Previously, a Waxx Lyrical Record of The Month in Februrary 2025, arrives with exclusive listening notes.
 
This is where Dylan truly plugged in, went electric, and turned everything on its head. Released in 1965, this—his sixth album—is a wild ride through rock, blues, and biting surrealism, packed with razor-sharp lyrics and anthems that shaped 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 album doesn’t just hold up—it still kicks down doors.
 
Dylan fully embraced his role as rock’s poet laureate here. The lyrics are packed with absurd humor, sharp social commentary, and imagery that feels pulled from a dream—or a fever. He turns everyday American landscapes into something mythic, where selling your soul is just business as usual, outlaws trade riddles on the highway, and chaos lurks around every corner. It’s 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 album that wins you over. His voice, often a sticking point for some, is at its most direct and dynamic here. There’s grit, there’s urgency, but it’s less of the nasal drawl that divides listeners. Instead, Dylan 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 legends like Al Kooper on organ—plays loose but locked in, adding fire to Dylan’s controlled chaos. And that’s what this album is: chaos, but in the best way possible. It’s 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