Bob Dylan fans believe Self Portrait was ‘unfairly dismissed’ at the time of release

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Fans of the critically panned album Self Portrait believe the Bob Dylan release was “unfairly dismissed” at the time.

Listeners are returning to the album decades on from its release and believe it has more than a few moments of interest worth returning to. A post to the r/BobDylan subreddit saw fans share their thoughts on the album, with many suggesting it’s far stronger than it gets credit for. Self Portrait may still not get the credit it deserves, according to the album’s most ardent defenders. A post to the forum saw people suggest it was an “unfairly dismissed” piece of Dylan’s discography, and it paints an interesting picture of the artist at the turn of the 1970s. New Morning would follow soon after, and though it was wrongly suggested as a rushed album to make up for the Self Portrait shortcomings, it did bring Dylan back into a more familiar territory.

But fans believe Self Portrait is a daring collection of works which mark a worthy return from Dylan. One person wrote: “Put this record on tonight and I’m enjoying it. Looked it up on Wikipedia while listening and saw it was absolutely slammed. I don’t get it.

“Maybe I just enjoy it for what it is now, and at the time it wasn’t what folks wanted or expected? What’s your take on this one?” Fans broadly agreed that, while it’s far from his best work, it does remain an album with plenty of interesting deep dives into genres which were popular at that time in the United States.

One person wrote: “I remember when I got that album, I liked it a lot, in 1970 when I was ten and just starting to listen to Dylan, the Beatles, and music in general. I still listen to Self Portrait sometimes, and I think it’s a good album. It was unexpected at the time, different from anything else. I consider it a deep dive into Rhythm and Blues, Folk, and Americana.”

Another agreed, adding: “I had the same experience. Listened to it before I knew what the reception was and enjoyed it, especially Wigwam. Was surprised that it was so heavily slated.”

A third suggested that, compared to the “worst” albums of Dylan’s contemporaries, Self Portrait stands relatively tall. They shared: “It’s not the worst thing ever. Take Neil Young, Rolling Stones, Van Morrison, and everybody else’s ‘bad’ albums, and Self Portrait is fine. I also think that Dylan ’73 is fine. Yes, the studio add-ons stink, but it’s still him and I can see (kind of) what he had in mind.”

Some say it took years for Self Portrait to truly land, crediting The Bootleg Series release of Another Self Portrait for helping them understand the album’s complexities. One person wrote: “I thought it was a throwaway for a long time, then Another Self Portrait came out and was a revelation.

“Helped me appreciate the original, and now I like both a lot. This Evening So Soon is my favourite track that is only on Another Self Portrait, and Message to Mary is my favourite track that is only on the original.”