The Times They Are a-Changin'
| Bob Dylan
The Times They Are a-Changin'
The Times They Are a-Changin' is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on January 13, 1964 by Columbia Records. Whereas his previous albums Bob Dylan and The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan consisted of original material among cover songs, Dylan's third album was the first to feature only original compositions. The album consists mostly of stark, sparsely arranged ballads concerning issues such as racism, poverty, and social change. The title track is one of Dylan's most famous; many feel that it captures the spirit of social and political upheaval that characterized the 1960s.-Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Consequence Of Sound
January 12, 2014. Dylan’s most topical offering, TTTAAC decries racial subjection, economic stratification, and American exceptionalism while boldly asserting that these maladies will be swept away by the tide of a new generation (“And like Goliath, they’ll be conquered”). Fifty years after its release, the album endures as one of the most incisive indictments of American society ever set to music.
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Gaslight Records
October, 1968. The album wants for nothing lyrically or stylistically; packed to the gills with blood boiling criticism of societies shortcoming, pointing the finger squarely at an unjust ruling class- just sharpening their knives for the military industrial feast they are about to unleash on the world.
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All Music
2016. If The Times They Are a-Changin' isn't a marked step forward from The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, even if it is his first collection of all originals, it's nevertheless a fine collection all the same.
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Ultimate Classic Rock
January 13, 2016. If Bob Dylan’s second album, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, hadn’t done enough to earn him the tag of the voice of his generation, the follow-up solidified it. Released on Jan. 13, 1964, The Times They Are A-Changin’ was the sound of the legendary singer-songwriter coming into his own.
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The Guardian
February 21, 2014. As a collection, the album is one of the high watermarks of political songwriting in any musical genre. These are beautifully crafted, tightly focused mini-masterpieces.
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Rolling Stone
May 24, 2016. A masterpiece of political songwriting, it addresses no specific issue and prescribes no concrete action, but simply observes a world in violent upheaval.
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Sputnik Music
January 20, 2006. I think this album is a prime example of why Dylan is considered the best songwriter of all time, in popular music. All the song's are incredible examples of poetry.
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Sputnik Music
April 9, 2006. His forte lies in fiery songwriting. And The Times They Are A-Changin' seems to encompass exactly that.
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Treble Zine
September 19, 2004. Bob Dylan’s third album The Times They Are A-Changin’ is a work defined by its compassion, its all-but-buried hope and the cultural tumult that brought it about. Its ten songs amount to a bleak, spare, angst-ridden storm that follows the fall of a hard rain.
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Blog Critics
September 14, 2008. The Times They Are A-Changin’ was an important document in 1964 and served as a rallying point for the protest movement of the time. Dylan quickly moved beyond the content of this release and as such today it remains a wonderful musical artifact.
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MOJO 4 Music
January 13, 2014. 50 years ago today, Bob Dylan released his third studio album, The Times They Are A-Changin’. With it's biblical imagery, stark black and white cover shot and songs born of truth and injustice, torment and pain, power and struggle, this first album of all Dylan originals would establish him as the defining, albeit consistently reluctant, voice of protest music.
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Norman Records
2016. The Times They Are A-Changin’ is Bob Dylan’s third album, and his first to only contain original songs. And what songs! . . . Historically and musically essential vinyl reissue on Legacy.
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MoFi
2018. The reverential 1964 record feeds off the opening tune and its unmistakable sentiments, marching forward to confront racism, poverty, injustice, and upheaval in a stark, immediate manner like few albums before or since.
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itunes Apple Music
2018. Bob Dylan’s third album, his first to contain all original songs, reveals a revolutionary-minded 22-year-old leaning to the political and social. He’s his generation’s reporter on both the anthemic title song and the lamenting-yet-urgent “With God on Our Side.”
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Alltime Records
April 29, 2018. The Times They Are A-Changin' on the other hand, is as stone-cold serious and downbeat as it could possibly get. And it's relentless, too. It's like a Dementor from Harry Potter came along and sucked out all of Dylan's joy and hope for the future.
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TVTropes
The Times They Are A-Changin' is the third studio album by Bob Dylan, released in 1964. It is one of Dylan's most famous albums, epitomized by the eponymous title track, which has become his Signature Song over the years.
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The Current
September 11, 2017. Though Dylan never lost his social conscience, he was never so consistently and explicitly engaged with politics as he was to such stinging effect on this aptly-titled body of work.
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CITY PAGES
January 7, 2014. There was historic social and political upheaval taking place in the United States at the time, and the defiant songs Dylan released on The Times They Are A-Changin' gave a poetic, assured voice to those important issues and concerns -- none more so than the legendary title track itself. And now, 50 years later, the bold, determined lyrics of Dylan's iconic anthem ring as true today as they did back then.
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Wilson & Alroy's Record Reviews
Today's word is "morose." There's none of the humor or variety of Freewheelin' - just one slow, sad, guitar-and-harmonica number after another. Aside from the title anthem, the protest songs are dirge-like, obvious and painfully repetitive. . . .
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Rock Times
October 28, 2016. "The Times They Are A-Changin '" is widely regarded today as a classic because of the songs contained on it, but has always had critics, because here only the acoustic guitar, the harmonica and the vocals of Dylan can be heard. . . . So no question: "The Times They Are A-Changin '" is a classic in Bob Dylan's early work.
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Countdown Kid
May 17, 2013. Those looking for reasons why Bob Dylan pretty much left behind the protest song genre early in his career may be overlooking the obvious: He pretty much perfected the style on his 1964 album The Times They Are-A Changin’. The album often gets downgraded in Bob’s catalog as being too much of an unremitting downer, yet many of the songs contained are considered Dylan evergreens.
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