The original double-live album culled from Bob Dylan’s 1978 Tokyo shows was a Japan-only release until Dylan-mania demanded a global offering the next year; reviews were lukewarm. After the fiercely inspired Rolling Thunder Revue, the debut of Street-Legal and subsequent world tour were sculpted and polished. This four-CD or eight-LP collection of all 58 tunes from two performances (or a 16-song, two LP highlight offering) seeks to right all that.

The shows featured a relatively safe greatest-hits setlist largely copied from the ’74 tour with The Band, but sadly sans the fire of those shows or the Desire revues. And there were scant few songs from the underappreciated Street-Legal. The band was even bigger than in 1975-’76, at least in sound, with horns and woodwinds, backing vocals, and solo guitar work from Billy Cross and David Mansfield.

Does this complete collection change those old perceptions? Yes and no. There are some fine, previously unreleased live shots that were absent on the original – including the soul/R&B reworking of “Maggie’s Farm” and a scorching “All Along The Watchtower” with love-it-or-hate-it flute. Still, Dylan completists will be thrilled.

This article originally appeared in VG’s April 2024 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.