My Back Pages

Another year another box set comes out screaming 'must buy' I guess but thankfully this one wasn't as expensive as last years Beatles in Mono box!
Bob Dylans first eight groundbreaking albums re-released in the original mono mixes long unavailable outside of very expensive speciality releases on vinyl housed in box with slide in carrier.
The albums made in the EU - wherever that is - come in the mini lp form which I just adore as you have the same sort of tactile feel handling them as the lp issues I and a few others had back in the day.
In my case I still had tapes or lps in various conditions of some not getting around to buying more than a couple on cd in over 25 odd years so I was looking for a nice complete set.
Why mono? Simply the stereo separation is very distracting when listening to these performances and the vocals come over more clearly which as the cornerstone of Bob Dylan's appeal lies in his words. Stereo isn't needed for this stuff.
The mastering is very good even the most ardent critics acknowledge outside of the original mono lps that can hard to find at affordable prices without being beat up, these are the best yet and for around GBP 7.99 per disc in the set very good value for money.
If that was cool enough mine had a bonus cd of the Brandeis University, M.A. folk concert from 1963 included plus a free complete Mp3 download offer of all these albums to save me ripping them to play on the portable music player!