I could never figure out why Sony didn't include this one in their 2003 Dylan remastering campaign; it truly ranks as one of his best and most influential albums, and the title cut was covered many times by many artists in the first few years after Dylan first committed it to tape--The Byrds, Simon & Garfunkel, Peter, Paul & Mary and The Ian Campbell Folk Group are just a few of the names who covered "The Times They Are a-Changin'." To my ear, their versions were always too bouncy and bright; one former acquaintance of mine felt that Dylan "f***s it up" (!!!). I, for one, beg strongly to differ.

In truth, the title cut is quite probably the sunniest track on this album; it is, indeed, a dark mood for Dylan. His star was in the ascendant, and spectacularly so at this juncture, but his personal life was troubled (his girlfriend, Suze Rotolo, was in and out of his life frequently, and he was seeing Joan Baez); he was also socially active, making trips to the South with the Freedom Riders and performing publicly in Mississippi for civil rights workers. All this informed his songwriting (as well as his series of blank-verse poems on the cover and inner sleeve, entitled "11 Outlined Epitaphs," as sure an indicator of his bleak mood as you'd need without hearing the music within).

After the title track, we have "Ballad of Hollis Brown," a song about a desperate act by a desperate man at the end of his rope with a dark suggestion of karma at the end ("There's seven people dead on a South Dakota farm/Somewhere in the distance, there's seven new people born"); "With God on Our Side" takes a look at history, especially that of America, and its many conflicts within and without its borders and seems to predict Vietnam; "One Too Many Mornings" is a quiet, pensive reflection, evoking the lonely hours of nightfall of a man whose absent love is much on his mind; "North Country Blues" closes side 1 with its eulogy for a dying mining town in Minnesota's Mesabi Range, where Dylan grew up (Hibbing), the kind of song that would inform Bruce Springsteen's own takes on the fate of the blue-collar working man in America...except from the point-of-view of the abandoned daughter/wife/mother.

"Only a Pawn in Their Game" opens side 2 by seeking to place blame for the assassination of Medgar Evers, a civil rights worker, not on his assassin, but on the politicians of the time who were busy fearmongering; "When the Ship Comes In" is a call-to-arms of sorts, for accountability and the fall of "the foes"; "Boots of Spanish Leather" refers to Suze (without actually naming her), hinting at trouble and the thought that perhaps he'd be better off with a souvenir from her trip to Spain than with her; "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll" is a tale of haves and have-nots, and the miscarriage of justice as the wealthy young antagonist gets off with a slap on the wrist for the random beating to death of the frail middle-aged protagonist ("Doomed and determined to destroy all the gentle"); "Restless Farewell" closes the album with a wistful goodbye to a roomful of friends (analogous to the Irish ballad "The Parting Glass") as the singer tells of a trip to parts unknown, hoping his final impression on the assembled crowd is positive but, in the end: "I'll make my stand/And remain as I am/And I'll bid farewell/And not give a damn."

One of Dylan's more underrated albums, IMO, and the remaster is excellent. Worth having.