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Dylan's Time Out of Mind remix is Stunning

"Time Out of Mind" was always a powerful record, despite the murky original mix.

Now, with most of the sonic muck that producer Daniel Lanois smeared onto the music scraped off and rinsed away, it's full glory is revealed. Abetted by terrific SQ, its impact is stunning.

The old mantra "original mixes are always better" is blown out of the water by this. 

For my tastes, this is one of the best releases in the Bootleg Series-- a dream come true for Dylan lovers-- and one of the best Dylan releases since "Blood on the the Tracks". 

Lyric fragments keep cycling in my head. . . 

"People on the platforms

waiting for trains

I can hear their hearts a beatin'

like pendulums swingin' on chains"  

 

stuartk
stuartk OP
2,334 posts
 

@asctim 

Everyone hears differently and listens on different systems... all you can do is listen and see how it strikes you. Each to his/her own. 

asctim
429 posts
 

@stuartk 

 

I totally agree. I think it's good they do these remixes. For one it allows them to re-monetize older material with a fresh presentation. It also gives end users more choices. For myself I can't think of any re-mixes that I whole heartedly prefer over older mixes. But I do enjoy hearing old content re-mixed just because it's interesting and fun.

Either way it's a great album.

stuartk OP
2,334 posts
 

@asctim

"Either way it's a great album".

Agreed!  

cd318
2,636 posts
 

@asctim

For myself I can’t think of any re-mixes that I whole heartedly prefer over older mixes.

 

Me neither.

Once the initial hullabaloo wears off I usually go back to the original mastering.

The recent Beach Boys Sounds Of Summer: The Very Best of The Beach Boys box set sounded promising initially but after a few plays it became obvious it would never replace the originals.

None of the Beatles remixes can replace the original mixes either.

The one true exception for me was Dylan’s own Bootleg Series Vol. 12: The Cutting Edge 1965–1966.

Now that one is something every Dylan fan ought to check out.

 

As for the new Time Out of Mind, I just don’t find it to have any worthwhile difference for me to go and buy it again. I can easily imagine it remaining unplayed on my shelf for years and years if I did.

Others may disagree.

 

 

 

bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,412 posts
 

 

In his 2001 book Bob Dylan: Behind The Shades Revisited, well known Dylan scholar and author Clinton Heylin had this to say about the sound of Time Out Of Mind:

"Lanois produced perhaps the most artificial-sounding album in Dylan’s canon." He described the album as sounding "like a Lanois CV."

 

Stephen Earl Thomaswine (how’s THAT for a name? ;-) writes:

"Lanois bathes them (Dylan’s vocals) in hazy, ominous sounds, which may suit the spirit of the lyrics, but are often in opposition to Dylan’s performances." Bingo!

 

Michael Gray writes:

"Some tracks have Dylan so buried in echo that there is no hope of hearing the detailing in his voice that was once so central and diamond like a part of his genius."

 

I don’t know what Lanois had in mind, but he clearly got carried away, taking it too far.

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