Of the early Dylan albums I think this one is the hardest to love when viewed from errr now. It is an album of protest songs. There are no love songs, no witty moments or any of the less serious bits that you usually get at least some of on a Dylan album. Just protest songs. Some of the finest protest songs of course. The title track and The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll being two of the greatest. But you can see why he softened things on his next album Another Side Of. Even Bob was getting a bit down on the earnestness of it all.
I tend to agree - this isn't one of the Dylan albums that I return to often. However it does have sublime moments of its own; "One too may mornings" and "Spanish boots of Spanish leather" being my favourites.
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And 'When The Ship Comes In' is a storming closer. I actually prefer 'Times..' to "Another Side Of', which gets a tad whiney in places.
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