Through The Years LIVE Vol. 1

Ever since I started trading D DVDS I always shied away from compilation discs. This dvd which i recieved as a freebie from the very kind trader Janalyn, is amazing. 90 percent of the tracks have excellent 5 star sound and video quality.All of the songsare in chronological order by year. Some of the best performances i have seen of D. anyway to sum it up, if you dont have this one, get it. You will be pleased.
wcboy77

The shuffle feature on the menu allows for an even greater experience of an already beautiful DVD. It plays continuously! I'll just let it play all day,if I wish.

This compilation shows Mr. Dylan's kindness in many ways.You can't help but love the man as you watch him growing up in front of your eyes.

The sounds are perfect and so are the sights.Mad props to everyone involved!! Many thanks.

D471 THROUGH THE YEARS LIVE VOLUME I

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This patchy but ultimately uplifting encounter with the many faces (and voices, and moods) of Bob takes us over two decades and two continents on a journey which features joy and despair, warmth and the menace of the mob. With the pleasing exception of the very fine Let's Begin (inspired pick to open with), the eighties footage is technically inferior, due to age, multiple copying and/or the more limited availability in those days of good equipment. But from Forever Young on, picture quality is good or better and sound is spot-on. Bob's performance standard ranges from lacklustre (Don't Think Twice, Watchtower) to thoroughly engaged and committed (St. Augustine, Long Black Coat, Hard Rain, Po' Boy). Three other tracks deserve particular mention: first is the most heart-warming piece of video you'd ever wish to see, featuring a young lady who walks on stage as Bob's about to start singing Times. She sings a verse with him. Security then want her off but Bob waves them away and the pair duet through the rest of the song together. The crowd sings too and the film catches it all perfectly. I can imagine in thirty years time this lady proudly showing this film to her grandchildren. Almost by accident, something crucial about what Bob means to us all is beautifully caught here.

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This stands in marked contrast to the take of Rolling Stone from Dubuque. It looks like the last song of the show and audience members are allowed to climb on the stage to approach Bob for a hug, kiss, handshake, few words or whatever. No security, no attempt by anybody to stop it. One guy even steps up with pen and paper - with D in mid-song - to ask for an autograph. Did he actually think Bob would stop playing and sign?? Maybe so. Though no harm comes to anyone, this piece of film reveals Bob not as the musician he would best love to be, but primarily, to most of his "fans", as an event - something like a circus or carnival that blows into town and off again, fit only for gawking or ogling at, or acting the goat with. It’s un-nerving, disquieting, distinctly chilling. Finally, Bob’s duet with Paul Simon on Sound Of Silence sees Bob very tentative in his singing and playing and ill-at-ease in his body-language as he stands beside a relaxed and self-assured Simon. There’s an air of master and pupil here that doesn’t play to D's advantage. That's not to decry Dylan's achievements when compared to those of Simon (a different kind of animal altogether) - but you can't help but get the feeling that, just at that moment, Paul Simon is right where he wants to be in his life and Bob Dylan is not. Of course, all of these insights are given to us only because certain people take the trouble to film and then circulate all these things, and more power to them for continuing to do so. Special thanks, too, to Ken for his generous gift of this disc.

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STARS Four

Great menu that tells when & where the song was performed, as do the subtitles at the beginning of each song. The quality varies, as you’d expect from a compilation of audience shot shows, but the sound is excellent throughout. This is a good sampler to help identify what shows you would personally like to collect. How much energy he used to have during his earlier career as opposed to know; age catches up with us all eventually. Some truly great moments although his voice does progressively worsen, in my opinion, as her grows older although others may prefer it more now.

“Swiss Liz” has got to be one of the great all-time highlights along with stage diving in Dubuque during LARS which is one of my favorites just for all the love he gets; simply amazing, like nothing else. Dylan & Paul Simon on “Sounds of Silence” I never knew and was a bit surprised.

Too many great songs and moments to critique all but definitely a must have. Thanks again Stoked for sharing!

i was intrigued when I got hold of vol. 2 of this compilation. Now this DVD got me totally hooked! LET´S BEGIN is intense and powerful and really rises my desire to hunt for more stuff from the 81 tour. The unique rendition of MAN IN THE LONG BLACK COAT left me speechless. I´ve never seen and heard a more passionate and strange performance of this song. There are so many nuggets on this goldmine DVD that it´s hard not to fall in love with it right away. I never thought I would enjoy watching audience videos that much. But it´s the wonderful sequencing and authoring of this disc that makes it such a revelation. Pure joy!

Now this is one i just never stop playing,great sound and picture quality plus some breathtaking performances from Bob.Particular favourites of mine a astunning man in the long black coat with Bob minus guitar strutting the stage,agorgeous forever young all in all too many to mention but all in all superb a must have

Superb, a great compilation of material from 1981-2004, and a DVD well worth having. The sound quality on all songs is nothing short of superb, and although the shakiness varies from song to song, the whole thing proves to be very enjoyable. If you haven't got this one then I suggest you get it as soon as you can! Extra credit is due for the brilliant authoring on this one. It looks like a professional DVD! The menus are great and there are even subtitles on most tracks! Roll on Volume 2!

Absolutely WONDERFUL disc with excellent picture and sound quality. Being chronological, it gives one a real sense of Bobs developement of his craft, alongside the ageing of his voice and features. Like the other TTY volumes, it can work as a "sampler", enabling the viewer to prioritise the discs they most want to aquire, but it also works on a different level. It stands as a marvellous document in it's own right, and can be viewed in a single sitting almost like a film in a cinema. Each segment is, of course, filmed from a single viewpoint, with varying ammounts of shakiness, heads, etc: yet ones attention NEVER wavers, as, before you know it, we're onto the next song, and a different viewpoint. The most important level is probably the one Vygi intended, as a tribute to the intrepid tapers themselves, without whom... So an absolutely faultless DVD that belongs in EVERY collection.
(Seeing Bob duetting with Paul Simon made this viewer hope that maybe another voume of TTY could be a compilation of Bob doing cover versions...)

This is a great compilation.

It works both as a sampler for helping people figure out which complete shows to seek out (& possibly avoid) as well as a very enjoyable collection of performances to watch from beginning to end. I'm impressed by a feeling of natural flow between such a wide variety of performances. The duet with Paul Simon is maybe the only jarring misstep. (I also could've done without the Dubuque performance. I understand its inclusion. A lot of people seem to love it, but seeing all those audience members on stage kinda makes me sick.)

Everyone will probably have their favorite clips. I think mine were the 2 Oh Mercy songs (Shooting Star & a guitarless Bob singing Man In The Long Black Coat) & the close-up shots of Visions Of Johanna & Senor (even though there's a big head in the way for most of it).

Sound is excellent throughout - though Hollis Brown seemed a little harsh as well as 1 or 2 others (Watchtower maybe?)

This disc also has a cool option that I don't see used enough on bootlegs or official releases: Shuffle. That ought to help with lasting appeal. I'm not sure, but it seems that it will shuffle through the songs forever. When I tested it, I got I & I 4 times before it played Senor.

Another useful feature: song title, date, & venue will pop up on screen for a second or 2 when you skip to the next track.

The first Volume in the TTY "live" subsection, featuring exclusively audience-filmed performances that were sound-upgraded. The title "through the years" makes even more sense here than on the former volumes (featuring a selection of Dylan´s TV appearances) since also the development of video technique is obvious and striking. Time flows by track by track. Next to splendidly succesful video recordings (from balconies and head-and-shoulder-free positions, like on "Forever Young" from Paris 1990) there is also evidence of unlucky situations when trying to get things into focus. Watching the rough struggle of a taper with a taller guy in front of him on Brussel´s "Senor", we feel pity for him and almost start to sweat ourselves ... On some tracks like this the sound quality is so much superior to the shaky picture that almost doesn´t fit (but what do I complain about?).
Performances that stick out:

"Let´s Begin", 81. Dylan gesticulating while singing the song, joyfully living it with his arms and hands.

"Forever Young", 90. A highly strong and intimate performance that almost feels like a solo performance, even though the band is around.

"Don´t Think Twice", 91. An example of how playful and inspired Dylan was during that notorious touring year. He introduces the song with a long weird speech that fits perfectly with the chord sequence the band is already playing.

"Times", 93. The version with Liz Siouzzi - a woman from the audience who duets with Dylan. Warm and beautiful.

"Long Black Coat", 95. One killer of a sinister reading with Dylan moving around on stage like he never did before or afterwards, screaming and whispering, holding his microphone like a goblet from which he drinks.

"Like a Rolling Stone", 96. The Dubuque "stage diving" performance with many, many folks coming on stage and hugging and kissing the man with the white cowboy hat. Hilarious and touching.

"Visions of Johanna", 01. Having Dylan in close-up throughout, one sees all his facial muscles moving when he sings the song, and is able to "read" what the words do with him.

"Highway 61", 04. A great video shot that shows exclusively Dylan at the keyboard. His smiles and gestures beautifully bear witness to the joy he experiences here.