Highway 61 Revisited

This album is electric in every sense, a nervy jangle that finds a taunting Bob Dylan fronting a full-fledged rock band and shedding his folkie past. The title tune, “From a Buick 6,” and “Tombstone Blues” have more to do with garage-y American proto-punk than Help! or Rubber Soul, The Beatles’ releases that frame this album’s era. There may be nods to the blues (“It Takes a Lot to Laugh”) and his recent folk history (“Desolation Row”), but Dylan’s language intoxicates; it’s poetic, brilliantly snotty, and sometimes inscrutable.