DCC Archive I got the new Dylan album...

I got it at Subterranean Records (thanks J!) this weekend and listened to it a few times. It's slowly stating to grow on me but it sounds like he was recording two different albums and decided to merge them together. The fast numbers seem to share the same compression/mix values and the slow numbers do also. It's almost like they threw a switch on every other song (hot/open/hot/open). The vinyl is thin but very quiet. I wish the mastering didn't follow the current trend of "let all things be of equal loud volume" because it destroyed some of the atmosphere I think they were trying to create in the sessions (The slower Nat King Perkins-like numbers didn't suffer as much). Bob with a moustache... It's growing on me (I mean the album not that I need a shave).

Todd

 

Glad you found it!

Great observation re: flipping the switch, I had had a similar idea creeping around the rear of my consciousness but I never put my finger on it until you put it so well.

-j

 

For even more interesting discussions, compare the sound of this disc to the sound on "Time Out Of Mind"....two very different presences...

 

Steve,

For me, "Time (or Tim) Out of Mind" always had a very, very processed sound to it as if it was recorded on a sub-par digital workstation. I'm not sure if that was their intention or not (ya never know). I think it works well and supports the darker mood of the album. 'Love and Theft (and facial hair) still sounds like two different concept albums mixed together. One seems like a smokey, ballsy, road house bar band kicking out fast guitar lick songs (with mucho compression and thin highs) and the other is like a merge of bluesy 50's Nat King Cole meets Wanda the Dancin' lead belly horse in a glitter-filled lounge with bubbles gently floating (imagination weak tonight). With each listen, I'm enjoying it more... I should listen to both albums one after the other but I'm concerned what it might do to my nervous system. Or maybe I should alternate sides and merge the two into one (or three)...

Todd