Bob Dylan's "Hard Rain"

It's Idiot Wind that brings me back to this somewhat regularly. And the version of Shelter From the Storm is great as well. I don't like it as much as the 1975 set, but it has some fine moments. The versions on Masterpieces seem a little less stuffy, but not a whole lot.

 

This album is without doubt a divider of opinions.

I've always enjoyed it's loose, rough sounding musical vibe.

At times the love/hate relationship I have with the front sleeve has resulted in me occasionally putting the CD booklet in the wrong way so that the picture on the back sleeve becomes the new front!

 

Love this album; always did. Rough and tumble and full of passion, fire and great playing and singing.
I remember smokin' one and going home in Sept. of 1976 to watch the TV special when it originally aired. My friend came with me because my parents were supposed to be out. Turns out they were home and let us watch it and they wondered why we were smiling and so into it when they didn't get it at all! (If they only knew!)

 

Those of us with the LP are envious.

 

Apologies if this has been covered in the thread about the complete Dylan album collection thing coming out. But does anyone know if A) Hard Rain is included in that set and B) whether it will use the LP mastering (with fades/silence between several tracks) or the CD version (with bogus applause bridging formerly silent transitions)?

 

It's worth seeking out the "Alternative Hard Rain" (no advice on where to seek), the scrapped in door version of a RTR show that was filmed in Florida and shelved in favor of the outdoor show.

 

I'd be VERY surprised if Hard Rain were not a part of the Complete collection. But I don't know which version would be included, my guess would be the album version, this one should be remastered and I bet they would go that way. But it's just a guess.

 

I don't like all of it, but some of it is great. My favorite cut is the version of "You're a Big Girl Now."

L.

 

Anyone else have the 2011 Music On Vinyl remastered 180g LP release of 'Hard Rain'?

I definitely prefer it over the original LP and it blows away the crappy sounding CD; sorta like that Claritin commercial... everything is just clearer and fuller. Very nice.

 

Been meaning to pick this one up, so thanks for the info. My MOV pressing of 'Love and Theft' sounds SENSATIONAL.

 

Count me in the camp that love this album.

 

Hard Rain is essential to any Dylan fan seeking a live where he doesn't change the arrangements of classic songs just to change them.

Tha band rocks and the vocals are heartfelt, passionate and pissed.

 

He's holding it on the cover of the 11-16-78 issue of Rolling Stone. Not sure when the photo was actually taken.

 

Glad to see the love for Shelter From the Storm. Complete transformation, great riff, T Bone Burnett playing, and to my ears they didn't change a thing from the broadcast version. It starts 24 mins in:

 

Nice find! It's a very unusual looking guitar...

 

It's probably a National "Map" guitar (shaped like the USA on a map). Eastwood Guitars makes replicas, but that's probably an original.

 

My copy is autographed by Scarlett Rivera and Rob Stoner so it sounds great!

 

Maggie's Farm is scorching, the rest is IMO C+ to B- which is pretty bad when you consider the last couple of studio albums from Bob.

It's a gypsy rag-tag vagabond revue.

 

The Florida show was much better as a TV special. They both need to come out. I agree that a couple of the songs from Hard Rain are pretty nearly definitive. It's a gas hearing Mick Ronson do his rock god postures on top of T-Bone and the guys.

 

Is this correct ? Is it true that the UK CBS sounds far better than the US Columbia ?

 

I've heard it via needle drop and it's definitely the way to go, a major improvement.

Idiot Wind from Hard Rain is the greatest performance ever by a human. Not everything is that good, though...and it's a shame the Baez duet on Guthrie's Deportees wasn't included on the album. Surely someday we'll see a dvd release with good sound and extra tracks; though I doubt it's a big priority for Dylan Inc.

 

You people, it's not the mastering that needs to be redone, it's the MIXING

Remember, if an instrument is buried in the mix, no amount of mastering can put it in front of the mix except if it has a very discrete frequency that no other instrument or vocal has, then you can boost that very frequency range and bring up that instrument as a consequence. In real life, for live recordings, it never happens because of the ambient noise (crowd, room sound, multiple instruments, etc...).

Hard rain is one of those albums, you either love or hate it. I love it, despite the harsh and quite noisy sound. It's punk before punk, done the Dylan way: lo fi, filled with energy and attitude, probably fueled by inordinate amounts of coke, acid and booze.

MIX is more important than mastering (sorry Steve!)

 

On something like Hard Rain, where we know the video exists, I would be more in favor of an official dvd release of both the Clearwater and Ft. Collins shows. I already have them on bootleg, but I think everyone else should see them and in better quality than what is currently out there circulating.