Needles & Grooves

@wokeupnew -- the mono box set gives my Dylan MoFi pressings a run for their money. the packaging is really nice too & it comes with an mp3 download of all of the albums. at t $15 per LP, you are getting an amazing deal for what a lot of people consider the best mastering of those albums.

@Joe Mac has a great list there but you could also add The Basement Tapes, The Times They Are A-Changing, Oh Mercy, Slow Train Coming as other 5 star albums. The Bootleg Series 4 and 5 has some of the best live music ever. The guy is something else.

@Joe Mac Songs like 'Outlaw Blues' and 'She Belongs To Me' make BIABH such a fun listen. A real diverse sounding record with top notch songs. In terms of Blonde on Blonde, I love 'Visions of Johanna'. I love the album version, and I love the acoustic version he started doing live. His phrasing and inflections on that are so fun to sing along with, and the imagery in that song alone. Man.

Blonde On Blonde??? It’s a Uber classic. Don’t be silly. Not a bad note on it, never mind wasted song. His lyrics are top flight. The band is killer. Dylan has a sort of stoned vibe to his voice and the lyrics are up with the best of best poetry. It’s punk

Yeah I know @Murfocakes but seeing as my recommendation of 3 was at 13 I was editing...

I also consider these to be great and essential:

The Time They Are A-Changin’
Another Side Of Bob Dylan
John Wesley Harding
New Morning
Slow Train Coming
Bootleg 1-3, 4, 5, 7, 12, 13 and 14

Yes. John Wesley Harding!!!! It misses out on a ton of love. Great album.

@Murfocakes it’s a classic and I love it but for me in a discography of uber classics I think he did better a few times. @Aron yes, Visions of Johanna is an absolute classic.

Mono Box set snagged

Underrated Blonde On Blonde tracks that are fucking amazing
1) One Of Us Must Know (Sooner Or Later)
2) 4th Time Around
3) Temporary Like Achilles

Where’s the filler on Blonde On Blonde guys?

@Murfocakes There's none.

@Murfocakes For me it isn't a question of filler, it is just that it's a very long listen. I can probably count the number of times I've listened to it from start to finish on one hand & I've been a Dylan fan since around '91. Double album, a lot of songs & a couple of the songs are pretty lengthy. I simply prefer the more bite size perfection of Bringing It All Back Home or even Highway 61.

Blonde on Blonde is like Dylan's Sgt. Pepper. Has received nothing but praise the past 50 years but people are now turning their heads towards his Revolver, which is Blood on the Tracks.

Nah @Melt Face Molly Drop Revolver is the hipster choice...

Rubber Soul is a better album than it...

When you get to Abbey Road and The Beatles then you’re getting onto the real good stuff.

@Murfocakes in my cd days I’d always skip Rainy Day Women, I hate hate hate it...

I was never a fan of the Blonde On Blonde version of 'Rainy Day Women'. But then I liked the more aggressive, shouty live version on "Before The Flood", which kind of helped me get used to the woozy, boozy sounding album version. Not my favorite, but I like it enough now.

Just get 3 copies of Highway, you’ll wear the first 2 out it’s that good.

@Joe Mac I gotta give Highway 61 the Rubber Soul honors.

Oh there's NO WAY i'm going to stop at three. Just going to purchase three first then keep adding on!
I do like the idea of the Mono Box Set tho!
I enjoy a lot of Dylan for sure... but it's hard to choose those initial three. Blonde on Blonde is great, but not needed as first three I would get.
Highway, BoTT, Desire, and Freewheelin seem to be on top

@Memo If you’re ameniable to the mono box I’d say get it first, there is no point buying one off it and doubling up. After that I’d go Blood on The Tracks (for me not just his best but one of the most special albums ever released, it’s beyond perfect) and Desire (this for me is the most overlooked album in his collection, it’s number 3 in my Dylan list...)

I would say the Freewheelin Bob Dylan. That's my favorite album.

Also you could always go with the greatest hits. There's a volume 1 and 2. There are a lot of great tracks on there but still a lot of stuff missing.