The new RHINO Joni Mitchell "Blue" LP? Yes, it's the one Kevin Gray and I mastered.

There seems to be a bit of confusion out there.

This is the one:

http://store.acousticsounds.com/browse_detail.cfm?Title_ID=34790

Remember, this version is a very representative facsimile of what the original pristine master tape sounds like. free of treble lift and limiter artifacts. You will need to turn your stereo up a bit louder to catch the dynamics in full swing. Since I didn't use any compression OR EQ on most of the songs, we just unhooked all of the outboard gear from the mastering console right out of the signal chain for a crystal pure sound and just let her rip. You should be able to hear the different microphones used on Joni's vocals and the different engineering recording style on several of the songs quite clearly. This is not a flaw, it's exciting; you get to hear the original Dolby A Joni Mitchell BLUE master tape right on your own stereo with nothing in the way. Enjoy it!

As I said in the Acoustic Sounds blurb in the link above:

"This is a really wonderful album; Joni just laid it all out there for the world to hear. Brave, especially back in the day…I feel that this new version is the true giant killer. Unlike the original 1970's pressings, this new version was mastered without ANY added compression whatsoever, making it a true problem child in cutting (of our own making) but I wouldn't have it any other way. After many spoiled lacquer masters and one too many Altoids, it was finished to everybody's satisfaction. The effort was worth it. The ebb and flow of the music is totally intact. Parts were cut, plated and pressed at Record Tech (RTI) and the actual 1971 Reprise master tape (as recorded and mixed at A&M Recording Studios) was used in disk cutting, bypassing the usual/"EQ'd and Compressed Cutting Master" completely. Unlike the DCC, most of the songs on this vinyl version were cut without ANY equalization at all so this will be the closest you will ever be able to get to the sound of the true master tape of JONI MITCHELL "Blue".

It was exciting to work on and I'm sure it will please y'all." – Steve Hoffman, mastering engineer
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Claus,

On the DCC I tried to make it seem like Joni was constant throughout the album, tonality wise (like any good mastering engineer would). It can be jarring to some to hear one song sound a certain way and then have the next song be a bit brighter or duller, etc. On the new RHINO LP I decided that we are big boys and girls and can handle a bit of tone change from song to song. So on the new album version (for example) the song "ALL I WANT" (which was mixed dead last and inserted into the album master at a later date) has a brighter, more lively sound while the song right after it ("MY OLD MAN") has a mellow tone. On the old DCC Gold CD version I mellowed out "ALL I WANT" and brightened up "MY OLD MAN" so they would sound more even to each other. Here in this new version I left "ALL I WANT" just the way it was mixed. So, when "MY OLD MAN" starts it is a bit of a shock that it is so warm and mellow sounding after the lively first song. Most people would never even notice this but on a very revealing system if you know this album very well you will hear a difference.

Does that make sense to you? It made it a bitch to cut for Kevin thought; he was not happy with me! We blew many lacquers. Finally got it though!

 

What the heck brought this back?

 

I wouldn’t know but I doubt it. We did make a digital safety though.