Bob Dylan went electric on the Highway 61 Revisited album back in 1965. Although initially Bob Dylan was booed onstage when he premiered his electric guitar-based material at the Newport Folk Festival just prior to the release of that album, he was actually on a roll musically. He needn’t have been concerned about the transition, Highway 61 Revisited was a Folk Rock classic album and an international success. Before he sidelined this momentum a little in his musical career, he decided to create the first Rock double album as a follow-up, which is this album. Blonde On Blonde was seen as yet another success for Dylan and he was on fire by this point, prior to a motorcycle accident and changing his musical ways somewhat. This should be an important and good listen to explore. Without further explanation, let’s take a good listen to this double album and we shall hear if it is indeed rewarding.

Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 begins with a decent drum beat and launches into a strange-sounding tune. It sounds like a brilliant piece of music, having said that. Bob Dylan gets singing after some cool harmonica work, and he sings well here. This is obviously an ode to marijuana use. According to legend, everyone playing on this song, including Bob Dylan himself, was as high as a kite. Hence the ambience and vibe. Nonetheless, this music is really brilliant and awesome to listen to and hear. No matter if you are sober or high listening to this tune, it works wonderfully and brilliantly. This is a fantastic tune. If you have ever experienced music listening whilst being high simultaneously, then this should be one of your musical anthems to go. A wonderful, joyful and excellent listening experience, this is not about women at all, despite the song title. “Everybody must get stoned!” sings Bob Dylan as a climax part of his vocal take, followed by some brilliant harmonica, piano and brass sections to boot. A great anthem for 4/20 lovers out there. A real joy musically here, this is one of the better songs by Bob Dylan. It fades out gently, great work from a bunch of potheads.

Pledging My Time begins with choppy drum rolls, and launches into a Rhythm and Blues/Country-esque piece. This is a really top-notch Bluesy sounding piece of music that is brilliant Folk Rock music to enjoy as well. A great, solid and adventurous musical tune. This is one of the better sides of 1960s music that has aged incredibly well. A passionate performance about being in love with a lady and devoting special time to her. The harmonica throughout is fantastic, as is the guitar, drumming and other instrumentation throughout. An awesome and passionate tune for those of you who love Bob Dylan and guitar-based music in general. It seems that Bob Dylan seems much more suited to Folk Rock than simply just making acoustic Folk music. He does brilliantly here, and this music is fantastic from start to finish. A great listen, the faded-out outro is superb.

Visions Of Johanna begins with strummed acoustic guitar and harmonica. This is a seven-minute long piece, so strap yourselves in. The music plays beautifully, and quickly has drums and vocals enter. Bob Dylan sings sweetly about life’s experiences, and the bass guitar playing is fairly audible here as well. Although Bob Dylan isn’t the greatest singer at all in Rock history, his music illuminates the imagination. Another fantastic listen throughout about missing an ex-girlfriend, this is a great performance. There is light and shade, and variations in sounds and dynamics throughout. All in all, a really fantastic tune that demands your attention throughout. The guitar work in particular is stunning. There is a breakdown after each chorus with harmonica before the verses return. A really cool tune, this is far more consistent and interesting than what you’d expect from Bob Dylan. The whole group does a really wonderful job at expert playing and musicianship. A great and understandable tune for many people out there who miss their former lovers matched with surreal storytelling throughout. If you have a great imagination, then let Bob Dylan be your musical guide. A thoroughly decent and loveable tune that has a traditional take on the Psychedelic imagery of the time, which was a big musical trend by this point. Nonetheless, this sounds incredibly amazing. A really awesome tune and something deserving of your attention. This is a fine and fantastic tune that sounds heartfelt and brilliant. An underrated song worth your time and ears. Fantastic music by Bob Dylan.

One Of Us Must Know (Sooner Or Later) begins with some gentle percussion, guitars and more harmonica. Bob Dylan sings about regretting being brutal to a lover, and he articulates a regular theme for young men out there today. This tune has some cool organ, clean guitars and pleasant music for us to enjoy here. This is a really great tune with colourful melodies and an upbeat take on broken-hearted love. This sounds great for what it is. Some pretty piano playing is present throughout as well, and this tune is a winner. A really great and grand listening experience, this is a track that is often overlooked by Bob Dylan fans and musical listeners alike. A sustained vocal is present, just before the glorious chorus enters. Bob Dylan puts his heart on his sleeve here, and he sounds really great musically as well. A fine and fantastic listen, even for a lesser track of this sort. A really awesome listen, this shows the artistry and imagination set to relationship issues. Amazing tune, a fine musical moment by Bob Dylan and friends. This ends with an instrumental section with a harmonica solo.

I Want You begins with a short drum roll and plenty of harmonica and Country music-esque guitars. Eventually, Bob Dylan begins singing again about being in love. A pleasant three-minute-long love song that really should be covered by someone out there today. Nonetheless, a strong effort, even for a lesser-known song from this album. This is an excellent tune that works extremely well. The playing and instrumentation throughout are really fantastic, and this song is a real joy to hear. Bob Dylan has a bunch of rapid-fire lyrics present here that sound excellent in the verses. More surreal imagery is here in the lyrics, showing one of Bob Dylan’s greatest musical strengths. It ends with repeated guitar parts and a sweet harmonica solo. A good listen.

Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again begins with some awesome harmonica and quickly launches into an extended seven-minute-long piece of music. Bob Dylan sings confidently here, and the music is quirky and different. A really fine and excellent tune to listen to, this has some unusual playing throughout. Nonetheless, this is yet another great and interesting tune to lend your ears to. With lyrics about being out on the road and the experiences that come with it, this music is timeless and original in its own wonderful way. This is way better than earlier Bob Dylan songs that last for around this time, showcasing a better understanding and musicianship than one would expect. A tremendous and pretty melodic effort throughout, the impressionistic and artistic lyrics make Bob Dylan a great lyric writer indeed. Nonetheless, this is a fine and pleasant tune with a feeling that Bob Dylan and crew were writing lyrics under the influence of drugs of different sorts. All in all, this works nicely and is worth your ears all the way. Great and timeless music is on this double album, and Bob Dylan proves himself to be a masterful musician throughout. An extraordinary and different listen, although the length of the song may put off some listeners. Still, it is not boring in any sense. A refreshing tune, it ends with loud drumming, guitars and harmonica. Sweet.

Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat is a quirky Blues-styled number with clean electric guitars and other instrumentation to match. This is awesome, mind you. Bob Dylan sings about some surreal imagery, and he does the Blues nicely here. A really great and enjoyable listening experience, even for a lesser track on this album. Bob Dylan uses humour and wit to impress the listener and does a great job throughout as the master of these recordings. A cool and awesome tune to listen to and enjoy, this has a searing and interesting Blues-styled guitar solo played high on the guitar fretboard. A really great and decent piece of music, this sounds really interesting and awesome, with a lyrical twist throughout. Bob Dylan is a true musical poet in the best sense. A very cool tune, the outro is Blues heaven for Bob Dylan fans. Great.

Just Like A Woman is a famous Bob Dylan tune from this double album. It begins with harmonica galore, rolling drumbeats and some awesome music to match the deep and romantic lyrics present. A cool and awesome tune about a woman that one is with and who they love. This has some interesting takes on how the opposite sex deals with the male self. Sure, it is a little prejudiced and sexist in its own way (how should a man know exactly how a lady feels?) but it is a sweet tune anyway. A fine and fantastic ballad with nicely played acoustic guitar, organ galore and brushed percussion. All in all, this is great music to listen to. A sad moment is present here as Bob Dylan indicates that the relationship is failing. Bob Dylan’s singing is obviously difficult to get into, as he does not have the best singing voice ever. Still, this is an emotional listen for some out there. This song concludes with a joyous harmonica solo and instrumentation to boot. A great song of acknowledgement of ladies in one’s life, albeit from a male’s perspective. This ends nicely and in an unusual way.

Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I’ll Go Mine) returns to a more Jazz-based brass band sort of song here. The drumming is absolutely awesome in this song, sounding much like a marching drummer here. Bob Dylan sings about more relationship turmoil in this song, and the rest of the band plays and performs perfectly for this tune. A good song for Bob Dylan fans to reflect upon breakup, this is another good tune that puts Bob Dylan into the music history books, alongside giants such as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. An awesome and fluid piece of music that works really nicely. There is a harmonica solo in the second half briefly, before Bob Dylan returns on vocals. An upbeat and interesting listening experience that sounds great to this very day. A powerful and upbeat listen. This ends with musical mayhem. Great.

Temporary Like Achilles begins with some Rhythm and Blues-styled piano and harmonica, launching into a good tune with Bob Dylan singing about more romance-based ideals here. This is a good five-minute-long piece that sounds fine and sweet throughout. Bob Dylan follows in the footsteps of The Beatles here and sings about a mixture of positive and negative love and relationship issues throughout this album. All the same, this sounds quirky and excellent for what it is. The music is a bit of an acquired taste present in this song, but still, Bob Dylan shines bright here. A decent listen with illustrative lyrics about a woman on his mind. A really fine and fantastic listening experience that sounds great and makes for decent listening. There are more harmonica solos in the second half, followed by the final verses and the climax of the song. A great and tuneful piece of music with some excellent appeal throughout, this is a really awesome song. A good way to spend five minutes of your life listening away.

Absolutely Sweet Marie begins with pounding drum rolls, quirky organs and clean guitars. This was the 1960s, after all. Bob Dylan sings nicely about life and missing his love. An upbeat, simple and melodically pretty tune, this is a great song that fits the album nicely, once again. A tremendous effort by the Folk Music legend that sounds interesting, fresh and energetic throughout. A top and cool tune, this is a good pseudo-concept album about some of the negative experiences in relationships from a male perspective, set to music. Nonetheless, this music is fantastic and it sounds great, many decades later. A cool harmonica solo section is in the second half of the song here, along with expert drum rolls galore. A good listen throughout with many twists and turns. Bob Dylan eventually gets back to singing again, and he does a really great job overall. An awesome song, it ends with more harmonica solo and Rock backing music. Nice.

Fourth Time Around begins with some pleasant fingerpicked acoustic guitar and launches into a sweet-sounding piece of music. Drums eventually enter, and Bob Dylan sings emotionally about more love and romance-based concepts. It paints the picture of a destroyed relationship throughout, and Bob Dylan sounds very sad and distraught here. A really good listen, this sounds fine, pleasant and enjoyable musically, despite the fact it is a brutal message musically. This is somewhat like proto-Van Morrison music here, but it is Bob Dylan to the core. A nice and enjoyable tune that is bleak and dark lyrically. Another worthy addition to the album, this sounds extremely good for what it is. A bittersweet story from start to finish, Bob Dylan was in fine form at this point in time. An extended instrumental section finishes this off. Good music to enjoy.

Obviously Five Believers is a real Southern USA Country-esque tune. Bob Dylan sings in a very deep and different way here. Sure, this is a really old-fashioned-sounding tune, but it still kicks the proverbial. An awesome and uplifting listen, even for a lesser tune, Bob Dylan delivers a strong and decent musical statement throughout. This hasn’t aged as well as some of the other songs on this album, but it still boasts surreal imagery and musicianship to match. A cool tune to listen to as we approach the end of this double album, this is an outstanding listen by today’s fairly low Pop standards. It works very well. A great listen throughout. It ends with an instrumental section and a quick fade-out.

Sad-Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands is an extended tune over 11 minutes long, devoted to Bob Dylan’s then wife. It sounds pretty from the start, with some of the best music on the album. Harmonica emerges, and Bob Dylan sings away very nicely from the start. Bob Dylan sings sweetly on this tune, and he sounds very deep and emotional here. Nonetheless, this is a really awesome listening experience. The chorus in particular is fairly emotional and decent listening here. A dramatic piece of lyrically based music, Bob Dylan makes one of his career-defining musical statements in this song, and he and his band give it all that they have got. An amazingly pretty, lovely and beautiful musical ballad throughout, this is definitely underrated. Thoroughly cool and a tune that flows extremely well. Really pretty and sweet listening musically, the backing band supports it well with organ, strummed acoustic guitar and hi-hat based percussion aplenty. A really pleasant and romantic tune that sounds great to this day, Bob Dylan delivers an amazing performance and something musically that, although written for a specific person, has a wide appeal. This is a lovely tune that one can understand if deeply in love. Thoroughly cool and sweet, this is a great personal statement from Bob Dylan himself. This, apart from the opening track, is likely the best song on the entire album and illuminates joy and happiness in amongst some emotional despair in Bob Dylan’s life. The music and musicianship here are really powerful and enjoyable listening. This progresses musically and lyrically in a really fantastic way. Thoroughly top-notch and fantastic, Bob Dylan fans should sit up and take note of this song. A really great storytale-styled poetic devotion musically to the love of his life, Bob Dylan will make you smile here. Sure, this is lengthy but never dull or boring. It just works incredibly well. A harmonica solo emerges towards the end of this song to illuminate the song further. A very enjoyable 1960s piece of songcraft, and the album gradually concludes here with the harmonica and backing band playing on, all the way through to the fade out. Excellent and sweet.

This is a really decent album that, although is miles away from the autotuned and computerised music of today, has lasted the test of time. Bob Dylan silenced the critics and opened his fan base further with Blonde On Blonde. This is a very interesting album to listen to. If there is a slight flaw in this album, it is somewhat a bit too formulaic musically. Still, this works. Should you listen to this album? If you liked Highway 61 Revisited and want to hear more of the good stuff by Bob Dylan, give this a spin.

An excellent bunch of poetry writings set to music.

9/10