Previously a Waxx Lyrical Record of the Month (February 2025), this edition arrives with exclusive listening notes.
This is where Dylan truly plugged in, went electric, and turned everything on its head. Released in 1965, his sixth album is a wild ride through rock, blues, and biting surrealism — packed with razor-sharp lyrics and anthems that reshaped generations. From the rolling thunder of ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ to the chaotic carnival of ‘Tombstone Blues’ and the apocalyptic sprawl of ‘Desolation Row’, this record doesn’t just hold up — it still kicks down doors.
 
Here, Dylan fully embraces his role as rock’s poet laureate. The lyrics drip with absurd humour, sharp social commentary, and dreamlike imagery. He transforms everyday American landscapes into mythic places — where selling your soul is business as usual, outlaws trade riddles on the highway, and chaos lurks around every corner. No wonder this album became a cornerstone for everyone from punk rockers to hip-hop artists. Dylan wasn’t just writing songs; he was blowing open new ways to tell stories in music.
 
Even if you’re not a die-hard Dylan fan, this might be the one that wins you over. His voice — often divisive — feels its most direct and dynamic here. There’s grit, there’s urgency, but less of the nasal drawl that splits listeners. Instead, he leans into the rhythm of the words, delivering every line like a punchline, a prophecy, or a warning — sometimes all three at once.
 
Named after the highway that runs from his birthplace in Duluth, Minnesota down to the musical hotbeds of the South, Highway 61 Revisited feels alive in a way few records from the ’60s still do. The band — featuring future The Band guitarist Robbie Robertson and session legend Al Kooper on organ — plays loose but locked-in, adding fuel to Dylan’s controlled chaos.
 
That’s what this album is: chaos, but in the best way possible. The sound of an artist kicking down the boundaries of folk, rock, and poetry — and daring the rest of the world to keep up.
 
TRACKS:
SIDE A
1. Like a Rolling Stone
2. Tombstone Blues
3. It Takes a Lot to Laugh It Takes a Train to Cry
4. From a Buick 6
5. Ballad of a Thin Man
 
SIDE B
1. Queen Jane Approximately
2. Highway 61 Revisited
3. Just Like Tom Thumb s Blues
4. Desolation Row