The Bootleg Series 5: Live 1975

Disc 1
1	Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You
2	It Ain't Me, Babe
3	A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall
4	The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll
5	Romance In Durango
6	Isis
7	Mr. Tambourine Man
8	Simple Twist Of Fate
9	Blowin' In The Wind
10	Mama, You Been On My Mind
11	I Shall Be Released
Disc 2
1	It's All Over Now, Baby Blue
2	Love Minus Zero/No Limit
3	Tangled Up In Blue
4	The Water Is Wide
5	It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry
6	Oh, Sister
7	Hurricane
8	One More Cup Of Coffee (Valley Below)
9	Sara
10	Just Like A Woman
11	Knockin' On Heaven's Door

Barnes & Noble

Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue has long been one of rock's most-discussed spectacles, with its traveling-circus atmosphere and remarkably diverse array of musical participants. But while bootleggers have had their way with it, the tour was barely acknowledged by those responsible for preserving Dylan's live legacy in official form. This generously proportioned two-disc set captures Dylan at his most mercurial, veering from raging songs of protest (a steely, spitting version of "Hurricane," which was, at that point, unreleased) to pastoral interludes of beauty (highlighted by a passel of duets with Joan Baez, including a lovely rendition of the traditional "The Water Is Wide"). Dylan's constant quest to reinvent himself -- or at least his songs -- is in full evidence here, in the grand-scale presentation of the early high-water mark "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll" and the woozy, sea-chantey take on "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" (replete with storefront-church call-and-response vocals). Baez isn't the only Thunder-er to shine: "It Ain't Me, Babe" benefits from the Technicolor guitar splashes provided by Mick Ronson -- an unlikely but ideal foil for Dylan's stark performance style. "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here with You," on the other hand, takes on a whole new personality, thanks to Dylan's aggressive delivery, which makes the sentiment sound more like a jut-jawed threat than a sensual promise. Like all the previous offerings in the Bootleg Series, this is a fascinating, unflaggingly revealing snapshot of an artist who seldom stands still long enough for anyone to capture an image for posterity. David Sprague

All Music Guide

The biggest criticism of The Bootleg Series, Vol. 5: Bob Dylan Live 1975 -- the third installment in Columbia/Legacy's excavation of the exhaustive Bob Dylan vaults (the first was a box set, containing three volumes) -- is that it's a compilation of highlights from his Rolling Thunder Revue of 1975, one that doesn't set out to replicate a set list but instead offers two discs and 22 tracks from this fabled tour. Apart from that, there's very little to complain about on this superlative set, which offers the first official release of Rolling Thunder material. Yes, this had been heavily bootlegged over the decades, plus it was documented on Dylan's notoriously unwatchable film Renaldo & Clara and there was Hard Rain, a collection culled from the post-Thunder 1976 tour that was similar but sour and nowhere near as good the 1975 material, as this superb set illustrates. Hearing this is a revelation, even for serious Dylan watchers -- those so serious to own several bootlegs, even a full shelf of Dylan, but not as obsessive as those who track Bob's every move -- and those who aren't as dedicated, yet still harbor a serious interest, will find this equally absorbing, since this is simply tremendous. It has become legend that Dylan will change arrangements and switch lyrics at the drop of a hat, which was evident on his jaunt with the Band in 1974, preserved for posterity on Before the Flood. Even so, he's looser, wilder, and more alive in this careening, thrilling album, a record where "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall" gallops along as if it were "Leopard Skin Pill-Box Hat." As that suggests, the wildest thing about this is the electric cuts, where an unwieldy band turns out an overpowering sound that sounds inevitable, as if it's the only way these songs could be played, even when you've heard these songs countless times before in other arrangements. The acoustic moments don't pack the same charge, nor do they contain many of his duets with Joan Baez, yet they're intimate, passionate versions of the songs. In fact, there's not a bad moment here, and if it doesn't replicate the Rolling Thunder tour list to the letter, it does indeed capture the essence of this legendary stint, which is why it's necessary for every serious fan. Stephen Thomas Erlewine

New York Times

A long-overdue document of his legendary Rolling Thunder Revue... this set captures the live sets at their zenith. Neil Strauss

Rolling Stone

It's possible to read plenty into these performances, with the singer's marriage on the rocks, but what towers above is the singer's fiery commitment to an even more seductive muse: his music. Greg Kot