Taking the first, electric side of {^Bringing It All Back Home} to its logical conclusion, {$Bob Dylan} hired a full {\rock & roll} band, featuring guitarist {$Michael Bloomfield}, for {^Highway 61 Revisited}. Opening with the epic {&"Like a Rolling Stone,"} {^Highway 61 Revisited} careens through nine songs that range from reflective {\folk-rock} ({&"Desolation Row"}) and {\blues} ({&"It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry"}) to flat-out {\garage rock} ({&"Tombstone Blues,"} {&"From a Buick 6,"} {&"Highway 61 Revisited"}). {$Dylan} had not only changed his sound, but his persona, trading the {\folk} troubadour for a streetwise, cynical hipster. Throughout the album, he embraces druggy, surreal imagery, which can either have a sense of menace or beauty, and the music reflects that, jumping between soothing melodies to hard, bluesy {\rock}. And that is the most revolutionary thing about {^Highway 61 Revisited} -- it proved that {\rock & roll} needn't be collegiate and tame in order to be literate, poetic, and complex. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide