Planet Waves by Bob Dylan

Planet Waves, released January 17, 1974, on Asylum in America and Island in Britain, is Bob Dylan back in the room with the Band, the old comrades he had cut all those basement recordings with. They were about to hit the road together on a big reunion tour, the one caught on Before the Flood, and the record has the easy, lived-in feel of musicians who don't need to explain anything to each other: loose, warm roots rock, laid back almost to a fault.

It gave Dylan his first number one album in America, and critics, still sore from Self Portrait and Dylan, heard it as a step back up, even if they weren't doing cartwheels. It nearly had a different name: Wedding Song was an early working title, and Ceremonies of the Horsemen, a nod to "Love Minus Zero/No Limit", lasted until Dylan changed his mind and held the release two weeks. "Forever Young" is the song the countdowns still reach for.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.