Greatest Hits Volume 3

Mojo - "...The famous tracks need no further comment. They are all, of course, rather more than good....as this collection shows, [Dylan] still chases a kind of vision that most of his contemporaries gave up believing in years ago." Q - 3 Stars (out of 10) - "...these days he's merely a legend and nobody expects that much of legends...[but] there's plenty of things to relish here--Dylan's ability to come up with a new soundscape for every session..." NME - 7 (out of 10) - "...These [songs] will remind you that Bob Dylan is human too..." Rolling Stone - 3.5 Stars (out of 5) - "...If the collection is debatable as a hits package....it's nonetheless classic Dylan..."

Bob Dylan's first greatest-hits album was released in 1967, and his second in 1971. Twenty-three years later came his third, and it's a reasonable compilation of the better-known songs he produced over the period, notably standards like "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" and "Forever Young," Dylan chart hits like "Tangled Up in Blue" and "Hurricane," songs that have been covered extensively by other singers, such as "Ring Them Bells" and some of the better album tracks, such as "Changing of the Guard" and "Brownsville Girl." In an effort to span the period, a few lesser, later songs such as "Silvio" and "Under the Red Sky" are included, while some stronger, earlier songs are not ("Simple Twist of Fate," "Senor," "Emotionally Yours" and "Everything Is Broken"). But on the whole, the selection is excellent, and this is the album to get for that Dylan fan who stopped listening to him at the end of the '60s. (It includes the previously unreleased 1989 track "Dignity"). Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits, Vol. 3 also marked the artist's entry into the computer and digital ages -- this double-CD version came and went so fast that it seems to have been missed by all but the computer nerd portion of the population. During the mid-'90s, record labels got very interested in offering something extra with certain kinds of new releases, or newly assembled compilations. These two discs contain only seven songs each, somewhat reshuffled in order from the standard CD, because they're also loaded up with graphics, lyrics, interactive media, and more. As it happened, the CD-R proved just clunky enough to elude most listeners and repel most of those few who were interested enough to try it out, and this triple-disc set (the CD-R software necessary to play the "plus" aspects of the other two discs comes on the third platter -- in Macintosh and Windows 95 versions) was no exception. It is now a relic of its era, as well as one of the odder formatted official Dylan releases of its decade, though it does offer some fascinating viewing for those interested enough to bother with it. ~ William Ruhlmann & Bruce Eder|