I just finished listening to Bob Dylan's "Self Portrait" & still love it after all the years since I first heard it (late '80s). Why? Because any album that is hated by so many for some of the most ridiculous reasons can't be all that bad. As one who owns a copy of each of Bob Dylan's albums from the first self-titled album to the current "Tempest", "Self Portrait" along with its predecessors "John Wesley Harding" & "Nashville Skyline" & especially its follow-up "New Morning" are favorites I never tire of. Another reason I like Bob Dylan & "Self Portrait" is he is not afraid to try different directions & challenge his audience. Whatever ridiculous "conspiracy theory" one might choose to "read into" the reason for the release of "Self Portrait" I think it is very simple. He didn't want to continue to re-record his most influential work over & over & just slap a new dust jacket & name on it. I really like Bob Dylan & his music for the same reason I really like the music of to name a few, Jeff Beck, John McLaughlin, Miles Davis, The Kinks, Fleetwood Mac, Jethro Tull, U2, Bill Connors, Steve Winwood, Genesis & John Coltrane. None of these artists got or get stagnant, aren't or weren't afraid to challenge their audience, & continue(d) to grow musically. How many could have predicted The Kinks that recorded "All Day & All Of The Night" would go onto to record "Celluloid Heroes"? Fleetwood Mac went from a hard rocking Chicago-styled blues-rock band featuring a three lead guitar/frontman with rhythm section line-up to a smooth, slick (sometimes too slick) top forty chick-rock band. My sister is a fan of the Buckingham-Nicks Fleetwood Mac lineup & she heard me playing a cd of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac's late '60s blues-rock. She didn't believe me when I said it was Fleetwood Mac when she asked me what on earth I was listening to. Most music fans aren't aware the Fleetwood Mac that existed from 1968 to 1974 even existed. Fleetwood Mac's best material (my opinion) came from that time period & yet you NEVER hear it on commercial rock radio, especially "classic rock" radio. Miles Davis pioneered be-bop jazz in the '50s & early '60s, then went on to forge jazz-rock aka fusion in the late '60s & through the early '70s. He received even more derision for that than Bob Dylan received for "Self Portrait". John McLaughlin has played just about every conceivable style of music on both the acoustic & electric guitar, including an Indian/jazz hybrid. Jeff Beck is another who has done it all on his instrument & isn't afraid to try new things. What all of this boils down to is "Self Portrait" is hated & loathed because it wasn't what most had gotten used to & expected. Bob Dylan has released how many albums? If I wanted to hear "Highway 61 Revisited" or "Blonde On Blonde" ad infinitem through 40 or 50 some albums why would I buy the same album recorded over & over again? I would only have to buy it once. For those who like the same album repackaged over & over again please refer to AC/DC, Kiss, Bad Company, Slayer, The Eagles, or Aerosmith to name a few. "Self Portrait" is not perfect, but I would much rather hear an honestly made album that stands out in a large catalog than one that just blends in with all the others because there is no variety in the artist's catalog (AC/DC & Kiss have perfected this to the extreme). I recommend Bob Dylan's "Self Portrait" ONLY to those who aren't afraid to hear something different or not expected from a pioneering artist. You won't waste your money here. All others who want to hear only what "classic rock" radio & the music press think you should hear, stay away! You won't be able to handle this! (ha-ha!).
  Oh, & if you want to complain about a lack of paragraphing in this review, don't bother complaining. I won't care. The paragraph police are ridiculous too! (ha-ha!)
I just finished listening to Bob Dylan's "Self Portrait" & still love it after all the years since I first heard it (late '80s). Why? Because any album that is hated by so many for some of the most ridiculous reasons can't be all that bad. As one who owns a copy of each of Bob Dylan's albums from the first self-titled album to the current "Tempest", "Self Portrait" along with its predecessors "John Wesley Harding" & "Nashville Skyline" & especially its follow-up "New Morning" are favorites I never tire of. Another reason I like Bob Dylan & "Self Portrait" is he is not afraid to try different directions & challenge his audience. Whatever ridiculous "conspiracy theory" one might choose to "read into" the reason for the release of "Self Portrait" I think it is very simple. He didn't want to continue to re-record his most influential work over & over & just slap a new dust jacket & name on it. I really like Bob Dylan & his music for the same reason I really like the music of to name a few, Jeff Beck, John McLaughlin, Miles Davis, The Kinks, Fleetwood Mac, Jethro Tull, U2, Bill Connors, Steve Winwood, Genesis & John Coltrane. None of these artists got or get stagnant, aren't or weren't afraid to challenge their audience, & continue(d) to grow musically. How many could have predicted The Kinks that recorded "All Day & All Of The Night" would go onto to record "Celluloid Heroes"? Fleetwood Mac went from a hard rocking Chicago-styled blues-rock band featuring a three lead guitar/frontman with rhythm section line-up to a smooth, slick (sometimes too slick) top forty chick-rock band. My sister is a fan of the Buckingham-Nicks Fleetwood Mac lineup & she heard me playing a cd of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac's late '60s blues-rock. She didn't believe me when I said it was Fleetwood Mac when she asked me what on earth I was listening to. Most music fans aren't aware the Fleetwood Mac that existed from 1968 to 1974 even existed. Fleetwood Mac's best material (my opinion) came from that time period & yet you NEVER hear it on commercial rock radio, especially "classic rock" radio. Miles Davis pioneered be-bop jazz in the '50s & early '60s, then went on to forge jazz-rock aka fusion in the late '60s & through the early '70s. He received even more derision for that than Bob Dylan received for "Self Portrait". John McLaughlin has played just about every conceivable style of music on both the acoustic & electric guitar, including an Indian/jazz hybrid. Jeff Beck is another who has done it all on his instrument & isn't afraid to try new things. What all of this boils down to is "Self Portrait" is hated & loathed because it wasn't what most had gotten used to & expected. Bob Dylan has released how many albums? If I wanted to hear "Highway 61 Revisited" or "Blonde On Blonde" ad infinitem through 40 or 50 some albums why would I buy the same album recorded over & over again? I would only have to buy it once. For those who like the same album repackaged over & over again please refer to AC/DC, Kiss, Bad Company, Slayer, The Eagles, or Aerosmith to name a few. "Self Portrait" is not perfect, but I would much rather hear an honestly made album that stands out in a large catalog than one that just blends in with all the others because there is no variety in the artist's catalog (AC/DC & Kiss have perfected this to the extreme). I recommend Bob Dylan's "Self Portrait" ONLY to those who aren't afraid to hear something different or not expected from a pioneering artist. You won't waste your money here. All others who want to hear only what "classic rock" radio & the music press think you should hear, stay away! You won't be able to handle this! (ha-ha! ). Oh, & if you want to complain about a lack of paragraphing in this review, don't bother complaining. I won't care. The paragraph police are ridiculous too! (ha-ha! )