Audio Fidelity "Bob Dylan Greatest, Vol. II" SACD set mastering complete.

They've been left off for ages. Every digital version reproduces the artwork (More Bob Dylan Greatest Hits) but substitutes the US playlist -which means for example, that now Positively 4th Street does not appear on both original Greatest Hits releases sold in Europe -which was the reason for the switchover in the first place. Bit of a mess.

However, there's nothing essential missing. More Bob Dylan Greatest Hits simply (and logically) had Positively 4th Street and New Morning in place of tracks which had already appeared on the original '67 12-track Greatest Hits volume. That logic is gone.

 

Well, anytime a two-cd set can be expanded to include another great Dylan song or two that, at least at one time, WAS on the bloody thing -- THAT is logical.

 

What made it difficult? If you can't be specific, what are the variables that make one project more difficult than another?

 

Well, not really. Steve is remastering "Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol II" and not "More Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits” and therein lies the dub.

 

Well, the two discs have very different running times, New Morning would be a great addition, and there is precedent for it. I'm just saying...

 

VERY different? How?

 

Is the current UK/EU CD different from the US edition? I honestly don't know . . .

 

Yes, that must be the article I read. I hear slight differences in placement and other issues, but it could have been channel widening/narrowing as well as extreme EQ differences, along with compression. The drum sound is completely different to me. The SACD sounds so shrill and thin, and actually, the bass is *much* louder on the 80s CD than on the SACD. It's very hard to believe, if they truly did go back to the initial "unfutzed" master, someone actually thought it sounded better. Why this terrible-sounding version was released in the name of historical correctness is beyond me. I wish they would have tracked down a decent set of tapes for an original "Blonde on Blonde" mix instead.

I would still like to hear a drop of the stereo mix on vinyl. This does bring up the question: will Steve be dealing with the shrill "unfutzed" master for the JWH songs? If so, I hope they don't sound like the SACD. If what Berkowitz said in the article is true, it goes to show just how much compression and EQ is needed at times.

 

If you add all the tracks together, the 2 UK tracks you are missing on the US editions are 'New Morning' and 'One Of Us Must Know' (the latter was on the UK Vol.1, and is more of a loss to me).

 

interesting comment, Steve. I never liked the cd issue of NS and when I got the sacd I thought not much improvement but after a couple of plays it really grew on me.

 

You really might want to shoot me, but I swear the quality is better when a cd isn't filled to capacity.

 

Sorry if I added to the confusion. Listening to my 80s vinyl of GH2 (and comparing it to an original JWH LP) it is the same original mix of "I'll be Your Baby Tonight". Just the way that song was mastered on my GH2 copy makes it sound worse - making me think it was a different mix. Very much looking forward to Steve's version! Cheers!
---------- Chris

 

Wow, awesome, can't wait, etc. etc. I've been waiting for this for years and to know that SH did it is icing on the cake. I hope we see it this year.

 

No, as I stated above, the EU edition, though retaining the different title, now inexplicably has the slightly different US track list.

 

Don't quite follow what you mean here but on More Bob Dylan Greatest Hits, Positively 4th Street replaced She Belongs to Me (on the UK Greatest Hits) and New Morning replaced Its All Over Now, Baby Blue (ditto).

 

The UK had 12 tracks. Better to think of it as 'One Of Us Must Know' replaced 'Positively 4th Street' on Vol.1, and also added 'She Belongs To Me' and 'Baby Blue'. Because the latter two were then included on the US Vol.2, they were replaced with 'New Morning' and 'Positively 4th Street' for the UK edition (called 'More Greatest Hits).

So, over the 2 volumes, the UK got 2 extra tracks.
(Well, that's how I've always looked at it)

Anyway, the AF version is obviously using the US tracklist (as compiled by Bob).

 

Why is it better to think of it as "One of us Must Know" replaced "Positively 4th Street" when quite clearly it WAS the other two?

The UK simply did not release 10-track albums in those days, which is why both it and its Dutch equivalent had 12 tracks. Would never have sold otherwise (without protest).

When Dylan himself compiled Vol II (Not Vol 2, which is a different animal) he considered what was on the US 10-track version, and proceeded accordingly. The UK or European versions (there were two) didn't figure.

 

I think we mean the same thing, however you look at it

The UK Vol.1 omitted P4S, but added OOUMK, SBTM and IAONBB. This later led to the latter 2 having to be replaced on the UK edition of Vol.II (with NM and P4S). Yes?

So the 2 extra tracks the UK got were OOUMK and NM.

 

Er.....if you say so, but we are discussing "Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol II" only, not the 1967 and 1971 compilations added together.

We can get any of these tracks by going out and buying them, no?

 

Yea, that JWH original CD is the one to get, folks. Don't waste a second on the SACD.

 

Got t! Play it most days!!

 

Yes, but that's beside the point. You can't go out and get them with a Steve Hoffman mastering.

Look at it this way -- if you were a UK buyer of Vols. I & II, and you didn't feel the need to upgrade to cd over the years, but now you are ready to take the plunge, you'd be getting two songs less than before.

There is a good argument, and precedent to stand on, for including these two on Vol. II, especially since there is plenty of room on disc one to accommodate them.

 

This is increasingly like Stan arguing for his right to have babies in "Life of Brian"

There is no argument and no precedent : Steve is remastering Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol II and not More Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits. He has stated several times that he's not allowed to change it in any way. Vol II is the original, whether I like it or not and no matter should I wish for New Morning (with the 'Here We go' intro), the mono Watching the River Flow, count-ins and other chatter as he has described on the reels, one disc instead of two, simply ain't gonna happen.

UK Rubber Soul, for example, is the original, not the US truncated version and in this instance, Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol II is the original release.

 

Okay lets call it a draw with you probably being right that it's not going to happen, but with me holding to the opinion that a slightly different running order and slightly different title is not enough to say that there is no precedent for these two songs being included.