John Wesley Harding: Where does it rank in your favorite or least favorite Dylan releases?

Post Blonde on Blonde Dylan (besides Blood and Self Portrait) is a new area for me. My brother recommended that I listen to Nashville Skyline from 69' and John Wesley Harding from 67'. Nashville Skyline is pretty good, I enjoy country Dylan it seems, since I really enjoy the country moments on Self Portrait as well. I really enjoy the lyrics on John Wesley Harding as well as the overall 'sound' of it all. very naked and stripped back, I have the SACD and the bass really booms on this. It's interesting reading about the time this album came out, Dylan being basically unaffected by Psychedelia which was dominating popular and some underground rock music at the time. I've only sunken my teeth into this album for a few days so I cant give a big opinion about it, but I'd agree with the statement that its 'underrated', a very nice sounding but very lyrically interesting Dylan album. It feels like Bob is performing this for you in your house or something. I could see myself listening to this in a snowstorm.

 

I can listen to JWH in any kind of weather, preferably a warm sunny afternoon. Anyway, it's my favorite Dylan album next to Blonde On Blonde.

 

My top5 perhaps top3

 

In my top ten Dylan list.

 

Easily one of my favorites.

 

My 2nd favourite.......Desire is first.

 

One of my all-time favorites. I've almost certainly listened to this album more times than Blonde on Blonde. The mellow vibe and the cryptic lyrics just make it a perfect piece of work for me.

 

With the size of Dylan's catalog, you don't do rankings; you group into tiers and John Wesley Harding is definitely a 1st tier album.

 

I read something not that long ago (it may be old news to others) where Bob said something along the lines of, after his motorcycle crash (i.e. after Blonde on Blonde), he stopped writing "throwaway lines" in his songs and tried to make every line count. I take that to mean goofy lines like "Jewels and binoculars hang from the head of the mule" or "The sun's not yellow, it's chicken". While a lot of the material on JWH may not superficially make sense any more than either of those two lines, it certainly sounds (to me) like it's about something important, even if I have no idea what that is. Part of the mystery and majesty of this album.

 

Easily top 5. Didn't Greil Marcus say something about JWH akin to "this is what rock and roll would have sounded like before Elvis Presley"?

I kinda like that, even if he didn't.

 

I bought JWH shortly after it first came out and it's been in regular rotation for 50 years. With the rest of Dylan's catalogue, I'll binge on one era for awhile, then switch to another era, then switch again. But JWH always gets played regularly. So I guess it's at or near the top of my list.

 

It’s just there. I dont hate it, but never connected with it. I try every year or two but not yet.

 

I like the album but in no way consider it one of his major works.

 

Fourth favorite Dylan album and fourth favorite album of all time.

 

It wasn't until this album Dylan became really good.

 

Top ten. Maybe top five. Hmmm...difficult. What a superb album. I don't really like his voice THAT much but I really like the craft that that has gone into this album. A "master at work" seems an apt phrase.

 

1 BotT
2 BIABH
3 H61R
4 BoB
5 JWH

For many other artists it would be his/her best.

 

Top 10, maybe Top 5 for me. Anyway, classic album with a great vibe.

BIABH, H61R, BoB and BotT cemented in my top 4 with no. 5 undecided.

 

In the top 5 Dylan albums for me, especially in mono.

 

I'm not a fan. The way his voice was auto-tuned and the Kanye West rap about the 'Drifter's Escape' was terrible.
Bob shouldn't try to update his sound with gimmicky appearances by Justin, Coldplay, Bono, Adele and Lady Gaga.
Although his duet with James Hetfield on 'I'll Be Your Baby Tonight' was spectacular.

 

I bought it soon after it was released, I believe my second Dylan album and I was disappointed with it compared to my first, Highway 61 Revisited. Now I might place it in my top 10 Dylan albums, not top 5, it is a very good album.

 

Never was a favorite. I don't hate it, I just find it relatively forgettable.

 

It's Boring

 

For me, it ranks below

Highway 61 Revisited
Blonde On Blonde
Blood On The Tracks
Infidels
Bringing It All Back Home

at #6.

But my rankings are fluid. Tomorrow it all might shuffle.

 

I'd rather listen to Infidels than JWH. Perhaps some day I'll see the light.