Bob Dylan/Spain 1984

A long time ago, there was a book called ``Bob Dylan Encyclopedia.'' The Beatles and Prince also appeared, and it is still easy to find them in used books. This was not the time when you could get any information on the internet by just looking it up like we do now, and above all, this book was groundbreaking as a compilation of Dylan's live performances and recordings that could be read in Japanese. did. The book also contained detailed information about the content of live performances in each decade, and was a very useful book in that it let me know when the best shows of each decade were. There, the Barcelona performance on June 28th was acclaimed as the best performance of the 1984 European tour. He said, ``The band was completely familiar with the work, and even though they repeated it many times, there was no distortion in their performance, and Dylan maintained his wonderful voice until the end of the concert.'' It received high praise. What was even more shocking was the evaluation of the live album “REAL LIVE” made from this tour. After all, it was written that it was "recorded at concerts in Paris and Newcastle, much less in Barcelona." What exactly was the Barcelona performance that showed such a wonderful performance? In front of the encyclopedia's description of the Barcelona performance, I wondered how Japanese enthusiasts could listen to such a great performance. Having said that, most maniacs seemed to be satisfied with "REAL LIVE", and I think they were wondering if it would be like that in Europe in 1984. After all, it was an era when even the Stones summarized their 1981 tour as a live album worth one LP with “SILL LIFE”. Dylan's 1984 tour was a stadium tour, so each show had a long performance time, with an average length of over two hours. Trying to compile all of that into one LP of "REAL LIVE" was impossible in itself. Nowadays, it seems like the album actually diluted the impression of the 1984 tour, but that's exactly why I wanted to listen to Barcelona 1984. According to the fan site "BOB'S BOOTS," there were two types of LPs in existence in 1988, one called "SPANISH BOOTS" and the other called "BARCERONA," but I wanted to listen to their Barcelona performance. The current situation is that there were only a few enthusiasts who had access to these items. That too was not because the items were rare, but because the 1984 tour had been overlooked. Let's go back a little bit. 1990, when Encyclopedia was published, was a time of media transition, and a period when live sound sources were being released one after another on CD. From there, the early 1990s was also a time when the 1984 tour was overlooked, and according to “BOB’S BOOTS”, “FROM THE COAST OF BARCELONA” appeared as the first CD version of the Barcelona performance. Since this was released as a CD version of the previous LP "SPANISH BOOTS", there were many enthusiasts who were happy to finally be able to listen to the masterpiece. However, in reality, even though they used the same audience recording, they used a generic cassette copy, which resulted in the reputation that the sound quality was lower than that of LP. In the end, the fact that both the content and sound quality were not released as a CD item has spurred the recent trend of neglecting the 1984 tour. ``BRUSSELS AFFAIR'' released by our store has finally made a difference in this situation. On June 7th in Brussels, although some awkwardness still remained, the sight of Dylan and the band playing hard gave the listeners a completely different impression than that of "REAL LIVE." Furthermore, the sound quality was very good, which made it very popular. “The 1984 tour was so hot…” This resulted in giving the impression to enthusiasts that they had forgotten about, and in that case, our store would not be able to release Barcelona, ​​which was the biggest performance of 1984. For this release, the original audience recording used the same sound source as the LP “SPANISH BOOT”. Of course, this time we used a sound source with excellent freshness, which was a copy from the master, and achieved the highest sound quality that even surpassed the previous LP. The sound source has been highly praised by enthusiasts around the world for its exceptional sound quality since the LP, but in this release, it has finally achieved perfect clarity. It can't even be compared to ``FROM THE COAST OF BARCELONA'', which can be said to be an ancestor CD. The sound quality is so good that it easily surpasses poor soundboard recording. Although I did not try to prove it, the bonus also includes several sound board recordings of this day. This is based on the monaural audio of the video broadcast on a local Spanish TV station. Some enthusiasts may remember the video of “Like A Rolling Stone” being edited with strange effects. Therefore, although it is a soundboard recording, the clarity like multi-track recording cannot be expected. The quality is enough to enjoy when played by Dylan, but when it comes to band performance, it does not match the vivid sense of presence of this audience recording and the realistic texture of the performance that even appears carnal. In other words, we decided to include a bonus recording of the “bad soundboard recording” (lol) Anyway, it was called the best performance of the 1984 tour, and the performance on this day was truly amazing! As I mentioned earlier, the fact that the band was in the best condition was probably a big factor, but the response from the enthusiastic Barcelona audience was also amazing, and it moved Dylan. There is no doubt that it was. The proof is the big chorus of “Blowin’ In The Wind” that closed this day, and the appearance of Dylan who was overjoyed by it and tried to make the audience sing many times. Therefore, we gave it the title "THE BEST SHOW" when it was released this time. Of course, it was a time when the entire band was in the best condition, so Mick Taylor also played the hottest phrases to his heart's content, starting with "I And I". Bassist Greg Sutton sings "I've Got To Use My Imagination" during Dylan's break time, but it's a tremendous play, and it can't be skipped just because it's a performance that has nothing to do with Dylan. If you listen to it with the intention of paying attention to Taylor's lead, you will be overwhelmed by his overwhelming play. And from the encore “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door”, Carlos Santana, who was the opening act for Dylan, also appeared. After all, the sound quality is outstanding, so you can clearly see the difference between Santana's use of crying tone and tone, and Taylor's play that pushes with elegant phrases. Contains the best sound source that captures the legendary live performance that, after a long time since the gospel period, was backed by a straight rock sound that excited the audience in Barcelona and was even enjoyed by Dylan himself. We will proudly announce the definitive release of the June 28, 1984 Barcelona performance, which enthusiasts all over the world have been waiting for, on June 28, 32 years after the concert! Minestadio del F.C. Barcelona, ​​Barcelona, ​​Spain 28th June 1984 TRULY PERFECT SOUND Disc 1 (77:48) 1. Introduction 2. Highway 61 Revisited 3. Jokerman 4. All Along The Watchtower 5. Just Like A Woman 6. Maggie's Farm 7. I And I 8. License To Kill 9. I've Got To Use My Imagination (sung by Greg Sutton) 10. A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall11. It Ain't Me, Babe 12. It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) 13. Simple Twist Of Fate 14. Masters Of War 15. Ballad Of A Thin Man 16. Enough Is Enough Disc 2 (79:27) 1. Every Grain Of Sand 2. Lay Lady Lay 3. Like A Rolling Stone 4. Mr. Tambourine Man 5. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right 6. Girl From The North Country 7. Knockin' On Heaven's Door (with Carlos Santana) 8. Senor (Tales Of Yankee Power ) (with Carlos Santana) 9. The Times They Are A-Changin' (with Carlos Santana) 10. Tombstone Blues (with Carlos Santana) 11. Blowin' In The Wind (with Carlos Santana) Bonus Tracks Soundboard recording from TV broadcast 12. Like A Rolling Stone 13. Mr. Tambourine Man 14. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right 15. Blowin' In The Wind Bob Dylan (vocal, guitar & harmonica) Mick Taylor (guitar) Ian McLagan (keyboards) Greg Sutton (bass) Colin Allen (drums)