Bob Dylan - Bringing It All Back Home (1965)
Sure, at the time of its release the album itself may have been overshadowed by the outrage of Dylan going electric and leaving protest singing behind, but beneath that stylistic surface there lies an excellent record filled with brilliant song after brilliant song. The first half of the album - the electric side - contains an excellent mixture of more rock-orientated numbers ("Subterranean Homesick Blues", "Maggie's Farm", "Outlaw Blues") and pensive love songs ("She Belongs to Me", "Love Minus Zero/No Limit"). Unfortunately, it also features two novelty comedy songs ("On the Road Again" and "Bob Dylan's 115th Dream"), which, whilst not bad in and of themselves, do seem rather out of place on this album. Of course, the accoustic side is even better, with four of his absolute best songs coming one after another. "Mr Tambourine Man", "Gates of Eden", "It's Alright Ma, I'm Only Bleeding" and "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" are not only poetic in their imagery, but also dreamlike, harrowing, and potent. I don't think a better 1-2-3-4 punch has ever taken place. For a long time I contended that this is Dylan's best album. Highway 61 Revisited may have eclipsed this for me by now, but even so, in terms of twin peaks, I'm not sure that a better combination exists.