There’s very, very little I can say about this record that hasn’t already been said. As a twenty-five year old, I can speak very little to the importance of when Bob Dylan emerged from the New York’s Greenwich Village and hit the national (worldwide?) stage, bringing folk music into the popular music sphere. This album in particular is iconic in every sense, from the oft-imitated album cover to the legends that occupy the tracklist–A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall, Masters of War, Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright, and Blowin’ In The Wind, arguably Dylan’s most famous song (but you don’t need me to tell you that). It was a landmark both musically and politically, rocketing Dylan into his reluctant role of Spokesman of a Generation.

But how does the record stand up today, nearly fifty years removed from its original context? Does such a historical piece stand up to contemporary ears unfamiliar with the world he was singing about and to? Well, yes. The album showcases a young man who had become a local hero for his ability to wax poetic over an acoustic guitar, and if anything, it proves that he’s worth the hype. His voice, long likened to sandpaper-and-glue, isn’t as harsh as the social consciousness has exaggerated it to be. Rather, he has mastery over it, always becoming the most appropriate narrator, whether he’s spitting acid at war profiteers in Masters of War or wryly kissing off his lover in Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright or humorously telling of a day in a post-apocalyptic NYC. And his guitar playing, long characterized as ragged, follows the lead of his voice, violently strumming during protest songs and sweetly fingerpicked on tunes like Girl From The North Country. Bob Dylan not only is able to choose the right words, but is also adept at varying his playing style to best express those words. And while it remains important for its historical significance, it is Dylan’s enduring songwriting and playing that calls people under the age of thirty to care about it still.