The albums Bob Dylan described as once in a generation achievements: “They all had some magic”
When it comes to the world of folk music, many people would argue that the records of Bob Dylan were generation-defining masterpieces that it’s difficult for other artists to top.
Of course, having released a wealth of material, barely ever missing a year in his release schedule and sometimes managing to fulfil two albums in a year, he’s at a serious advantage compared to many of his contemporaries, seeing as he offered himself more opportunities to be regarded as a defining artist in virtually every decade since he’s been active.
While there have been numerous records of his that haven’t fared quite as well in terms of their critical response, there’s a far greater proportion of acclaimed albums in Dylan’s discography, and these are the ones that people are usually putting forward as their nominations for the greatest albums released in their respective decades, and indeed of all time.
Nobody is likely to put forward an album like Self Portrait for any level of acclaim, even though it is perhaps more misunderstood than it is outright terrible. Some of his output from the 1980s and the early part of the 1990s isn’t favoured quite as much as the majority of his earlier works. Still, because of the sheer volume of material to choose from, virtually every Dylan fan has a different favourite from the singer-songwriter.
This is inclusive of Dylan himself, who has regularly tried to defend the albums that everyone else tried to be critical of, but at the same time will reaffirm the opinions of some of his fans, praising the likes of Blonde on Blonde and Bringing It All Back Home as being some of his finest works.
However, during an interview with Guitar World in 1999, three other records were brought up as disparate examples of his finest works, acknowledging how his style managed to develop over the course of his career. With interviewer Murray Engleheart singing the praises of Blood on the Tracks, Infidels and Highway 61 Revisited, he asked Dylan what he thought of them, and questioned whether they were deserving of the high acclaim that they’ve continually received.
“Well, those records were made a long time ago,” Dylan began to respond, “and you know, truthfully, records that were made in that day and age were all good. They all had some magic to them because the technology didn’t go beyond what the artist was doing.” After suggesting that there’s no such thing as a bad album, he then went on to argue that modern approaches have made it harder to produce a classic album.
“It was a lot easier to get excellence back in those days on a record than it is now,” he added. “I made records back then just like a lot of other people who were my age, and we all made good records. Those records seem to cast a long shadow. But how much of it is the technology and how much of it is the talent and influence, I really don’t know. I know you can’t make records that sound that way any more. The high priority is technology now.”
Even though Dylan has clearly had to adapt with the times and try to fit into a world that is more preoccupied with technological advancements, he’s still capable of producing some of his finest work, with the likes of Modern Times and Rough and Rowdy Ways being regarded as late-career masterpieces. While the aforementioned albums are the sort that only come along once in a generation for any given artist, looking back on Dylan’s discography proves that he’s the sort of artist who has always been capable of transcending this.
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