A compilation tribute album can be a blessing or a curse, the ultimate risk/reward. Often times, covers are a kiss of death because they are unimaginative, lack originality and are pretty much a snore, hardly straying from the original version.

Fortunately on Reimagine Music’s Subterranean Homesick Blues: A Tribute To Bob Dylan’s Bringing It All Back Home, the ultimate risk of putting relatively new artists on an album of covers reaps the ultimate rewards: a terrific album where the artists take on new life to Dylan classics.

This isn’t your normal cast of superstars and assorted fillers. Everyone who is on this record deserves to be and isn’t top heavy at all, which is a problem that plagues tribute albums since most record companies seek to profit off the big names and disregard the smaller artists.

For those not in the know, this may have been Dylan’s most important record. Though it can be argued that others may have had more of a lasting impact, Bringing It All Back Home, was the first record where the former folk singer went electric and sent shockwaves through ‘60s folkies. With artists such as Peter Moren from Peter. Bjorn and John, The Morning Benders, J. Tillman, Sea Wolf, William Fitzsimmons and Asobi Seksu leading the way, this is one of the best tribute albums to come out in eons.

There are highlights aplenty. The first of which is the haunting version of “Maggie’s Farm” by Castanets. This is a complete reinvention of the oft-covered classic, but its unique spin is spacey with an indie-folk twist. The track is a terrific reinterpretation of that would make the bard proud.

Another winner is “She Belongs To Me” by Ane Brun. Singing from the female perspective on a male-narrated track isn’t easy, but Brun pulls it off so well and is so haunting that you are forced to reexamine the song’s message and can’t be drawn to her terrific vocals.

DM Stith’s version of “Gates of Eden” stays relatively true to the original. But that isn’t to say that he didn’t put his own tiwst on the song. Unlike other tracks on the record, Smith simply added a string section and backing singers to the original composition and for that, the song sounds a lot fuller and stronger as a whole.

The version of “It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)” by Franz Nicolay is an uptempo tune that can be described as organized chaos. There’s a lot going on here, too much to describe, such as doubled vocals in different tone, lots of harmonica and drums etc. But this lends an original twist to an already terrific tune. Though there are moments where it seems otherwise, Nicolay’s clearly in control of the direction of the song and is hence, a fun listen, especially the closing jam session.

Reimagine Music’s producer and label owner Jim Sampras deserves a ton of credit for putting together a group of artists who made Bringing It All Back Home their way. With the way he rearranges his songs, Bob Dylan would be proud that a group of talented, up-and-coming, eclectic artists would keep the spirit of his music alive on this fantastic compilation album.

The album is only available online at all the usual suspects, unless you manage to get your paws the limited edition of 1000 vinyl release.