I’m a big fan of the remastered series of Bob Dylan’s catalogue that Columbia’s been piecing out to us over the years. I don’t think they sound as good as pristine copies of the original vinyl, but for digital versions, they’re very warm and rich, with lots of detail. But I’m not one hundred percent delighted with this new batch.
I suppose it’s not really Columbia’s fault. They’ve pretty much released everything by this point and now they’re just filling holes. But still.
New Morning is a welcome addition, however. It’s a favourite of mine and I hadn’t realized that it had yet to be released in this new remastered version. (In my defence, there is so much music coming out, it’s hard to keep track of everything, even reissues of old favourites.) The sound here is terrific and the material is as good as it ever was.
The Basement Tapes is still the truncated version (remember, the bootlegs ran to five CDs), recorded under less than stellar conditions and to be honest, while it might sound a little cleaner, its rough and tumble approach to the music is for diehard fans only.
Before the Flood, the live album with The Band sounds fresh and clean, but musically speaking, I prefer the boots that document the 1966 tour to this 
outing (though these days you can get the Royal Albert Hall concert as part of Columbia’s official bootleg series).
Dylan paired up with The Grateful Dead should have been a killer album, but it sounded sleepy to me in 1989, and it still feels sleepy in this new version, though the sound is warmer and cleaner. The problem is I don’t care.
A complaint I have with the entire series is that there are no bonus tracks on any of these remastered releases as there were when Columbia remastered other bands’ catalogues, such as The Byrds. I suppose they’re saving all their goodies for the official bootleg series, but there’s so much material out there, couldn’t they have added just a track or two to the releases in this series?
My advice to you, if you have the spare cash lying around, is only pick up the remasters of albums that you already love. You’ll appreciate the clarity and warmth of the old favourites and maybe fall in love with those albums all over again.
(Columbia, 1970/2009)
(Columbia, 1974/2009)
(Columbia, 1975/2009)
(Columbia, 1989/2009)
