Biograph

Crisply remastered for the recently introduced compact disc format, even the most familiar Dylan titles such as "Mr Tambourine Man", "Like A Rolling Stone" and "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" sounded fresh and invigorated. Here were the songs that had helped rewrite rock & roll history, compiled in a set which included an illuminating interview with Dylan. But the real enticement on Biograph was the 18 previously unreleased tracks. The most astonishing thing about many of these songs was Dylan's decision not to release them when they were first recorded. "I'll Keep It With Mine" could only have enhanced 1964's Another Side Of Bob Dylan; the striking "Abandoned Love" was left off Desire to make room for the leaden "Joey"; while the densely atmospheric "Caribbean Wind" could have helped make 1981's Shot Of Love the definitive Dylan album of that decade.

Biograph also boasts such striking originals as "Percy's Song", which has Dylan expertly building on the folk ballad tradition; "Up To Me"--a magnificent throwaway song of twisted relationships left off Blood On The Tracks; and the hymnal "Lay Down Your Weary Tune"--one of Dylan's finest-ever songs, yet one which had remained unreleased for 20 years. And if all that isn't enough, there are also rare B-sides, alternate takes, studio fragments and some robust live souvenirs, including "I Don't Believe You" and "I Wanna Be Your Lover" from Dylan's historic 1966 tour with the Band, as well as haunting solo versions of "It's All Over, Baby Blue" and "Visions Of Johanna".

For all its undoubted merits, Biograph barely scratched the surface of Dylan's bulging archive of unreleased material. Since then there have been further collections--1991's comprehensive three-CD box The Bootleg Series and 1998's blinding 2CD Live 1966--but even these couldn't begin to empty the vaults. The man had already given so much, but there was evidently much, much more still to come. --Patrick Humphries