A fabulous box set...at a great price, 26 Dec 2003

Firstly, its worth the money that you pay! Don't be put off by what seems to be a large amount of money, as to buy the albums individually would work out to be more expensive. Considering the prices of some box sets, this Dylan extravanganza is worth every penny!!

What about the sound? Can you notice the difference? The answer is a definite yes!! I don't own a particularly great sound system, but even on my hi-fi you notice a difference, which I can only imagine would be fantastic on a SACD player. There are little things that make the CD's so amazing e.g. on All I Really Want To Do (Another Side...) before Bob starts singing, you hear him take a breath! It might sound sad, but its amazing to hear it!

Which albums sound better?
The acoustic ones - Freewheelin, Another Side, and ones such as Nashville Skyline and even Infidels have a new aura about them. Having said that though all the albums benefit from the remastering. My only reservation would be John Wesley Harding. Its a great album, but the remastering has made the harmonica quite shrill and high. Now it was quite piercing before, but the remastering hasn't helped matters. But don't let that put you off, its a superb (and essential) album.

Packaging? Superb....especially Blonde On Blonde! Don't be put off by the cardboard cases (not plastic jewel ones). As long as you look after them, they won't get too damaged. There are some truly brilliant photos in the cases that are well worth a viewing!

Any downsides? Apart from JWH's harmonica there aren't many. However, who designed the box needs to learn how to measure properly! Since Blonde On Blonde is now a double CD its case is thicker, which means that there is only room for 14 albums (the 15th is a bit of a squeeze).
I'm also unsure about some of the selections (namely Love And Theft). LAT is too recent to benefit completely from SACD technology, but something like Times They Are A Changin would have sounded amazing!

Conclusion? Buy it....now!

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