What is Bob Dylan's greatest album? Is it Highway 61 Revisited, an album that revolutionized rock and roll by combining the meaningful lyrics of folk with the rhythm of rock; or is it Blonde on Blonde, another mid sixties classic album with some of Dylan's best lyrics, epic songs, and vivid imagery; or is it Blood on the Tracks, a sweet unambitious album about a man's heart during his crumbling marriage? The answer is Blood on the Tracks, a simple but powerful masterpiece that captures the human emotions of love, anger, sadness, fear, regret, and hope. 'Tracks' doesn't take us into the mind of Bob Dylan, as 'Blonde on Blonde'and 'Highway 61' did, they take us inside Bob Dylan's heart, and inside our own. Dylan writes honest, emotional, beautiful lyrics. The album is the story of a man hanging on to his love, and at the same time letting it go. The album is a snapshot of Dylan's soul. The most beautiful song on the album that stands out is the least assuming. In 'Buckets of Rain,' Dylan's looking out into the rain, and reflects on life and love like no one else has ever done, and finally makes peace with his lonliness and longing for his love, moves on, but will always share a part of his heart for her. I could write for days about this album, but I'm sure you get this picture. Never before have I been moved by a piece of music like this album has, because we all know what Dylan is writing about is not only what's in his heart, but what's buried inside all of our hearts.

Simply put, Blood On The Tracks is one of the greatest albums of the rock era and stands, arguably, as the greatest album in Dylan's long career.

It's an incredibly honest album, achingly so at times. Though Dylan has scoffed at the notion of Blood On The Tracks as a paean to his recently ended marriage to his wife Sara, it's hard to ignore the intensely personal nature of these songs - almost all of which deal with the loss of love.

The instrumentation is spare - guitar, drum, bass and, occasionally, harmonica. Somehow nothing else seems appropriate, as if anything more complicated would negate the power of these songs. Dylan has never sounded better, although arguments about his voice have always somehow missed the mark.

Which, of course, brings us to the songs. The record starts with one of Dylan's best and most loved story-songs, "Tangled Up In Blue," which manages somehow to be both joyous and tragic at the same time. For fans who were still listening by the mid `70s, this opening track must have signaled that the winds had changed.

Their hopes were borne out by the remaining nine tracks, all of which hit their mark. Both "Simple Twist Of Fate" and "You're a Big Girl Now" reveal Dylan to be a changed man from the youthful rebel of the mid `60s. Never an optimist, these songs show an even sadder, more resigned side of the songwriter.

"Idiot Wind" is perhaps the most bilious piece in Dylan's entire canon of work, but its power is impossible to deny.

"You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go" and "Meet Me In The Morning" are simple expressions of loss, pending and present, respectively.

"Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts" is another classic Dylan story-song, psychically akin to "Frankie Lee and Judas Priest" from John Wesley Harding.

"If You See Her, Say Hello," is quite possible the saddest song that Dylan ever wrote, and his vocal performance here is enough to draw tears from the attentive listener.

"Shelter From The Storm" offers a more positive theme, and it doesn't come a minute too soon. The album closes with the simple and sad "Buckets of Rain." By the time he sings "Life is sad/Life is a bust/All you can do is do what you must," you either believe him, or you weren't listening.

What to say about Dylan's masterpiece, arguably the finest album of my lifetime?

Yes, his mid-60s classics are 'hipper', but this is his creative pinnacle. The writing reaches unforseen hights of maturity, depth and soul-searching. Dylan never used to be this naked, this honest.

Highlights? Well, all of it really! "Tangled Up in Blue", "Idiot Wind" and the overlooked "Buckets of Rain" stand out for me, but everyone'll have their own favorites, usually for personal reasons - it's that kind of record.

Lennon gave us the raw PLASTIC ONO BAND, Townshend the bitter WHO BY NUMBERS, but Dylan's self-examination is more contemplative and more changeable - sometimes he sounds resigned, sometimes full of regret, sometimes angry.

Anybody who loves this album HAS to hear the unreleased original album takes too. Five of the ten tracks were re-recorded for BOTT at the last minute (the cover had already been printed up with liner notes making reference to lyrics that were no longer to be found on the album). Note: these are NOT the versions available on THE BOOTLEG SERIES 1-3, you'll have to seek out a REAL bootleg for all but "You're a Big Girl Now" which is on BIOGRAPH and is even more wonderful than the version you'll find here (BIOGRAPH also contains the excellent out-take "Up to Me"). These tracks, with their lyrical and mood variations give the listener an even greater insight into Dylan's finest hour.

Oh, and for the dissenters, he really sings well on this too!

I, from reading some of the reviews below, have some disagreements:

First: Many people are calling this the greatest "rock" album or "folk" album ever... I agree on the "greatest" part but this is not rock (one electric guitar on an entire 52 minute album?) nor folk (wierd rhythms, epic-sounding organ, syncopated but soothing bass, open D tuning..); this is BOB DYLAN MUSIC! -- It can't be categorized, so why try? ("Desire" is the same way, but with a vastly different sound).

Another point:Dylan's words only gain meaning when they're sung. The only exception I can think of is "Isis". All other songs by the D. need a voice, HIS voice, to be trully understood. It's the sound of his voice that makes "Down the highway, down the tracks, down the road to ecstacy" (from "Idiot Wind") sound like the end of the world. Someone mentioned "Nashville Skyline" as evidence that Dylan can sing; please don't burden the rest of the world with the depths of your ignorance. On "Nashville Skyline" Dylan sings the way you're "supposed to" which means technically good but leaves us with lifeless, characterless, emotionless, conventional performances that say nothing. Go listen to Mariah Carey if you want "perfect" listen to Dylan if you want spine-tingling. (Example: listen to the way he sings "cup" in "Twist of Fate" and how it communicates more emotion than most singers entire careers; one syllable).

Jbonepar wrote something to the effect that Dylan uses his voice to create different impressions with every phrase and I consider that to be a dead-on description of how Dylan works in these songs.

We all know that Dylan's marriage was on the rocks when "Blood" was released and that accounts for the vulnerability and sadness of these songs. Just so that guy who complained about "macho types" and "fake"ness know what he's hearing (or not).

Last but not least: this is Dylan's greatest album. "Desire" was musically great but on a few songs ("Mozambique", "Romance In Durango", and the overlong "Joey" and the musically perfect "Black Diamond Bay")Dylan just dosen't seem to care enough about the story hes telling to really sing from his heart. (contrast this with "Sara" where Dylan takes a cliched lyric and make it sound like gospel with the force of his singing). "New Morning" is almost worthless, through and through, with NO emotion (even less than "Nashville Skyline"), no real interesting lyrics, and bland arrangements (great song titles thought- "Father of Night" and "Day of the Locusts").

Anyway, "Blood On the Track" while it dosen't have a "Like a Rolling Stone" or a "Blind Willie McTell" is, as a collection of songs that work together perhaps the greatest album ever and is tied for my favorite album with that other great meditation on loss REM's "Automatic for the People"

This album was made during a critical period of Dylan's life. People thought he was a has-been, that his times as a songwriter were gone; his marriage was falling apart. Like all great works of art, Blood On The Tracks is a product of hard times.

I've been listening to Blood On The Tracks for months now. Each new listen seems to bring something new to me, something I didn't notice the last time. That's because these are not ordinary love songs; they are filled with emotions such as love, anger, regret, sorrow, despair, loneliness. Even in the most bitter lines, you can feel Dylan's passion. His writing and singing have never been better; you can feel his heart pouring off of every song.

This album is to be listened from start to finish; the song cycle is maybe the best in rock history. The album starts with one of his best songs, Tangled Up In Blue, a great story of love found and lost (...I heard her say over her shoulder/ We'll meet again some day on the avenue...) (...The only thing I knew how to do/Was to keep on keeping on/Like a bird that flew/Tangled up in blue...).

Simple Twist Of Fate, You're A Big Girl Now and You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go are often unfairly overlooked; they are among Dylan's best love songs. Idiot Wind is perhaps Dylan's angriest song (...You're an idiot, babe./It's a wonder that you still know how to breathe...), Meet Me In The Morning is a great blues song, and Lily, Rosemary And The Jack Of Hearts is one of his most off-the-wall compositions (...The cabaret was quiet except for the drillin' in the wall...).

Then comes the most emotionally affecting trilogy of songs in the history of rock.

If You See Her, Say Hello is one of his most beautiful songs; who can't identify himself with the narrator, trying to accept the loss of the one he loves? (...I always have respected her for doing what she did and gettin' free/Oh, whatever makes her happy, I won't stand in the way/Though the bitter taste still lingers on from the night I tried to make her stay....) (...If she's passin' back this way, I'm not that hard to find/Tell her she can look me up, if she's got the time...).

Shelter From The Storm is perhaps Dylan's best song. The first five verses, with the narrator describing the time he met the girl who saved him, are the most beautiful ones in his, or anyone else's, career (I came in from the wilderness, a creature void of form./"Come in," she said, "I'll give you shelter from the storm.") (...She walked up to me so gracefully and took my crown of thorns...). Then comes the final five verses, dealing with the loss of that woman (...Now there's a wall between us, somethin' there's been lost/I took too much for granted, got my signals crossed...), going through anger (...I offered up my innocence and got repaid with scorn...), but eventually ending in the desire to get her back again (...If I could only turn back the clock to when God and her were born...).

The last song, Buckets Of Rain, with its haunting melody and painful lyrics (...Like your smile/And your fingertips/Like the way that you move your lips/ I like the cool way you look at me/Everything about you is bringing me misery...), ends the album on a perfect note (...Life is sad/Life is a bust/All ya can do is do what you must./You do what you must do and ya do it well,/I'll do it for you, honey baby, can't you tell?...).

This album may not have the importance and impact of Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde, but Blood On The Tracks speaks to the heart and, for that reason, it will never get old and become dated; it will never be forgotten by those who are affected by it.

Blood On The Tracks is just what the title says: the heart of rock's greatest poet is in every song here.