| November 2004
I had never bought Blonde On Blonde on disc; Ken’s review gave me an excuse to pick it up. I’m glad I did. The remaster was everything he said it was ("There’s simply more information here…"), and it was a marked improvement over the first-issue CDs I owned. I compared the tracks on the new disc with some Blonde On Blonde tracks on Biograph that had been remastered in 1997, and it was like comparing an original recording with a third-generation copy. There were still things I preferred about my mono LP, but the new disc was leagues better than my late-'70s stereo pressing. And that was the standard, Red Book CD layer -- I don't have an SACD player yet. Now, however, I was faced with a dilemma. Should I pop for more titles in the series? Every collector has at least one moment a year where it seems that the sheer volume of his or her collection has gotten absurdly out of control. I’d had that moment shortly before I read Ken’s article, so I told myself I’d just buy Blonde on Blonde and be happy with the CDs I already owned. A month later, my flirtation with good sense had passed and I owned the new versions of Highway 61 Revisited and Bringing It All Back Home. The latter was every bit as revelatory and exciting as Blonde on Blonde. The new Highway 61 also sounded great, but I found that I still preferred my Columbia 360 Stereo and the Sundazed mono reissue LP I had purchased a couple of years before. Actually, it was when I thought about the fact that I owned several of Sundazed’s Dylan monos, in addition to the stereo LPs I bought years ago, that I was able to ease myself into buying the new discs. And, since I only had Love and Theft on vinyl, it only made sense to buy that, too. Does this madness ever end? No, it doesn't. I have five copies of Sgt. Peppers on vinyl, and it's not even my favorite Beatles record (Rubber Soul, and I have five copies of that too). When the long-overdue CD remasters are released, I’ll probably buy them, too. A few years ago, I joined the Phonogram newsgroup (e-mail me for details), where vinyl collectors share experiences and expertise. I’d been collecting records for 30 years and through Phonogram I was learning all manner of arcana about vinyl collecting -- pressings, stampers, remasters, and more. So, I began to search for, among other things, the earliest pressings of a record in order to get closer to what the artist and producer wanted us to hear (some Phonogrammers question the wisdom of that approach, I should note). When I’m chasing after a particular pressing or buying yet another CD or SACD remaster of a recording I’ve already shelled out for several times, I do have to pause. Where is all this taking me? Towards a greater appreciation of the music or away from it? I don’t deny that it’s easy to get caught up in the whole idea of collecting these artifacts. But the mono, stereo, and CD versions of recordings I own allow me to experience the music in different ways. For instance, the mono version of Axis: Bold as Love seems more focused than the stereo LP because of the circa 1967 stereo panning. Yet the way I know that recording best is in stereo, and the panning and phasing were probably what Hendrix, producer Chas Chandler and engineer Eddie Kramer wanted us to hear. The CD may be a purer presentation of the music, since the late-'60s stereo LP (my mono is a Classic Records pressing from 2000), was mastered according to standards that made it compatible with hi-fi equipment of the time. Each format has its benefits, and I can listen to each according to my mood. I don’t buy multiple formats of every recording I like, or even of every recording I consider essential. But listening to an early pressing of a Highway 61 Revisted can give you an idea of what people heard when they bought it in 1965. The snare-drum crack that opens "Like A Rolling Stone" rings out with a sharp immediacy later pressings lack. Even the new CD doesn’t quite capture it. For those of you who don’t own a turntable (and, really, you should) some of this discussion won’t mean much. But you do probably think about whether you should replace a CD you already own with a new remaster or an SACD. Next time, I’ll take a look at the constant reissuing and remastering of CDs and whether it’s worth replacing something you already own. By the way, while I was writing this piece I bought the hybrid SACD of John Wesley Harding. ...Joseph Taylor
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