I've been a Dylan fan since '66. His first 3-4 albums were folk albums and he was great. Listen to Boots of Spanish Leather and Restless Farewell.
He had three great albums in a row that cemented his reputation as a great song writer... Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde. (Like a Rolling Stone, Mr Tambourine Man, Just Like a Woman, Desolation Row and the song with the most outrageous lyrics ever...It's Alright Ma, I'm Only Bleeding)
He put out some decent albums (John Wesley Harding and Nashville Skyline) over the next few years then in '76 (?) he came out with Blood on the Tracks, one of his top 3 or 4 albums (my opinion, of course).
He didn't have anything great (even though some would argue, saying Infidels was great) until Oh Mercy in '89.
In '97 he came out with another one of his best albums...Time Out Of Mind. (Two of his best songs ever...Not Dark Yet and Standing in the Doorway)
Love and Theft followed and it was another really good album.
In 2006 on Modern Times he wrote two more classics...Thunder on the Mountain and Ain't Talkin'
I actually like his latest release, Shadows in the Night, where he covers Frank Sinatra songs.
I've seen him 3 times in the last 10 years. One show was terrible, the other two were great. I saw him at Konacti Harbor in Clear Lake, Ca about 8 years ago and it was the best show I've ever seen. The crowd was going crazy. Ramblin' Jack Elliott and Joan Baez were off the side of the stage, even though neither performed, and I always believed that that was the reason he was "so on'" that night.
To get a feeling for how different he can be listen to Restless Farewell and Not Dark Yet on you tube.