Bob Dylan & The Band Before The Flood (2 LP)

Numbered, Limited Edition 180g 2LP from Mobile Fidelity!
Live 1974 Set Documents Acclaimed Reunion of Bob Dylan and The Band: Mobile Fidelity's Vinyl 2LP Reissue Gives You a Prime Seat for the Historic Performances!
Dylan's Radical Rearrangements of Classics Give Songs Renewed Meaning and Relevance!
1/4"/15 IPS/Dolby A Analog Copy to DSD 64 to Analog Console to Lathe!
Bob Dylan's reunion with The Band in 1973-74 led to one of the most legendary, acclaimed, dynamic and astonishing tours of the decade. "Before the Flood" is the documentation of these intense performances. Both Dylan and The Band are far from nostalgic here. On the contrary, it is at this point that the bard begins what is now his trademark. He turns his well-known songs upside down, challenges expectations and keeps his audience glued to their seats in anticipation of what is to come. Dylan sings with undiminished passion, his mood fluctuating between bitterness and jubilation.
"Before the Flood" is possibly 'the craziest and strongest rock & roll of all time' (according to critic Robert Christgau). In any case, however, it pushes aside all limitations and safeguards. The album is like an open map, where every song is waiting to be rediscovered by the audience. It is the portrait of six inimitable musicians and definitely one of the best live albums ever.
The live reunion of Bob Dylan and The Band during 1973-74 yielded one of the decade's most celebrated, dynamic, and astonishing tours. Captured on Before the Flood, the results portray the two artists' shared chemistry as well as Dylan's instinctive ability to challenge audiences, his group, and himself via inventive rearrangements of classics that simultaneously ward off nostalgia and renew with meaning. Said by noted critic Robert Christgau to be "at its best, [the] craziest and strongest rock and roll ever recorded," Before the Flood crackles with intensity, relevance, and unhinged performances.
Mastered on Mobile Fidelity's world-renowned mastering system and pressed at RTI, this restored version cracks wide open the ceiling previously obscuring many of the tonal details, revealing microdynamics, and vocal nuances on the recording. Distinguished with an immediately recognizable sound, The Band comes across in three-dimensional form, while Dylan takes center stage, feet from your listening chair. They play like two souls in communion, a facet displayed here courtesy of the increased airiness, enhanced soundstage depth, and lifelike imaging.
There's so much new information here, this already-iconic album only gains in stature. As experienced on Mobile Fidelity, Before the Flood now unquestionably takes its place as one of the ten-best concert releases ever made. Notes are rounded, Garth Hudson's organ claims a tube-like glow, Levon Helm's drumming possesses its own space, voices are perceptible all the way down the singers' throats, and Dylan's awe-inspiring phrasing resonates with palpable urgency. Audiophiles and Dylan fans, prepare to be astonished.
Arriving at a crucial time for both Dylan and The Band, Before the Flood is the furthest thing possible from a nostalgia trip. It's where Dylan begins his now-trademark feat of turning songs upside-down, taking risks, challenging expectations, and leaving audiences riveted to the edge of their seats in anticipation of what might come next. He sings with unabated passion, the moods spanning bitterness to jubilation. And his willingness to play fast and loose with the music gives way to compelling shifts, under-the-surface textures, complementary intricacies, and a sense of newness and discovery on par with that of an adventurer embracing total freedom.
Before the Flood buries any notion of limits, safeguards, or borders. It is an open map, each song a route begging for exploration without need or concern for exactness or an appointed leader. Collaborative in every sense, it's a portrait of six inimitable musicians feeding off one another, trusting in their past history as they hurdle towards uncharted territory, using soulfulness as a compass and opportunity as their vehicle.
Wholly different than the live episodes heard on Bob Dylan Live 1966, The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert, Before the Flood is equally seminal and, from the perspective of witnessing an artist dare not only his audience but himself to break through to a new plane, even better.

Features:

• Numbered, Limited Edition
• Double LP
• Mastered from 1/4" / 15 IPS / Dolby A Analog Copy to DSD 64 to Analog Console to Lathe
• Mastering by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab
• Specially Plated and Pressed on 180 grams of High Definition Vinyl
• Special Static Free - Dust Free Inner Sleeve
• Heavy Duty Protective Packaging
• Pressed at RTI

Musicians:

• Bob Dylan, guitar, harmonica, piano, vocals
• Robbie Robertson, electric guitar, vocals
• Garth Hudson, organ, piano, clavinette
• Levon Helm, drums, vocals
• Richard Manuel, piano, electric piano, drums, organ, vocals
• Rick Danko, bass, vocals

Selections:

Side A
1. Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)
2. Lay Lady Lay
3. Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
4. Knockin' on Heaven's Door
5. It Ain't Me, Babe
6. Ballad of a Thin Man
Side B
1. Up on Cripple Creek
2. I Shall Be Released
3. Endless Highway
4. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
5. Stage Fright
Side C
1. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
2. Just Like a Woman
3. It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)
4. The Shape I'm In
5. When You Awake
6. The Weight
Side D
1. All Along the Watchtower
2. Highway 61 Revisited
3. Like a Rolling Stone
4. Blowin' in the Wind