Critics give Rough and Rowdy Ways a B-Side Breakdown of 89 (Heavy Rotation), from 13 reviews at outlets we track. Scores run 59 to 100.
The verdict on Rough and Rowdy Ways
Most critics loved it: 12 of 13 liked it.
- Highest 100 Mojo, NME, The Guardian and Rolling Stone Australia
- Outlier 59 Consequence, 21 points below the next-lowest score
- Career Tied for #7 of Bob Dylan's 41 albums with a Breakdown
- By the numbers Bob Dylan's best-reviewed album here since Blood on the Tracks (1975). The second best-reviewed album of 2020 we've tracked.
| The gist | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mojo via Wikipediaby Michael Simmons | 5/5 | 100 | 2021 | “Dylan’s first new songs in eight years contain – and namecheck – multitudes. Read MOJO's verdict.” |
| NME via Wikipediaby Mark Beaumont | 5/5 | 100 | 2020 | “The NME verdict on Bob Dylan's first album of original material in eight years, which was preceded by three singles including 'Murder Most Foul” |
| The Guardian via Wikipediaby Alexis Petridis | 5/5 | 100 | 2020 | “Full of bleak and brooding rhythm and blues, Rough and Rowdy Ways reveals Dylan at his lyrical best” |
| Rolling Stone Australia | 5/5 | 100 | “At 79, he’s still channeling cosmic American mysteries like no one else in music” | |
| Rolling Stone via Wikipediaby Rob Sheffield | 4.5/5 | 90 | 2020 | “Bob Dylan's 'Rough and Rowdy Ways” |
| Clash | 9/10 | 90 | 2020 | “Bob Dylan has always been a student of America. An artist almost uniquely tuned in to the emotional spasms of the land that bore him, the country’s” |
| Slant | 4.5/5 | 90 | “The album encompasses the infinite potential for grace and disaster during the most turbulent of ages.” | |
| Uncut | 4.5/5 | 90 | “Dylan returns to original writing with Rough And Rowdy Ways – a record that transforms influence into something startlingly new” | |
| Pitchfork | 9/10 | 90 | 2020 | “Six decades into his career, Bob Dylan delivers a gorgeous and meticulous record. It is the rare Dylan album that asks to be understood and comes down to meet its…” |
| musicOMH | 4.5/5 | 90 | “If this ends up being his last major work, it’s a hell of a way to bow out” | |
| The Independent via Wikipediaby Helen Brown | 4/5 | 80 | 2020 | “His first new material since 2012’s ‘Tempest’ is a soothing fit for the lockdown mood in which time and meaning feel strangely stretched and untethered” |
| AllMusic via Wikipediaby Thom Jurek | 4/5 | 80 | ||
| Consequence | B- | 59 | “Dylan's powers persist but feel slightly squandered on this forgettable return to original material.” |
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Rough and Rowdy Ways in Bob Dylan's catalog
How these critics usually treat Bob Dylan
- musicOMH Kinder than usual1 point above the other critics here. Usually 26 points below on Bob Dylan's other albums (4).
- AllMusic Harsher than usual10 points below the other critics here. Usually 3 points above on Bob Dylan's other albums (39).
- The Guardian Kinder than usual12 points above the other critics here. Usually level with the others on Bob Dylan's other albums (7).
- The Independent Harsher than usual10 points below the other critics here. Usually level with the others on Bob Dylan's other albums (3).
- Pitchfork Kinder than usual1 point above the other critics here. Usually 9 points below on Bob Dylan's other albums (11).
- Uncut About usual for them1 point above the other critics here. Usually 8 points above on Bob Dylan's other albums (8).
From B-Side Guys
More from Bob Dylan
More Folk, Country & Americana from around 2020
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How the Breakdown works
Every outlet’s score is converted to 0–100 (2/5 is 40, 5.9/10 is 59) and averaged. A letter grade counts as the star rating it matches across thousands of reviews of the same albums, so a B+ is 75, like four stars, and a B is 65. Verdicts: Heavy Rotation is 85 and up, Keeper 70–84, Mixed Bag 55–69, Back of the Crate below 55. Approval is the share of critics who scored it 70 or higher (7/10, three and a half stars); the Breakdown shows green at 70 and up, red below. Divisiveness asks a different question: not how many critics liked it, but how close their scores are to each other. Five critics who all give it 50 are Unanimous, even though none of them liked it. The labels run Unanimous, Broad agreement, Some debate, Divided, and Contentious. Replay rate comes from listeners, not critics: yes counts fully, a few tracks counts half, no counts zero. The gist quotes each outlet’s own summary of its review. Published is the date on the review itself, read from the outlet’s page, so you can see whether an album’s reputation came at release or years later. Scores marked est. come from reviews that publish no number. Scores marked via Wikipedia are archive ratings, mostly for older albums, taken from the “Professional ratings” box on the album’s Wikipedia page (published openly through Wikidata); each links to the original review when we can find it online, and to that Wikipedia entry when we can’t. When an outlet reviewed an album twice, years apart (often for a reissue), both scores count, each labeled with its year.
A-Side marks the critics’ top tier. An album earns it automatically, from its numbers alone: a Breakdown of 90 or higher, from at least 5 reviews, with at least 75% approval. Nobody hands it out and nobody can buy it; if new reviews pull an album below the line, it loses the badge.
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