Thank you for buying this record. What follows is its documentation: the pressing identified, the matrix / runout transcribed by hand from the dead wax, and the condition as assessed before it was listed. It is yours to keep with the record.

— Paul, Vinyl Curator

Bob Dylan

Oh Mercy

2020 · Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (licensed from Columbia/Sony Music) MFSL 2-488 (Columbia 88875022541) · Stereo · US (mastered in Sebastopol, CA; pressed at RTI) · 2xLP, 45 RPM, gatefold, numbered edition · 45 RPM

Pressing details

Label	Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (licensed from Columbia/Sony Music)
Catalogue number	MFSL 2-488 (Columbia 88875022541)
Year	2020
Mono / Stereo	Stereo
Country	US (mastered in Sebastopol, CA; pressed at RTI)
Format	2xLP, 45 RPM, gatefold, numbered edition
Speed	45 RPM
Genre	Rock - Singer-Songwriter / Roots Rock
Producer	Daniel Lanois
Composer	Bob Dylan
Musicians	Bob Dylan (vocals, guitar, 6- & 12-string guitar, piano, organ, harmonica), Daniel Lanois (guitar, dobro, lap steel, omnichord), Malcolm Burn (keyboards, bass, tambourine, 'mercy keys'), Tony Hall (bass), Willie Green (drums), Brian Stoltz (guitar), Mason Ruffner (guitar), Paul Synegal (guitar), Larry Jolivet (bass), Alton Rubin Jr. (drums), Cyril Neville (percussion), Daryl Johnson (percussion), David Rubin (rub board), John Hart (saxophone), Rockin' Dopsie (accordion)

Matrix / Runout

Side A:  33249.1(3)
MFSL-1-488 Ar3
KEVIN@MOFI
Side B:  32943.2(3)
MFSL 2-488 Br2
KEVIN@MOFI
Side C:  32943.3(3)
MFSL 2-488 Cr2
KEVIN@MOFI
Side D:  32943.4(3)
MFSL 2-488 Dr2
KEVIN@MOFI

Condition

Cover: MN/NM
Vinyl: NN/NM/NM/NN

Variant chronology

1989 - Original Columbia stereo LP
2020 - Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab numbered 45 RPM RTI reissue (Kw@MoFi hand-etch), flat label  <- this copy

This Pressing

2020 MoFi 45 RPM numbered reissue (edition of 4,000) - MFSL 2-488, flat label, 'Kw@MoFi' etched in all four runouts, RTI pressing, Gain 2 Ultra Analog cut; not an original Columbia pressing.

The Album

By the late 1980s Bob Dylan was widely seen as creatively adrift, and on Bono's recommendation he turned to producer Daniel Lanois, decamping to a converted New Orleans house in spring 1989 to record with a loose Louisiana crew of session players. Lanois built a swampy, reverberant sonic world of tremolo guitars and distant percussion around Dylan's songs, and the sessions were famously tense, the two clashing over arrangements even as they drew strong performances from one another. The material ranks among Dylan's strongest of the era, from the apocalyptic 'Political World' and noir-tinged 'Man In The Long Black Coat' to the world-weary 'Most Of The Time' and hymn-like 'Ring Them Bells' and 'What Good Am I?', with 'Everything Is Broken' supplying blues grit. Dylan later devoted a lengthy chapter of his memoir to the sessions, including regret that certain outtakes didn't make the final cut. Critics greeted the album as an unambiguous comeback, the first Dylan record in a decade discussed alongside his classic work, restoring his standing as a songwriter at a pivotal moment. Its atmospheric, weathered production directly foreshadowed the acclaimed Lanois-produced record that followed nearly a decade later, making it a foundational work of Dylan's third act.

Tracklist

Side 1

1. Political World
2. Where Teardrops Fall
3. Everything Is Broken

Side 2

1. Ring Them Bells
2. Man In The Long Black Coat
3. Most Of The Time

Side 3

1. What Good Am I?
2. Disease Of Conceit

Side 4

1. What Was It You Wanted
2. Shooting Star

The Label

The side labels show a flat, matte-black MoFi field with no deep-groove ring on any of the four sides - a flat label, not a deep-groove pressing - carrying the orange/red 'Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab' rim band, the script MoFi logo, a GAIN 2 Ultra Analog badge, a STEREO arrow, and a single small licensed Columbia 'walking eye' box. The dual copyright line documents the Sony license under which MoFi issued this Dylan title in its Sebastopol Gain 2 Ultra Analog period, when Sony-catalog albums were plated and pressed at RTI as numbered 4,000-copy 45 RPM sets. The copy is identified by its own MFSL 2-488 catalogue number, its 2020 barcode, and its hand-etched runouts rather than by any period label feature; only this one MoFi vinyl configuration of the title exists.

Fidelity

Mastered by Krieg Wunderlich, assisted by Shawn R. Britton, at MoFi's Sebastopol facility on the Gain 2 Ultra Analog system and pressed at RTI, among the quietest 180g US pressings available. Spreading the ten tracks over four 45 RPM sides gives the swamp-reverb production noticeably more air, low-end weight and longer ambient decay than the original 1989 LP or early CD issues. Collectors on the forums rate the drums, bass and atmosphere highly on this cut, with only scattered reports of non-fill defects on some copies. As with other MoFi titles from this era, a high-resolution digital step reportedly sat between tape and lacquer, so this is a high-resolution-sourced rather than pure-analog cut. It sits at the top of this album's fidelity hierarchy alongside MoFi's companion SACD, well ahead of the original LP and later represses, with no rival audiophile edition for this title.

Notes

2020 Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab MFSL 2-488 - a numbered limited-edition 45 RPM double LP, licensed from Sony/Columbia rather than an original Columbia pressing. All four runouts carry the hand-etched 'Kw@MoFi' mark alongside their lacquer numbers, and the silver MoFi banner jacket with the rear 'Limited Edition of 4,000' line and hand-numbered box mark this as the standard numbered retail edition rather than a promo or test pressing. The original US Columbia LP dates to September 1989; this title has only one MoFi vinyl configuration.

Documenting collections

I do this work for other people’s collections too — documenting a collection record by record, researching individual pressings, and preparing collections for sale or for insurance. If you have a collection you would like documented, or a record you want identified properly, get in touch: email

This record’s page: https://vinylcurator.net/albums/bob-dylan-oh-mercy/