10 Most Important Rock Albums Of All Time
4. Highway 61 Revisited - Bob Dylan
Ever since he first got famous, Bob Dylan never really felt comfortable in the spotlight. For as much as his songs like the Times They Are AChangin struck a nerve with his audience, the thought of being known as the Voice of His Generation never really sat well with his drifter persona. However, if Blowin in the Wind was the sound of the youth getting a voice, Highway 61 Revisited is when they start to use it.
Opening with the snare crack of Like a Rolling Stone, Dylan takes no prisoners across every single minute of this record, taking his contemporaries, the media, and even his followers to task for their crimes. Never before in rock had lyrics been this pointed, with Tombstone Blues being a scathing indictment of those who can't provide for themselves and Ballad of a Thin Man taking the media firestorm down a peg.
On the other hand, the most spellbinding moments of this record is when Dylan gets real, like on Desolation Row, where he draws the lines for the rest of the world to choose a side. Dylan himself might not even know if he's on the right side of history, but he's willing to stand up for what he believes in regardless. Compared to the other folk rock artists of the day, Highway 61 is the sound of the rebel turning his back on the rebellion he started and still managing to work magic in the process.