# The best Bob Dylan albums

Dylan's studio albums that rank highest with Rolling Stone (500 Greatest Albums, its readers' poll) and Paste's complete ranking.

- 122 votes · 12 items
- May 3, 2026 · mixtape
- https://even.best/en/l/548/the-best-bob-dylan-albums

## Top 12

1. **Blood on the Tracks** (15 · ▲15 ▼0) — 1975. His divorce album; number 9 in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums (2020).
2. **Highway 61 Revisited** (12 · ▲15 ▼3) — 1965. 'Like a Rolling Stone'; number 4 in Rolling Stone's 2003 list.
3. **Bringing It All Back Home** (10 · ▲12 ▼2) — 1965. Half electric, half acoustic, with 'Mr. Tambourine Man'.
4. **Blonde on Blonde** (10 · ▲10 ▼0) — 1966. Rock's first studio double LP by a major artist, recorded in Nashville.
5. **John Wesley Harding** (8 · ▲8 ▼0) — 1967. A sparse return after his motorcycle accident, with 'All Along the Watchtower'.
6. **Desire** (7 · ▲9 ▼2) — 1976. 'Hurricane' and 'One More Cup of Coffee'; a favourite in Rolling Stone's readers' poll.
7. **Love and Theft** (7 · ▲7 ▼0) — 2001. Blues, rockabilly and old-time songs, released on 11 September 2001.
8. **The Times They Are a-Changin'** (5 · ▲7 ▼2) — 1964. Protest songs at their most direct.
9. **The Basement Tapes** (5 · ▲6 ▼1) — 1975. Informal 1967 recordings with the Band, released years later.
10. **The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan** (3 · ▲5 ▼2) — 1963. 'Blowin' in the Wind' and 'A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall'.
11. **Time Out of Mind** (3 · ▲5 ▼2) — 1997. A late-career rebirth; Grammy for Album of the Year.
12. **Rough and Rowdy Ways** (1 · ▲5 ▼4) — 2020. 'Murder Most Foul', a 17-minute song about the Kennedy assassination.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.