Bob Dylan - Blonde On Blonde

 (Numbered Limited Edition)




Bob Dylan Blonde on Blonde on numbered, limited edition 180-gram 45 RPM three LP box set from Mobile Fidelity

Wider grooves, superior sound: Mobile Fidelity's 45 RPM edition: The last word in analog fidelity

1/2" / 30 ips analog remix master to DSD 64 to analog console to lathe

Recorded with one of the most ear-awakening lineups ever assembled: Al Kooper, "Pig" Robbins, Joe South, Kenny Buttrey, and The Band's Rick Danko and Robbie Robertson among musicians

Vaudeville, pop, fiery rock 'n' roll, Memphis blues, folk-derived sagas among enriched palette of styles

Ranked No. 9 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time

A Stereophile 2014 Record To Die For!

Winner of a Gruvy Award, chosen by AnalogPlanet's editor, Michael Fremer, for vinyl records that are musically and sonically outstanding and are also well mastered and pressed. http://www.analogplanet.com/content/gruvy-awards

Blonde on Blonde: A double album that transcends time, defies space, suspends reality, and looks through the human soul and tells the listener characteristics about themselves they didn't know. Professor Sean Wilentz, historian-in-residence for Bob Dylan's website, comes as close to summing up its brilliance in his superb Bob Dylan In America as any who've tried: "The songs are rich meditations on desire, frailty, promises, boredom, hurt, envy, connections, missed connections, paranoia, and transcendent beauty-in short, the lures and snare of love, stock themes of rock and pop music, but written with a powerful literary imagination and played out in a pop netherworld." No lie.

As part of its Bob Dylan catalog restoration series, Mobile Fidelity is thoroughly humbled to have the privilege of mastering the iconic LP from the original master tapes and pressing it on 45RPM LPs at RTI. The end result is the very finest, most transparent analog edition of Blonde on Blonde ever produced. Forever renowned for what the Bard deemed "that thin, that wild mercury sound," the album's famed aural character lives and breathes on this superb version, with wider and deeper grooves affording playback of previously buried information and lifelike presentation of the studio sessions.

Prized for a unique sound that cultural critic Greil Marcus tagged "the most glamorous record imaginable; listening you [can] see the checkered jester's suit Dylan had worn on stage for the nine previous, furious months," Blonde on Blonde is to music, production, prose, and performance as what hydrogen is to water. The secret to its inimitable aural character partially stems from Dylan's request in Nashville to producer Bob Johnston to remove the baffles from the studio room, allowing the musicians to interact as well as the music to assume a more organic quality that drifts from one microphone to another. Mobile Fidelity's reissue captures this ensemble ambience, with echoes, resonation, and some of the most natural timbres you'll ever hear in plain sight.

The story of Blonde on Blonde is almost as compelling as the music within. Dylan, frustrated with how initial attempts fared in New York, relocating to Tennessee and pairing with Nashville's top session players as well as members of what would become the Band, feverishly chasing perfectionism while also arriving at an on-the-fly feel that remains a reference point for recorded music. The Bard sweated over lyrics, demanded his band get the exact sounds he heard in his head, and limited most takes to a handful at most. A majority of songs were recorded long after midnight, the post-A.M. vibe reflected in the nocturnal aura, woozy optimism, inversion of intervals, and spiritual soulfulness of the playing.

 

 

 



1. Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
2. Pledging My Time
3. Visions Of Johanna
4. One Of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)
5. I Want You
6. Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again
7. Leopard-skin Pill-box Hat
8. Just Like A Woman
9. Most Likely You Go You Way And I'll Go Mine
10. Temporary Like Achilles
11. Absolutely Sweet Marie
12. 4th Time Around
13. Obviously 5 Believers
14. Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands

Customer Reviews (5.00 Stars) 9 person(s) rated this product.

True Audiophile Quality

posted on 04/16/2023
5 Stars
Reviewer: Nytro/Jake
This Mobile Fidelity pressing sounds great, crystal cleat, no hiss crackles or pops. This stereo mix is first class. The vocals, instruments are clearly defined. Absolutely Sweet Marie explodes in your face, it is so clear that you can hear the guitar pic at work. I just can’t say enough about how good this lp sounds. It is the most expensive lp I have ever purchased and I am 100% satisfied and glad I bought it.


What everyone else has already said!

posted on 11/17/2017
5 Stars
This pressing of Blonde On Blonde is IT, can't really do much better! Even sounds better when played on the MoFi UltraDeck...pun intended!


I've heard most of them - this is my favorite

posted on 12/27/2013
5 Stars
This is a tough one to get right in stereo - so far the best to my ears has been the recent SACD hybrid reissue but this version might top it. The monos have more punch but thus one really does justice to the musicianship present. It is "full" while retaining the appropriate trebly edge on the guitars and harmonica (e.g.. Visions of Johanna). Beautifully done and worth every penny; get it while you can.


Worth Every Penny

posted on 12/06/2013
5 Stars
Reviewer: John C
What a masterpiece! I've never heard this, or any other Dylan album, sound like this one. The pressing is flawless. Each instrument and, more importantly, Dylan's voice seems to just emanate from a perfectly black, quiet background. An absolute must-by for any Dylan fan- check that... Any music fan.


Full of life!

posted on 10/23/2013
5 Stars
Reviewer: Scott
I own original mono and stereo pressings plus the mono from the box set yet this release is something else. It adds a full and rich texture to the music like I've never heard. Amazing job by MFSL.


Your Grandfather's Blonde on Blonde

posted on 10/11/2013
5 Stars
Start with hyperbole: It's one of the greatest albums of all time. I have (and for as many years as it has existed have routinely been listening to) vinyl first pressings, re-pressings, copies with those cover annihilating promo labels, mono, stereo, cds of various reflective layers and permutations. This set is beautiful and transparent, really luxurious. Truly, a remarkable re- creation that offers the most satisfying MUSICAL presentation of this album I have heard. I will happily listen to it in this incarnation in rotation with those others and consider the cost inconsequential. However, as satisfying as it is, the MoFi 45 RPM set is your father's (grandfather's?) Blonde on Blonde. A little sedate and complacent, it lacks the punky urgency of the early pressings. Emotional directness sacrificed for clarity, I guess. Kind of an "unplugged" version that's almost too pretty for its own good. One to sit back in comfort and enjoy. But it still gets maximum stars


Forget the Mono, Gimme stereo Dylan

posted on 09/24/2013
5 Stars
Reviewer: Emmanuel
Just received my copy of this gem via Fed Ex. I was a bit skeptical about the fact that Mofi was doing the Stereo mix instead of mono. We all know how Mono Dylan eats stereo Dylan's lunch any day of the week. My fears were unfounded. This is another situation were Mofi has made the most out of a situation that would have overwhelmed less skilled, less demanding outfit. The music shines through folks with transparency, air and warmth. Sheer analog Nirvana. This B.O.B. surpasses the the Sundazed record Mono version in all respect. Talk smack now you mono fetishists. In a few days down the road somebody is gonna post a review and they will whine about how the music on this release sounds "subdued", not amped up enough...I recently read a review on this site of Mofi's Blood on the Tracks where some guy was complaining that it wasn't loud enough. All I could do was shake my head in astonishment, and wonder isn't that what the volume control on your amp is for?


Write a review and let people know what you think of this product OR just rate it.