Bob Dylan
's first greatest-hits album was released in 1967, and his second in 1971. Twenty-three years later came his third, and it's a reasonable compilation of the better-known songs he produced over the period, notably
standards
like
"Knockin' on Heaven's Door"
and
"Forever Young,"
Dylan
chart hits like
"Tangled Up in Blue"
"Hurricane,"
songs that have been covered extensively by other singers, such as
"Ring Them Bells,"
and some of the better album tracks, such as
"Changing of the Guard"
"Brownsville Girl."
In an effort to span the period, a few lesser, later songs such as
"Silvio"
"Under the Red Sky"
are included, while some stronger, earlier songs are not (
"Simple Twist of Fate,"
"Senor,"
"Emotionally Yours,"
"Everything Is Broken"
). But on the whole, the selection is excellent, and this is the album to get for that
fan who stopped listening to him at the end of the '60s. ~ William Ruhlmann