Bob Dylan & The Band – Before The Flood (2LP, 45 tours, Ultra Analog, Half-speed Mastering)
ORDER LIMITED TO ONE ITEM PER CUSTOMER
Bob Dylan – vocals, guitars, harmonica, piano [click here to see more vinyl featuring Bob Dylan]
Robbie Robertson – electric guitar, backing vocals [click here to see more vinyl featuring Robbie Robertson]
Levon Helm – vocals, drums
Richard Manuel – vocals, piano, electric piano, organ, drums
Rick Danko – vocals, bass guitar
Garth Hudson – organ, piano, clavinet
Written by Bob Dylan (A1-6, B2, C1-3, D1-4), Robbie Robertson (B1, B3-5, C4-6)
2 LP, gatefold jacket
Limited numbered edition
Original analog Master tape : YES
Half-speed Mastering
Gain 2™ Ultra Analog
Heavy Press : 180g
Record color : black
Speed : 45 RPM
Size : 12'’
Stereo
Studio
Record Press : unspecified
Label : MOFI
Original Label : Columbia
Recorded at Wally Heider Recording on February 13–14, 1974, in Los Angeles, except A4 recorded on January 30, 1974, in New York
Recorded by Ed Barton, Bill Broms, Jack Crymes,
Engineered by Rob Fraboni, Phil Ramone
Mixed by Rob Fraboni, Nat Jeffrey at Village Recorders
Remastered by Krieg Wunderlich
Originally released in June 1974
Reissued in 2014
Tracks:
Side A:
- Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)
- Lay Lady Lay
- Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
- Knockin' On Heaven's Door
- It Ain't Me, Babe
- Ballad Of A Thin Man
Side B:
- Up On Cripple Creek
- I Shall Be Released
- Endless Highway
- The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
- Stage Fright
Side C:
- Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
- Just Like A Woman
- It's Allright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)
- The Shape I'm In
- When You Awake
- The Weight
Side D:
- All Along The Watchtower
- Highway 61 Revisited
- Like A Rolling Stone
- Blowin' In The Wind
Reviews :
“Bob Dylan and the Band both needed the celebrated reunion tour of 1974, since Dylan's fortunes had been floundering since Self Portrait and the Band stumbled with 1971's Cahoots. The tour, with its attendant publicity, definitely returned both artists to center stage, and it definitely succeeded, breaking box office records and earning great reviews. Before the Flood, a double-album souvenir of the tour, suggests that these were generally dynamic shows, but not because they were reveling in the past, but because Dylan was fighting the nostalgia of his audience -- nostalgia, it must be noted, that was promoted as the very reason behind these shows. Yet that's what gives this music such kick -- Dylan reworks, rearranges, reinterprets these songs in ways that are still disarming, years after its initial release. He could only have performed interpretations this radical with a group as sympathetic, knowing of his traits as the band, whose own recordings here are respites from the storm. And this is a storm -- the sound of a great rocker, surprising his band and audience by tearing through his greatest songs in a manner that might not be comforting, but it guarantees it to be one of the best live albums of its time. Ever, maybe.” AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Ultra Analog™ : The GAIN 2 Ultra Analog™ Series stems from the use of the Gain 2 system, mastered at half speed from the original master tapes where possible, capturing and uncovering as before undiscovered sonic information.
Half-speed mastering. In half-speed mastering, the whole process is slowed down to half of the original speed. A typical 33 1/3 rpm record is cut at 16 2/3 rpm. The source material is also slowed down (reducing the pitch in the process) meaning the final record will still sound normal when played back. Slowing the whole process down allows more time, which means the end result sounds better and is more efficient — allowing engineering to minimize the effects of inherent limitations within the vinyl format. The result is a more accurate and more open high-frequency response in the half speed vinyl when compared with a normal speed recording.
Ratings :
AllMusic : 4.5 / 5 , Discogs : 4.62 / 5