're musicians just because they spend eight minutes straight plink-plonking along on their guitar and wailing tunelessly on their harmonica. Hell, y'might even think going electric was an **improvement**, 'coz at least now there's **melody**, despite the lyrics still being faux-deep mush. So once again, why should you care about Dylan's electric turn? And honestly, despite how long I've just gone on, I don't think I have a good answer. After all, once again, I don't even consider myself much of a Bob Dylan fan. I do enjoy pastiches of his sound, like Weird Al's "Bob", but lemme tell you, I watched I'M NOT THERE the other week and you can better your bet I didn't get a single percentage's worth of the deep-cut scholarly Dylan references in there. True, that's a film so dense with references that Bob himself might even be able to get all of them, but still, goodness... And actually, as a matter of fact, I'm not very much a fan of this singer-songwriter folk stuff to begin with. It's the kind of music where you're supposed to sit down, comb through the lyrics and ponder **really hard** about what they're supposed to mean. Y'know, it's poetry. And frankly, I don't have all too much use for that kind of material. More often than not, I tend to fall into the "gobbledygook and plink-plonking side of things." You can call me basic for this, but I tend to come to music for melody and hooks first, over everything else. That's what makes music music, y'know? And it's not that I find lyrics unimportant; there's a reason I don't just listen to strictly instrumental music. If I can attach a story to a song, I'm all the more down for it. It's just infinitely harder to do that with folk music, and specifically the brand of it Dylan is the face of. And that's not even getting into how my auDHD keeps me from understanding deeper poetry in general. And I've tried to be fair with this music, I really have. I don't hate this stuff on its face like I know a lot of people do. I figure, I've got to be able to find **some kind** of merit to it to justify why the old guard reveres it as much as they do. But then I end up thinking back to my complete apathy towards Joni Mitchell's COURT AND SPARK, and the disappointed 2's I have to Leonard Cohen's first two albums... And the two Bob Dylan albums my group's gotten before now, where I've made it clear the stuff I liked about them the most **was** the electric stuff... And I think my worry is that I'm stupid for not getting this stuff, when really, my beef is that I just don't have the time or want to truly "understand it." It's just not my thing. So maybe my reverence for this release and Dylan's electric turn is more just me buying into the legend without questioning it than anything else — "the legend" being another thing propagated by the old guard. And y'know, it's not that I can't see how this turn led to folk rock and caused the genre to evolve beyond simple acoustic guitar strumming, but... I'unno. Generally, singer-songwriter folk music just ain't my genre, man, no matter how much I try to force myself to like it. But that's all speaking generally **around** the album. More than 1,000 words in, I suppose I should actually say something about it directly. Well, off the bat, I'm disappointed it cut out all of the booing and jeering. I mean, that's the whole reason why I'd even want an album like this available for public consumption! There's not even the legendary cry of "Judas!" I mean, if Dylan figured putting focus on the performances was more important than including his audience's dissatisfaction with the change, that's his decision. Throughout the second disc of this album, though, you can hear the **very obvious** cuts they made to jump across the booing, and, like, being hyper-aware that it's **supposed** to be there... Kinda knocks a few points off this thing as a historical record, y'know? But whatever, the focus is on the music performances themselves. And, I mean, like I just said above, I was never gonna like the acoustic set as much as I would the electric one. It's a lot like BRINGING IT ALL HOME, in that regard, with just a little energy thrown in as the result of these being live performances. Heck, for that matter, it's actually a lot like Neil Young's RUST NEVER SLEEPS (group album #7)... And I want you to know, I tried this time. I really, honestly, tried this time to give the lyrics their proper due, and not just pass them up as nonsense. I mean, as of late I've been getting way better at taking in and understanding lyrics, so maybe this time...? Nope. Once more and again, I just don't have the time or patience to "properly understand them" — in quotes because it's not like there's one single "correct way" to get them... And I can't even muster up the energy to wanna figure out my own interpretation, either. And I promise you, I gave an honest attempt at due diligence. I mean, I actually found quite a bit of it **interesting**, and it sure helped keep the first disc from being an endless monotony of guitar plonking and harmonica honking. But in the absence of wanting to put the work in to actually connect to what's being said... Well, dang: I just can't. And as for the electric set on the second disc, well, it's a fine sound. Certainly, I don't hold the attachment to the stuff on the first disc to think too negatively about this stuff. I mean, there's far more going on here to hold my attention. But at the same time... Pff, I'unno. The sonic context provided by the guitars and organs does make me like this collection of material better, but the star of the show is still supposed to be the lyrics... And it's not like this proper rock music, with big riffs or solos or whatever. It's still singer-songwriter folk music, just a little louder. And, sure, I like it louder, but at the end of the day... Like, buying into the legend of this tour as much as I do, it honestly disappoints me that I'm not as up on this release as I feel like I should be. Of course, this thing doesn't deserve a 6 outta 5 just for being historically important, but, like, just consider how much I've written about this album to this point. It's within the range of words I thought I'd only reach with albums that're straight 5's for me (or that inspire me to gimmicks that pad things out — hello, BLACK SABBATH and SPEAKERBOXXX/THE LOVE BELOW). Yet despite all of the time and gravitas I'm willing to allow it... It's still singer-songwriter folk music. And I'm just not a huge fan of this stuff, no matter how much it's supposed to mean. Honestly, I feel like I tend towards Dylan parodies more than Dylan himself because they're open about the fact that they're just nonsense. Weird Al's "Bob", or "Royal Jelly" from WALK HARD — the whole point is that they're just a collection of random words that don't mean anything, so I'm allowed to just enjoy it strictly by composition without having to worry about anything else. Also, they tend to be shorter and not **as** wordy, and that **does* help as well... In the end, I'm not sure if I know why I spent as much time writing about this album as I did. As a historical record, well, it's missing the most important piece of why I think it should exist at all. And as live music, well, as if I even need to say. I don't hate it, I want to be clear. I was more interested in the words than I wasn't, and once more, with feeling, I **do** dig the electric sound. I do feel like the guy who cried "Judas!" was maybe over-exaggerating a little. But... Yeah. I guess I figured out how to rate this after all. And I'll tell you, there's a part of me that's nearly as disappointed about what I came to as I was about those Leonard Cohen albums. I don't wanna lie about my feelings, though, so... Yeah. So hear this, Robert Zimmerman. I like you, I really do. And even despite everything I just said, I can still buy into the myth surrounding this tour whole-heartedly. It makes for a great story in the annals of music history. It's just not much that I would normally listen to, y'know? Historical document or not. But it still inspired me to write nearly 2k words about you, so, hey, take that for as much of a compliment as it's worth. (TL;DR: Yep, that was sure a Bob Dylan live concert.)

Bob Dylan: one of the best to do it, whether it be on acoustic or electric instruments. 4.5 bumped up to 5.

Hell has possibly frozen over: I’m at a 4.5 that I’m going to bump up to a 5. Somehow, someway, Bob Dylan has done it. Granted, the last time my group got an album from him was 428 albums ago, so I’ve heard a lot of fucking music since then that’s perhaps reshaped my approach to listening to someone like Bob Dylan. My brain feels way more attuned to understanding the more flowery poetic language from the folk music of the 60s, thanks to listening to way more albums from the era. Hell, even when we got those albums, I gave them a 3.5 & a 4, so it’s not like I hated the guy. Coming back to some of these songs a year later, a lot of them have clicked more nicely in terms of my ability to interpret them, and that added skill adds a bit of depth to both sides of this performance. As far as the first side goes, I think the intimacy of Bob Dylan, his harmonica, and his guitar, to a fully silent crowd, hung up on his every word, all there to witness his poetry… there’s something really, really cool about that. It’s very easy to picture in the mind too, so closing the eyes to imagine being there adds a lot to the atmosphere. Is it sort of goofy? Yeah, of course – Bob Dylan’s vocals in a fully acoustic setting are more exposed, more raw, and more prone to the shaky flaws that other people were motivated to parody in the many many years since. For some reason, though, I found that open-air atmosphere to feel vulnerable & endearing. Combine that with a good tracklist, and I really found myself enjoying the first half. Of course, for my tastes, the electric half is where this album shines; nowadays, there’s something silly about the idea of “tainting” folk music by giving it a rock & roll lean, but I guess it was something to be heckled and jeered for back then. Bob’s backing band does a great job throughout the whole set, and by today’s standards, they’re not doing anything THAT crazy. Hell, even for 1966, this is just one year before psychedelic rock came into the mainstream at a higher level. In terms of albums we’ve gotten on the list, there’s albums from The Byrds, The Doors, Jefferson Airplane, the Velvet Underground, & of course, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, all released in 1967. Bob Dylan’s just opening the door at this point, really. As a whole, it’s not like he’s sacrificing that much – a lot of the storytelling on the electric side of the album is still there & present, and his vocals honestly sound pretty good with the heavier tones of the band covering up the shaky flaws in the first half. I really want to point at the version of “Like a Rolling Stone” on here in particular – the Judas intro is one thing, but what struck me the most about it is how much the slightly slower tempo affects the vibe of the track in a really, really cool way. It creates just a bit of a psychedelic vibe, especially in the way Dylan slows down that famous “how does it FEEL” line. It’s a small change, but it does so much to let Bob’s vocals hang in the air just a bit longer. Combine that with the way the band is totally in sync with each other, and with Bob & his harmonica, it feels specifically focused & motivated just to shut this one heckler up and make him realize that this is the direction music’s gonna go in. There’s something really special about that specific recording, and it’s the cherry on top of a pretty good album. It’s honestly what gives this the bump up from a 4.5 to a 5 for me. So, yeah, it’s a 5 for me. Does that mean Bob Dylan has finally clicked for me? I dunno. There’s a chance the rest of these studio recorded albums that we’re bound to get don’t appeal to my sensibilities like this one did, and as a whole, I think I’m still just a bit shaky on the guy. Granted, that shakiness was an average of 3.75 (and I suppose now a 4.16), so perhaps I’m overstating my case. At the very least, I think I’ll have a much healthier appreciation for the rest of the Bob Dylan albums we get from here on out, and if nothing else, this album lived up to the “important document in the development of popular music” line on its Wikipedia page. Good on you, Bob. Play it fucking loud, indeed.

Second half was better than the first

Good album. As a Dylan fan it is great to hear the crossover from Acoustic to Electric. It was a complete shock to the fans of the time and getting an opportunity to hear it is special. That being said, this is from a bootleg and it shows. Sound is not very good.

Not doing much to change my opinion of Dylan. Still can't deal with his voice, and some of the songs on this one are much more poorly written than what I've heard from him before. This is the beginning of the "Dylan Goes Electric" thing, so I get the importance of the recording, but damn it's a tough listen for me. Dreading the (I'm sure) many more Dylan albums on this list.

Not sure why a bootleg live album made this list, but I guess because of the controversy surrounding Dylan's use of an electric band for the second half of the set. I was intrigued as I wanted to hear the hecklers. Unfortunately this album that made the list cuts out all the in-between song banter. Luckily I was able to find a version with no cuts between songs. Still the crowd is hard to hear and you mostly hear Dylan throw things back at the crowd like, "this is not British Music, this is American Music". I would much rather listen to the studio tracks, as the quality is not great, but I guess it's great considering it's a 60 year old bootleg.

The solo half was kind of dull, the rockin' half was pretty good, but I prefer almost any studio album of his over the live performances. 3/5

Honestly kind of boring for a live show. His good albums are already on the list, so I’m not sure why this was included. Still good because it’s Dylan though.

Easier to understand than “Live 2025 (The Morris Performing Arts Center Concert)”

vier bis fünf

Não consigo gostar de Bob Dylan. Continuo a achá-lo demasiado pretencioso.

If this list has done anything, its proven to me that I do not like Bob Dylan.

On the whole, I tend to find Bob’s voice too jarring, which generally leads to me not enjoying his albums. See a long live album didn’t exactly fill me with optimism. However, for whatever reason, I didn’t really mind this today. His voice is just as weird as I expected - cartoonishly so at times. And yet, I still foot my foot tapping away. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still unlikely to seek this album out, but I still quite enjoyed listening today.

Think the solo stuff is generally better than the full band, but it's all good. I find it a little exhausting and don't always think Dylan is the most interesting songwriter in the world, but it's undeniable in its quality.

3/5

OK, totally spoilt by Bob's lack of singing ability

Good old Bob.

Not my cup of tea. It gets better on the 2nd disc tho.

ouo

This is an album of two halves, the first being an acoustic set to keep the die-folkies happy. The second, which famously didn’t please them, is electric. The moment Keith Butler speaks for them by shouting ‘traitor!’ is sadly not recorded here. In retrospect I’m with Keith. You’ve got to be a pretty diehard Dylan fan to love side two; it’s wantonly ramshackle, even by Bob’s not particularly high standards. Side one works better. Fun note: the reason ‘Royal Albert Hall’ is in inverted commas in the title is that none of this album was recorded there; it’s all from the Manchester Free Trade Hall.

I’ve always hated Bob Dylan’s voice. No slight against him, purely personal.

Just 85 minutes of annoying noise. It seems his strange singing cadence is exaggerated in his live performances. The live recording of the full band is not very well recorded, so my best description of this entire album. is "85 minutes of unpleasant noises". Why Bob needs to be on this list 7 times, I'll never know. Seems the editors lacked imagination. I have to put something on the 1001 playlist. But I don't want to. Thinking "Leopard Skin Pill-Box Hat" just because it's hard to mess up a classic blues progression. It was the least offensive to my ears.