Times They Are A-Changin'

Limited Mobile Fidelity double 180gm vinyl LP edition of the mono version of this classic album pressed at 45RPM. Immediately distinguished by the direct mono sound and you're-either-with-us-or-against-us messages of the landmark title track, Bob Dylan's The Times They Are A Changin' sounds an unmistakable clarion call on behalf of progress and it's unstoppable advancement. One of the Bard's trademark songs, it remains a timeless anthem with a clear sense of common purpose, a musical line in the sand that helped unite various social movements and multiple generations. The reverential 1964 record feeds off the opening tune and it's unmistakable sentiments, marching forward to confront racism, poverty, injustice, and upheaval in a stark, immediate manner like few albums before or since. Mastered from the original master tapes and pressed on 180g LP at RTI, Mobile Fidelity's restored 45RPM analog version delivers the landscape-shifting music in reference-quality mono sound that transports you to Columbia's Studio A. Reflecting the austerity of the topics and Dylan's mood, the sonics are direct and unadorned-each word hitting with weight, each phrase lingering until it pulls you under, each storyline echoing as fact. The hollow body of Dylan's guitar, internal mechanisms of his harmonica, and graininess of his throat come across in full-on detail. Wider grooves mean more information reaches your ears. As the preferred mix at the time of the recording, the mono version presents Dylan as he and his producers originally intended. Since the separation of the stereo versions isn't as sharp, the mono edition places Dylan's vocals in the heart of the musical action and as one with the accompaniment. It paints listeners an incredibly accurate portrait of the attention-getting, concrete mass of sound that features no artificial panning and straight-ahead immersion into the music. This is how almost everyone first heard this timeless album-making the mono mix all the more historically valuable and truthful.