BOB DYLAN/THE BAND

BOB DYLAN/THE BAND
BEFORE THE FLOOD (1974)
REMASTER
320 KBPS

Dylan has issued a large number of live albums in his day, but 1974's Before the Flood deserves special mention because of the presence of the Band behind him. Dylan had recently brought the Band into the studio to record the chart-topping (yet still somehow underappreciated) Planet Waves, which was the first (and, as it turned out, only) studio record he made after leaving Columbia for Asylum. He then asked them along on the subsequent tour, which at the time became the most successful rock tour in history. The fruits of that partnership are contained on this two-CD set, which actually ignores Planet Waves completely in favor of older classics. Although the album includes several strong collaborations, the highlights ironically come during Dylan's solo-acoustic portion, which yields powerful and gritty versions of "Don't Think Twice" and "It's Alright Ma," and during the Band's own exhilarating numbers with Dylan sitting out.

Disc 1
1. Most Likely You'll Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)
2. Lay Lady Lay
3. Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
4. Knockin' on Heaven's Door
5. It Ain't Me, Babe
6. Ballad of a Thin Man
7. Up on Cripple Creek
8. I Shall Be Released
9. Endless Highway
10. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
11. Stage Fright

Disc 2
1. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
2. Just Like a Woman
3. It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)
4. The Shape I'm In
5. When You Awake
6. The Weight
7. All Along the Watchtower
8. Highway 61 Revisited
9. Like a Rolling Stone
10. Blowin' in the Wind