Biograph

Biograph became the blueprint for countless box sets that followed. Released in 1985 at the onset of the CD age, Biograph consisted of five vinyl records or three compact discs. It summarized Bob Dylan's career to that point in an elliptical style. Newer recordings were juxtaposed with older ones, popular tracks were placed by obscure cuts, well-known songs were presented in unexpected live versions, and unreleased recordings made their debuts. It marks the first album appearance of such highlights as "Lay Down Your Weary Tune," "Percy's Song," "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window," "Up to Me," and "I Wanna Be Your Lover," among many. "Tangled Up in Blue" is the standard studio take, while "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" is a live acoustic version that offers a deserving second look at an established classic. The live acoustic version of "Visions of Johanna" acknowledged the existence of bootlegged live recordings that would see full attention with the impressive Bootleg Series, starting in 1991. Biograph isn't a traditional greatest-hits collection; it's far more lyrical than that. Including nearly every popular song Dylan ever recorded, it tells a grander, more ambitious tale.