Bob Dylan & The Band - The Basement Tapes MFSL

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by rafalor, May 17, 2012.

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  1. ad180

    ad180 Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    That's fine but if it's improved upon from any other version, then it's a positive thing.
     
    Vinyl_Blues likes this.
  2. audiofool

    audiofool Senior Member

    Location:
    The Castle Arrrggh
    Audiobasics.com in Ontario now shows it as available for order.
     
  3. drbryant

    drbryant Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    This is a tough call. I've owned the original US press and still have a Japan double CD, and MFSL double album sets are expensive in Japan. I love the album, but its aura has faded over the years and it never was a great sounding recording to begin with. I'll probably get the SACD. The one that really interests me is the 45 rpm BOB. When is that coming out?
     
  4. fluffskul

    fluffskul Would rather be at a concert

    Location:
    albany, ny
    This album needs a RE-MIX not a RE-MASTER to restore the sessions to their intended glory.
     
  5. ad180

    ad180 Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Well, MOFI won't be the ones doing that. I'm sure we'll see a Bootleg Series release some day (at least I hope so).
     
  6. Sound quality aside, it is nice to have a re-issue improve upon the vinyl quality and overall wear and tear of a used record you may find in a store.

    For an original pressing you may pay just as much (or usually much more) of the same album. So I think it is really nice for a label to painstakingly restore the content and master it well on new vinyl, :).

    Just my opinion. Although I do enjoy original pressings, often more than reissues. It just depends!
     
    Vinyl_Blues likes this.
  7. ssmith3046

    ssmith3046 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Arizona desert
    My copy (229) arrived yesterday and IMO it's the best version of this album I have ever owned. Excellent reiisue by MFSL.
     
  8. Thanks, sounds promising!
     
  9. John D.

    John D. Senior Member

    It was recorded on home equipment in a basement, right?
    I think I will stick with my original LP. :agree:
     
  10. coffeecupman

    coffeecupman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Caterham, UK
    Can't wait for the SACD!

    ccm
     
  11. carledwards

    carledwards Forum Resident

    Haven't taken the time to break out the original pressings but this new MoFi sounds very good. Quality, from every angle.
     
  12. John D.

    John D. Senior Member

    Does MFSL follow the track order of the original LP's? sides 1 and 4 on first Lp, sides 2 and 3 on second LP?
     
  13. stef1205

    stef1205 Forum Resident

    I'm not an expert but does a re-mix make sense here? Given the fact that it's been recorded on a home tape recorder, is it even possible technically?

    I am very satsified with the regular remastered CD, but I would immediatly shell out my money for a box set with the entire content restored.
     
  14. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    Only the Dylan tracks are home recordings done in the basement. The Band tracks (with the possible exception of Ruben Remus) are multi-track studio recordings.

    And as for the Dylan tracks, they were all recorded in twin-track stereo, and that's what most people would like to see, rather than the quasi-mono of the original album release.
     
  15. True. Which makes any further perpetuation of the original release of this disappointing in my eyes.

    The original album release is actually reprocessed stereo. It does need a re-mix - into true glorious mono!
     
  16. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    By reprocessed stereo, do you mean fake stereo? I don't hear any fake stereo on there. Some of the tracks are mono, some are very narrow stereo, and one (Odds and Ends) is actually a decent true stereo mix with adequate separation.

    They need to release it in wide stereo. Then mono-heads like yourself can collapse it into mono if you want :angel:
     
  17. bonjo

    bonjo Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    This reissue really good: the pressing is dead silent, the sound quality is excellent w/everything clean and well defined (given the material), the artwork looks great. Awesome.
     
    Vinyl_Blues likes this.
  18. As mentioned in previous threads, they used the 1975 after-the-fact piano overdubs on "Odds and Ends" to achieve the "true stereo" on that track.

    Whether the "narrow" stereo on the remaining non-mono tracks was achieved via panning or via splitting the instrumental track with delay - in other words, 'fake' stereo - is open to debate.

    Not sure what releasing it in wide stereo would accomplish. Doubt if they'd be able to improve much on the quality of the existing boots. Plus, it just doesn't sound that great in a lot of cases - the vocal channel frequently overpowering the music.

    Let's not forget - mono was still the norm for musicians in 1967. The only contemporaneous mixes ever done of this music - for the Dwarf Music acetate - were in mono. Garth was no idiot or neophyte soundwise. I'm positive he set up the track routing with the intention that if any of this were to ever see the light of day, they would be mixed to mono. That it came out differently when they were finally issued in 1975 is only because by then mono was no longer commercially viable.
     
  19. GentleSenator

    GentleSenator what if

    Location:
    Aloha, OR
    Thank you. I'm definitely going to pick this up.
     
  20. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    Oh, I know that. I was the one who mentioned it on previous threads.

    It sounds to me like the narrow stereo effect on some tracks is achieved by putting Dylan's vocal track in the middle and the other track slightly off to the side, rather than by any type of fake stereo manipulation. There's also other 1974 overdubs that are used... eg, it sounds like maybe Lo and Behold has bass overdubbed which is put off to the side. I'm not saying it sounds good, just that I don't think there's any fake stereo on there.

    I think it sounds better in wide stereo than in mono. Maybe it wouldn't be a huge improvement over the boots, but it would be a huge improvement over the official album. And though I was being facetious, it is true that people who want to hear it in mono could then easily collapse it, whereas the inverse is not true if it's released in mono.

    You may well be right that Garth intended it be mixed to mono. But that doesn't change my opinion that it sounds better in stereo, where you can hear the room and hear the ambiance. The most recent track released ("I'm Not There") is stereo and sounds great, and I hope that's the path they take for a complete release if it ever happens.

    I do agree straight mono would be better than what we have now. I don't know why they mixed it the way they did. The stereo is so narrow on all but one of the stereo tracks that it might just as well be mono. And then some of the tracks are straight-up mono. It's weird.
     
  21. bonjo

    bonjo Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    You're welcome.

    And yes, I meant to say "This reissue IS really good", not "This reissue really good". And it's great, not just good.

    I really need to proofread my posts.
     
  22. Izozeles

    Izozeles Pushing my limits

    Tks. I'm in too. I love posts that save us all this chit chat I've been there, done that. i just want people to tell me about the mastering sources and SQ.:righton:
     
  23. stenway

    stenway Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Im new to this album but always be interested on hear it; I love the cover, what a great cover art!

    I hear today for 1st time on spotify, great songs! great ambient, nice think on those guys recording those songs on the basement.

    I see a music on vinyl press on 2011, I hope that this mfsl on vinyl beat any other pressing including the original!
     
  24. stenway

    stenway Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
  25. John DeAngelis

    John DeAngelis Senior Member

    Location:
    New York, NY
    From the Fremer review:
    "Funny thing though: Manfred Mann recorded one of the songs from those 1967 sessions in 1968 and had a big Top 40 hit with “Mighty Quinn”. How he got the tune, which is not on this basement tapes album, remains unclear."

    Unclear? Really? Is Fremer unaware of the fact that these songs were sent out in album form by Dylan's publishing company?
     
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