His first album featuring rock and roll music. What puts this album in that upper echelon of Dylan albums is actually the slower and acoustic stuff though. Dylan's just getting his feet wet with rock and roll. The songs are very rudimentary and some of them sound like they were written on a whim. The arrangements and performances on Side A (the electric side) seem like they were recorded in just a couple days. 
This gives the rock songs a raw, almost garage band like sound. There's a sense of spontaneity that was never really recaptured in succeeding albums. 

If your not a fan of Dylans' voice this is probably the last album of his you'd want to get. His approach to singing rock music at this point is to simply sing like he did before but louder and harder. This means all the more nasally and grating. I don't mind the voice, I find it has a strong character and command. I do think it's mixed too high here though. When hearing it with earbuds some of it is pretty tough to listen to. Acoustic folk music has always had the vocals well above the instrument so maybe that influence carried over.

On the electric side there are seven songs. Five are traditional rock and roll, two are slower, soft rock. Of the rock and roll songs, Subterranean Homesick Blues (track 1) is the best. I've heard it be called one of the first rap songs, or at least a precursor to it. It does actually capture that cool effect rhythmic talking and quick rhymes flowing over a fast rhythm. The lyrics, of course are much more abstract. In a flurry of words, Dylan tells a "kid" (young man) different advices, warnings and important information involving life in a poor and rough neighborhood. You can barely process what he says before going from one subject to another. This sense of freneticism really captures the effect of having to learn too fast. He creates an almost chaotic setting, eluding to drug dealers, cops, prostitutes and jail. 
The song is really fun, and has a really cool bass line driving things along.

Maggie's Farm (track 3) is practically identical in instrumentation, but it's almost as good. The song is about having to work for the establishment and feeling oppressed. The lyrics themselves aren't very serious, it uses simple metaphors in working on a farm. The overall theme is however, and there's a base level of anger that is portrayed throughout the song. Dylan may not have a pretty voice but he can emote as efficiently as anyone. I like how the melody is totally shaped by his bitter tone. The way he ends each line going from the 5th to the minor 3rd really captures the disgruntled and fed up attitude.

Outlaw Blues, On the Road Again and Bob Dylan's 115th Dream (tracks 5,6 and 7) don't match the quality of the first two rock and roll songs, but they're entertaining nonetheless. It sounds like Dylan is just having fun. The lyrics are light and humorous, some of them sounding like they were improvised on the spot. The most prominent of them is Bob Dylan's 115th Dream, a six and half minute song about discovering America. It's full of twists and turns involving restaurants, funeral parlors, banks and it's really entertaining all the way through. The songs make you tap your foot and serve as a nice breather before the monumentally deep and complex themes of the acoustic side of the record.

The two softer songs on Side A are both odes to a woman. They're short and delivered in a low-key and relaxed way, like he's just describing her to a friend. She Belongs To Me has interesting lyrics that elevate the subject to hyperbolic heights ("She never stumbles, she's got no place to fall", "Bow down to her on Sunday, salute her when her birthday comes"). It seems to refer to the initial sense of perfection a guy sees in a new love, with the speaker also warning that it can be blinding and deceiving. 
Love Minus Zero/No Limit is a much more nuanced and subjective view on the woman. It's simply a man describing what he finds so attractive about her. The detail and specificities of what he sees in her character and way of living, are celebrated in a charmingly poetic way. Overall it has a sweeter tone than the relatively detached She Belongs To Me. Both songs are really good though, and provide a necessary break between the loudness in Side A.

Side B is the acoustic side, and features four songs. Mr Tambourine Man starts things off, and features one of the best pure melodies Dylan ever wrote. The song has a mysterious sense of levity, as he tells a tambourine man of the idle state he's in and that he wants to follow him. What exactly he's searching for is not clear, but there's a dazed optimism that is felt throughout the song. What's clear is that it's some form of escapism, and it sounds like he doesn't think it will be hard to find. The lyrics are beautifully effective in their imagery.

Gates of Eden is musically a sobering transition. We have a stern, almost preacher-like Dylan singing proclamatory verses that seemingly compare real life to religious scripture. I can't make too much of the lyrics. They're certainly among the most complex and abstract he's written. They also don't hit me like the surrounding three songs do. Between Dylan's loud, authoritative tone, and the complexness of the lyrics; it all gets pretty heavy handed after nine verses. 
The melody is kind of interesting in its unusual jaggedness. Also, there's a cool sermon evoking effect where after each verse he immediately takes a breath into his harmonica for just a couple seconds. I think it's reminiscent of the "amen" that happens after a prayer or hymn in church. It fits with the religious theme of the song. 
Overall the song is alright but it's definitely my least favorite of Side B.

It's Alright Ma (I'm OnlyBleeding) is a dark and pessimistic outlook on society. He speaks in quick, poetic rhyme, ending each verse with a blunt statement ("There's no sense in trying", "Not much is really sacred", "You're just one more person crying"). He sounds emotionless, like he's simply the messenger of the cold, harsh realities of life. The low descending chromatic notes that underline his monotone delivery really enhances the song's bleakness. The chorus gives a short glimmer of reassurance before settling right back into the darkness. The lyrics are still jaded though ("It's alright ma, I'm got nothing to live up to", "It's alright ma, it's life and life only"). With the addition of that biting guitar riff, this is probably my favorite song on the album. 

It's All Over Now Baby Blue lightens things up with a bittersweet and affectionate close. Dylan sings of letting go of the past and starting anew. There's an air of acceptance in the tune, like whatever it was it was a tough decision to make, but an obvious one as well. The lyrics are very direct and assured in the message of it being "all over". It's a fitting conclusion to his "folk singer" era.

Overall the album is really good. I was tempted to give it a 4.5 but the album lacks cohesiveness. By the end of it you feel like you listen to two different albums. Records like Blonde On Blonde and Desire have a distinct identity in sound that seem to encapsulate a time and place. This doesn't do that. 

4.0/5