A lot of that extra stuff was B sides or in the the case of "George Jackson," a single that never made it to an LP in the States or Europe, but the Aussies, canny individuals that they were, saw a chance to make a different kind of Dylan record and they did.

A great CD and well worth owning if you can find it.

Reviewed by Stephanie Sane


Some say it's the best collection ...   September 16, 2004
Earl B (Auckland New Zealand)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

... and I'm not about to disagree. It was released on vinyl only in New Zealand, Australia and Japan in 1978. I listened to my vinyl version again a few days ago and on the basis of that was moved to track it down on CD. Mission accomplished! (If you're ever in Auckland, New Zealand, Real Groovy Records is well worth a visit).
The version of Spanish is the Loving Tongue on this is superb and I haven't seen it on anything else.
Don't buy it for the sleeve notes though!


Bob Dylan Masterpieces   September 14, 2003
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

This album is one of my favorite Bob Dylan Titles that I own, I have almost every album printed. I am very happy with the quality of service and material from CD Now they do a great job ..
Thanks Again CD Now


A useful introduction to Bob Dylan's discography   November 19, 2008
Alex TB
Considering that putting together a Bob Dylan compilation is extremely hard, this three disk Japanese import does the job pretty well for Dylan's early to mid career. I guess I'm not a huge Dylan fan so I'm not familiar with all of his albums, but this was a good launching point for me into a downright imposing discography. Any release like this runs the risk of not including enough or including too much, and this does miss a few really good ones while including a few questionable songs too (I personally loathe Tears of Rage). But when it comes to Bob Dylan, really it is all about personal preference, and people are going to find songs they love that most are indifferent about and songs they hate that most love. If you want to get into Bob Dylan, stopping here would be the worst thing you could do, because the albums themselves are what hold strength. With that said, you will never get a definitive answer as to where to start in that respect. People will say Freewheelin', Blonde on Blonde, Highway 61, Bringing it All Back Home, Blood on the Tracks... There is no easy way to dig into this artists body of work, and the only options are to dig and keep digging or simply not get a full picture. But this compilation rustles up some essentials to round off whenever you decide to stop digging, which will happen if this is justified in the first place.


A great tribute to the greatest of American musical geniuses   February 1, 2008
Peter Hoogenboom (New Zealand)
"Masterpieces" is an excellent survey of Bob Dylan's music up until 1978.

It's choice of exciting studio and live recordings is impeccable and the poetry, melody, and rhythmic variety of Dylan's songs are simply awe-inspiring. A great tribute to this greatest of American musical geniuses.