As Bob Dylan goes, this album is good. As good music goes, this is not. This is one of Bob’s most tolerable albums. The folksy side is toned down a pitch and the bluesy rock is turned up a degree. Bob is widely recognized as one the greatest lyricist ever, that is something I have tried really hard in my life to agree with, but I cannot. He changed the way lyrics were written in western music (or at least music sang in English). His influence is undeniable but; he has a shit voice, can never find a real melody, the band/music is never anything amazing, and the production values are always lacking (compared to his contemporaries). This album has a few toe tapping moments but is quickly ruined by his squealing, nasally voice or a high pitched harmonica mixed to be waaaay too loud. Most of his singing is to a melody of a 2nd grader reading a haiku to his class about his favorite Disney character. I have tried to like Bob, I truly have. I’ve listen to this album several times before today, as well as many others. My conclusion is that either all Bob fans are in on a giant troll job or they all intentionally contrarian. I almost always have laugh out loud moments while listening to a Dylan record, this one at least five moments like that. This album is in so many Top 10, 20 list and it is astonishing to me that any record that has Thin Man and Desolation Road on it could be considered for anything other than a crime against music. Ballad of a Thin Man is a prime example of why Bob is trash. Those lyrics are just bad, period - I will take objectors! And Desolation Road is a run-on ramblings of someone who thinks what’s he’s saying is cool/relevant/worthwhile. It is grade A pretension at its finest. 1.8/10 #61/1001