Here’s the Best Preview Yet of Timothee Chalamet’s Bob Dylan
· Ultimate Classic RockThe latest trailer for A Complete Unknown gives fans the most complete sneak peek yet into Timothee Chalamet's portrayal of Bob Dylan.
The just-released clip from James Mangold's upcoming biopic finds Dylan arriving in New York, where he meets fellow singer Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro), gets involved in a love triangle and then decides to abandon folk music. Along the way, Chalamet can be heard singing Dylan favorites like "Girl From the North Country" and "Like a Rolling Stone."
There's also footage depicting Dylan and Baez duetting at the Monterey Folk Festival in 1963. As a romance sparks, the exchanges with Baez prove to be particularly spicy: "Your songs are like an oil painting at the dentist's office," Chalamet's character says. Barbaro's Baez then responds: "You're kind of an asshole, Bob."
READ MORE: Top 10 Bob Dylan Lyrics
Dylan also becomes involved with Sylvie Russo, a fictionalized version of Suze Rotolo played by Elle Fanning. (Rotolo would memorably appear on the album cover of 1963's The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan.) He meets hero Pete Seeger (Edward Norton) and Johnny Cash (Boyd Holbrook), too.
Mangold's film was based on Elijah Wald's 2015 book Dylan Goes Electric!, and that decision gives the trailer its tension. Record label figures express confusion while his tradition-bound fanbase reacts in anger.
A Complete Unknown is set to premiere on Dec. 25. Dylan himself offered notes on the script: "I've spent several wonderfully charming days in his company, just one-on-one, talking to him,” Mangold said on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. "I have a script that's personally annotated by him and treasured by me."
This new footage follows a short teaser released in July. The Complete Unknown cast also includes Scoot McNairy as Woody Guthrie and Dan Fogler as Albert Grossman, among others.
39. 'Dylan' (1973)
Columbia released 'Dylan' after the artist jumped shipped for another label. Dylan himself wasn't pleased. The nine songs (all covers, ranging from traditional numbers to a Joni Mitchell cut) were left over from the 'Self Portrait' and 'New Morning' sessions. For years, it wasn't even available, which should give you a clear assessment of this mess.
38. 'Self Portrait' (1970)
The first sign there was a crack in the "genius" tag Dylan had been carrying around for almost a decade, 'Self Portrait' arrived as a double-album collection of cover songs (some traditional, some written by contemporaries like Paul Simon), a handful of lazy new originals and scattered live versions of classics from his past. Worst, many of the tracks were buried in a mix stuffed with strings, horns and mawkish backing vocals. The project was reexamined with improved results on 'Another Self Portrait,' a 2013 'Bootleg Series' set that removed the sap.
37. 'Saved' (1980)
The second of Dylan's three born-again albums is the preachiest ... and the worst. The original (and quickly replaced) cover art -- featuring Jesus reaching down to a sea of grasping hands -- says all you need to know about 'Saved''s contents. Christ, what was he thinking?
36. 'Knocked Out Loaded' (1986)
In 1986 Dylan toured with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers as his backup band. Later that year he released his 24th album with the group playing on several of the songs. What could go wrong? Everything, starting with the lack of memorable songs (except for 11-minute epic "Brownsville Girl," co-written with playwright Sam Shepard). Covers, lazy originals and more collaborations figure into this unlistenable and quickly forgettable disaster. It would be a while before Dylan recovered from this.
35. 'Down in the Groove' (1988)
Almost as bad as its predecessor, 1986's terrible 'Knocked Out Loaded,' 'Down in the Groove' followed a similar pattern, right down to the long list of collaborators who bring little to the record. The album sat on the shelf for a while and sifted through several years' worth of session leftovers before it finally saw release. It's miserable, from start to finish.
34. 'Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid' (1973)
Dylan composed the score and had a role in Sam Peckinpah's movie about the long and complicated relationship between the Old West lawman and famous outlaw. Almost all of the music is instrumental besides the hit "Knockin' on Heaven's Door," which quickly became one of Dylan's most popular songs. The rest of it is dusty Americana served through an early-'70s filter.
33. 'Shot of Love' (1981)
Dylan's last gospel record included one of his best '80s songs, the heavenly "Every Grain of Sand." It also spawned a B-side, "The Groom's Still Waiting at the Altar," that ranks among his toughest tracks in years. Everything else, to paraphrase one of its cuts, is watered-down Dylan.
32. 'Good as I Been to You' (1992)
A concerted return toward the stripped-down folk music Dylan played early in his career, 'Good as I Been to You' followed years of increasingly dense and overproduced records. It was Dylan's first acoustic album in almost 30 years. But he takes tentative steps, as if he's not totally comfortable with his old confines. 'World Gone Wrong,' which quickly followed the next year, is way better and a stronger and more confident exploration of the same concept.
31. 'Empire Burlesque' (1985)
Crapping away most of the goodwill he generated with 1983's 'Infidels,' Dylan bows to synths, horns and overblown '80s production on 'Empire Burlesque.' Fans like to point to the closing "Dark Eyes" as a throwback solo acoustic gem. It hardly makes up for everything that comes before it.
30. 'Christmas in the Heart' (2009)
Even though he was raised Jewish (but later became a born-again Christian), Dylan had long wanted to make a Christmas album. In 2009, he got his chance, recording both religious and secular favorites in a straightforward manner that's both exhilarating and stifling. It remains a curio more than anything else. And at least it keeps the spirit of the season: All proceeds were donated to charity.
29. 'Under the Red Sky' (1990)
After 1989's comeback album 'Oh Mercy,' Dylan returned with an all-star project that included contemporaries (George Harrison, Elton John) as well as some newer guns (Slash, Stevie Ray Vaughan). And in a career that has its share of odd twists and turns, 'Under the Red Sky' ranks as one of Dylan's most bizarre outings, an album that skirts the line between a pop LP and a children's record.
28. 'World Gone Wrong' (1993)
The sequel to 1992's acoustic return 'Good as I Been to You' is even better, a more blues-based collection than its folk-oriented predecessor. More importantly, 'World Gone Wrong' can be seen as the prelude to Dylan's creative rebirth, which began with his very next album, 1997's 'Time Out of Mind.' This roots-pulling set surely got him there.
27. 'Fallen Angels' (2016)
Like 2015's 'Shadows in the Night,' 'Fallen Angels' is Dylan's tribute to the Great American Songbook by way of Frank Sinatra. And like on its predecessor, Dylan plays old-school interpreter here, shaking off the cobwebs from songs of the '40s and '50s. Others have done it better, but there's no doubt Dylan means every word he sings.
26. 'Triplicate' (2017)
Dylan's third album of standards in three years (and his first-ever three-LP set) continues his sentimental journey into the past. But he manages to inject despair into even the lightest song here, reading a dark undercurrent into these songs that the writers may or may not have intended.
25. 'Together Through Life' (2009)
Dylan's late-career comeback hit a small bump with this 2009 album, which still managed to debut at No. 1. It started life as a soundtrack to a little-seen French movie, which may explain its somewhat fleeting and flimsy songs, several of which reference obscure folk and blues numbers from Dylan's past. Ultimately, it sounds rushed and half-formed.
24. 'Shadows in the Night' (2015)
For this album of standards, Dylan dipped into the Great American Songbook and came out with a collection of songs typically associated with more structured singers. There's little doubt Dylan has affinity for these numbers, and his croaky readings are at least heartfelt, but it's by turns sentimental and clunky, neither of which has ever done Dylan or his fans any good.
23. 'Slow Train Coming' (1979)
The first of Dylan's three born-again albums is also the best, a record in which the message, for the most part, doesn't get in the way of the music. Mark Knopfler plays guitar, and the album was recorded in the Muscle Shoals Studio with producer Jerry Wexler, who worked on some of the '60s' greatest R&B songs. So it's at least soulful in parts, and Dylan sounds committed to his cause.
22. 'Street Legal' (1978)
Dylan expanded the sound and themes of 1976's 'Desire' on its follow-up, layering horns and female backing singers on top of songs that hinted at his next stage. It's murky at times, both musically and lyrically, but there's a pop punch to the material that often evades Dylan's work. Not a total success, but better than it's given credit for.
21. 'New Morning' (1970)
Probably Dylan's most underrated album, 'New Morning' quickly followed the terrible 'Self Portrait,' and while stylistically the two albums are somewhat similar, the all-original material and enthusiastic performances immensely widen the gap. In a way, it's a throwback to Dylan's mid-'60s work, when he spit out lines with equal doses of passion and spite.
20. 'Infidels' (1983)
Dylan has had more comebacks than any other musical artist we can think of (mostly because he's been around long enough to have so many). One of his strongest followed the often-scorned born-again trilogy with songs that juggled the personal and the political along with some of the best performances (by a backing band that included Mark Knopfler, who co-produced, and reggae legends Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare) to be found on a Dylan record since the '60s.
19. 'Planet Waves' (1974)
Dylan's first No. 1 album was also a reunion with the Band, who became stars themselves since the last time they played together on 1967's then-unreleased 'Basement Tapes.' (Dylan and the Band also hit the road together in support of the album, the first he toured since his fabled 1966 shows with the group.) Following the dismal nature of Dylan's most recent releases, 'Planet Waves' is somewhat of a triumphant comeback. But the real story here is the return of the Band as his backing group, and everyone makes the most of the reunion.
18. 'Rough and Rowdy Ways' (2020)
After spending most of the '10s looking back with various 'Bootleg Series' volumes and three albums of American Songbook standards, Dylan returned in the '20s with his first album of new material in eight years. And it couldn't have been more timely. With a world reeling from a pandemic and other life-shifting events, 'Rough and Rowdy Ways' sounded like a sign of the times, especially the album's closing 17-minute epic, "Murder Most Foul," which is positively Shakespearean in its scope as it links the assassination of JFK to 20th century pop culture movements and more.
17. 'Tempest' (2012)
Like most of Dylan's late-career comeback albums, 'Tempest' is a mix of old storytelling themes, lyrical nods and biblical references. It tackles love, life, mortality and history in both sweeping and tightly constructed shades. And it's as musically sound and unfussy as you'd expect from Dylan at this stage of his career.
16. 'Bob Dylan' (1962)
Dylan's debut album is a folk milestone and a watershed release of the genre's early '60s revival. It's just not very original. He penned only two of the 13 tracks, and shifts style and tone to fit the arrangements. But you can hear the future legend beginning to scratch that itch, in his frenzied vocal delivery and in his restless surveying of who got there before him.
15. 'Another Side of Bob Dylan' (1964)
The other side promised on Dylan's fourth album reveals more personal songs, rather than the politically inclined ones found on his previous records. Relationship tunes (like "All I Really Want to Do" and "It Ain't Me Babe") dominate, but he doesn't totally abandon the social arena: "Chimes of Freedom" is a worthy companion to "The Times They Are A-Changin'."
14. 'Oh Mercy' (1989)
Another comeback album, 'Oh Mercy' arrived at the end of a particularly tough decade for Dylan, who spent most of the '80s releasing forgettable albums that nobody wanted to hear. And compared to most of his records from that time, 'Oh Mercy' marks a triumphant return. But Daniel Lanois' signature production is a bit too atmospheric and muddy for an artist as direct as Dylan.
13. 'The Times They Are a-Changin'' (1964)
Dylan's first album of all original material is also the one most emblematic of his persona at the time as a socially conscious protest singer. There was a lot to get charged up over in 1964 (though the album was completed about a month before John F. Kennedy was assassinated), and Dylan hits almost all of the big issues, from racism to the Cold War. It's not as fun or as wide-ranging as its predecessor, 'The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan,' but it helped seal a reputation, for better or worse.
12. 'Nashville Skyline' (1969)
Dylan's country music move -- he recorded in Nashville with session players and included a duet with Johnny Cash -- was spurred by his previous album, 'John Wesley Harding.' It's laid-back, pleasant ... and a little off-putting as Dylan tries on a new singing voice in songs like "Lay Lady Lay." Things got even more hazy on his next LP, the widely maligned 'Self Portrait.'
11. 'Modern Times' (2006)
The follow-up to 'Love and Theft' digs even deeper into the roots music Dylan started to upend. More than almost any post-'60s record in his catalog, 'Modern Times' is an homage to American music in all its forms, shades and colors. Dylan and his band tear through indigenous blues, country and rock, spinning them into modern variations of tales told a hundred or more years ago.
10. 'John Wesley Harding' (1967)
After the whirlwind period that delivered three undisputed classics, as well as a history-making tour, Dylan vowed to take it easy. And the songs on this Americana-leaning LP reflect that notion, kicking up a mild dust storm as Dylan tries to make sense of the era. Like 'The Basement Tapes,' which were also recorded around this time, 'John Wesley Harding' is an acoustic reaction to everything that preceded it.
9. 'Desire' (1976)
Dylan's ambitious and sprawling Rolling Thunder Revue road show inspired one of his best albums, a lyrical and musical accomplishment. The highlight is opener "Hurricane," an eight-and-a-half-minute song about boxer Rubin Carter, who was in prison at the time for a murder for which he was later exonerated. But the rest of 'Desire' (one of Dylan's most alive-sounding albums) is just as exciting and passionate about its subjects, whether culled from the history books ("Joey") or his personal life ("Sara").
8. 'The Basement Tapes' (1975)
Following his still-debated motorcycle accident in 1966, Dylan and his backing group on tour (who'd soon call themselves the Band and launch their own career) holed up in a remote house in upstate New York for a few months in 1967 and recorded more than a hundred songs -- some covers, many new Dylan compositions. Abbreviated and edited versions of the frequently bootlegged tapes was finally released in 1975, revealing the often self-serious Dylan at his loosest and most playful. ('The Basement Tapes' were expanded into a six-disc box in 2014 as part of 'The Bootleg Series.')
7. 'Love and Theft' (2001)
Proving that 'Time Out of Mind' was no fluke, 'Love and Theft' (which followed four years later) picks up where that late-career comeback left off. But where the earlier album faced mortality with a poet's shrug and a working man's uncertainty, 'Love and Theft' plays like an attic-sweeping of songs and themes Dylan and others left behind over the years. It's rootsier, too, evoking long-gone musical spirits from the other turn of the century.
6. 'Time Out of Mind' (1997)
The late-career renaissance begins here, with Dylan, on his best album since the '70s, taking on aging, mortality and the usual Dylanesque struggles of faith, love and friendship. His voice by now had become an instrument of dusty transcendence, recalling both pre-war bluesmen and the ageless folksingers who influenced him so early on. A near-fatal illness between the album's recording and release added more poignancy to the already meditative proceedings.
5. 'The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan' (1963)
Dylan's second album is also his first great one, a caffeinated tour of his vocal dexterity and growing confidence as a songwriter. There are still a couple of covers here, but it's the sharp, poignant and witty originals (like instant classics "Blowin' in the Wind" and "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right") that fuel 'Freewheelin'.' The legend starts here.
4. 'Bringing It All Back Home' (1965)
This is the album that kicked off Dylan's most fruitful era, and it also serves as a bridge between his earliest career as a serious-minded folk and protest singer and his next one as an often-contentious rock star. The album is split into electric and acoustic sides, and both deliver their share of classics, from the opening "Subterranean Homesick Blues" to the closing "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue."
3. 'Blood on the Tracks' (1975)
It's hard to say if this was the first of Dylan's many comeback albums, but it's certainly the best. He hadn't sounded this invigorated since his '60s heyday, and the circumstances surrounding the album -- marital discord plus a revitalizing tour with his old cohorts the Band -- gave him plenty of fuel for the fire. Angry, ruminative, melodic and narratively sharp: 'Blood on the Tracks' is a personal and timeless masterpiece.
2. 'Highway 61 Revisited' (1965)
Once Dylan plugged in and went electric in 1965, there was no stopping him. In less than a year and a half, he recorded three classic LPs, including his masterpiece 'Highway 61 Revisited,' a rollicking upheaval of his folk image that faced down influences, expectations and his critics. It's bitter, funny, melodic, lyrical and groundbreaking. And it's one of the best rock 'n' roll records ever made.
1. 'Blonde on Blonde' (1966)
Dylan's double-album masterstroke came at the end of a 15-month release schedule that also included 'Bringing It All Back Home' and 'Highway 61 Revisited.' And in some ways, 'Blonde on Blonde' is the best of the batch, a grab bag of pop, rock, folk and soul. Not long after it came out, Dylan was involved in a mysterious motorcycle accident that would keep him away from the public eye for more than a year.
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