Bob Dylan’s 70th birthday on 24 May 2011 is the perfect occasion to celebrate a lifetime of remarkable musical output. Award-winning, (though still the Nobel Literature Prize eludes him), lauded, acknowledged and praised, he is master of traditional and contemporary folk, rock, folk-rock, ballad, country, lyric writing and singing.

Still on the road in his 'Never Ending Tour', Dylan has released 34 studio albums, 58 singles, 13 live albums, nine Bootleg Series collections and 14 compilations. Picking out the essential cuts from such rich pickings isn't easy, but the following 13 albums represent - in our opinion - Dylan's finest recorded moments.

We’ll kick-off, of course, at the beginning: his eponymous debut…