Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine) - Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan
2. Lay Lady Lay - Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan
3. Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 - Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan
4. Knockin' on Heaven's Door - The Band, Bob Dylan
5. It Ain't Me Babe - Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan
6. Ballad of a Thin Man - Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan
7. Up on Cripple Creek - Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan
8. I Shall Be Released - Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan
9. Endless Highway - The Band
10. Night They Drove Old Dixie Down - Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan
11. Stage Fright - Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan

Disc 2:

1. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right - Bob Dylan
2. Just Like a Woman - Bob Dylan
3. It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) - Bob Dylan
4. Shape I'm In - Bob Dylan
5. When You Awake - Bob Dylan
6. Weight - Bob Dylan
7. All Along the Watchtower - Bob Dylan
8. Highway 61 Revisited - Bob Dylan
9. Like a Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan
10. Blowin' in the Wind - Bob Dylan

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #68577 in Music
• Released on: 1990-10-25
• Number of discs: 2
• Format: Live

Amazon.com
Dylan has issued a large number of live albums in his day, but 1974's Before the Flood deserves special mention because of the presence of the Band behind him. Dylan had recently brought the Band into the studio to record the chart-topping (yet still somehow underappreciated) Planet Waves, which was the first (and, as it turned out, only) studio record he made after leaving Columbia for Asylum. He then asked them along on the subsequent tour, which at the time became the most successful rock tour in history. The fruits of that partnership are contained on this two-CD set, which actually ignores Planet Waves completely in favor of older classics. Although the album includes several strong collaborations, the highlights ironically come during Dylan's solo-acoustic portion, which yields powerful and gritty versions of "Don't Think Twice" and "It's Alright Ma," and during the Band's own exhilarating numbers with Dylan sitting out. --Marc Greilsamer

Customer Reviews

Dylan is great, Band is great, but Dylan w/Band, less so
This one is a tough call. Some of the best live versions of Dylan's folk songs like Don't Think Twice, It's Allright, appear on this album. Also some of the best versions of Band chestnuts like Stage Fright and the Night they Drove Old Dixie Down. It is also the only album where you can hear them do Endless Highway.

BUT: When Dylan and the Band play together, as they do on about 8 cuts, the results are mixed. Dylan seems to feel the need to shout, rather than sing, over their support. The worst example is Lay Lady Lay, which loses all its delicacy here. Other collaborations come out somewhat better, but you get the feeling that Dylan is nervous singing in front of the arena crowds that had begun to characterize rock touring by 1974. This was Dylan's first real tour since the 60s, and maybe all the fistpumping populism freaked him out. Who knows?

If you love Dylan or the Band, you'll want this. But if you don't have any other Dylan, don't start here.

2009 Remaster is a brilliant upgrade.
I've been vexed by this release ever since some old friends of mine used to rave about it. I just couldn't warm up to it. I thought the Dylan songs were just not like the studio ones I was familar with and the sonic limitations (of the orignal CD release) definitely did not help its cause. Now I can say it was soley the sonics that kept this on the shelf for so long. The improved sound is just brilliant, the high end rides above a solid bottom whereas this used to be a muddy mess. I can finally recommend this. Many diehards will lament the lack of any bonus material whatsoever. This is how the Dylan machine operates, he uses his bootleg series toward that end and he keeps the legacy material tried and true. I applaud that and I think brevity is sometimes its own reward.

Energetic and Passionate
Dylan's music is closest thing to American folk art produced in the 20th century. Always evolving, his songs remain works in progress even after 40 years of recording and touring. His most recent tour, with moving remakes of his classics and brilliant new songs from Love and Theft, proves Dylan is never content to rest on his laurels.
Before the Flood is nothing short of a brilliant live album, featuring an energized and passionate Dylan, putting into his songs a vitality that a studio cannot hold. Versions of "Most Likely You'll Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine," "Rolling Stone," and especially "Watchtower" are among the best ever performed, reaching a breathless level of intensity. The acoustic numbers are uptempo, clearly stated and articulate. The Band is tight and focused, economic in their playing, sometimes following Bob, sometimes challenging him to keep the pace, but always with brilliant interplay. Their solo numbers are as intense as they have ever recorded, on a par with Rock of Ages. True Dylanphiles rank this record with the best of the many bootlegs which capture his greatest performances. Those with only a casual familiarity with Dylan can listen to this album and learn why the leading figures in rock and roll history count Dylan as a major influence.