Vinyl Me, Please December ’22 Unboxing – Bob Dylan ‘Blonde on Blonde’

Good things comes in 12 inch packages. Delivering limited edition vinyl pressings of new and classic albums directly to your doorstep, VMP operates under a simple philosophy: The Album Lives! With a carefully curated catalog of new and hard to find releases, the subscription service is more than just a record club, it’s a lifestyle choice for folks who wish Record Store Day could happen every month… in their living room.

Here’s how it works. You send Vinyl Me, Please some of your hard-earned money (a 3-month membership will set you back about $119) and they send you one carefully selected album they feel is Essential to any record collection. Yes, it really is as easy as it sounds. You even get FREE SHIPPING. Each custom pressing (often on colored vinyl!) also comes with killer extras like original artwork and informative listening companion booklet. 

You’ll have membership privileges in the VMP store too, which means you can grab a copy of previous VMP selections from the archives – including their crackling reissue of Beastie Boys’ 1992 classic Check Your Head – or choose from a slate of super-limited releases pressed exclusively for Vinyl Me, Please. The store is open, and Team VMP are dropping fresh new selections to their stock every single week. Do not miss out.

Word to the wise, while the store is open to the public, most of the more covet-worthy stock is only available to subscribers. Members are privy to reduced “Members Pricing” as well, so joining the club definitely has its rewards. If you’re peckish about relinquishing control of your record collection to complete strangers, know that VMP’s Swaps Program is in full effect. That means you can flip any VMP pick you’re not interested in for a past featured album from any track (including Essentials, Country, Classics, and Rap/Hip Hop). My advice? Don’t overthink it. Do your turntable a favor and sign up today.

As for December, VMP’s 2022 year end treat is a AAA reissue of one of the most important rock albums of all time, Bob Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde. Check it out.

For the Love of Music, Please Do Not Bend

I know, right? Bob Dylan. Blonde on Blonde. It’s a very big deal. And in my personal opinion, the most iconic album Vinyl Me, Please has released to date. That, in and of itself, makes this press of Blonde on Blonde a suitable closer for 2022, which has been a truly epic year for Team VMP. Thankfully, this Mono reissue more than lives up to that distinct honor.

I’m guessing you don’t need any sort of introduction to Bob Dylan as he’s one of the most prominent figures in the history of modern music. And since you need no introduction to Dylan, I’ll assume you’re also acquainted with his 1966 masterpiece Blonde on Blonde because, well, it’s arguably the biggest album he ever released. Hell, it even got a shout out from the lovably snobby brood who run Championship Records in the 2000 film High Fidelity. And if you took Barry’s words to heart, you might even own a copy of Blonde on Blonde already.

To be clear, the term “biggest album” is meant both figuratively and literally as Blonde on Blonde not only collects some of the best tracks Bob Dylan ever recorded, but collects more of his songs than any album he released. So many, in fact, it clocked in with a whopping 72-minute runtime, and was pressed as a proper double album for its initial release in ’66.

As it is, I’ll cop to being one of few Dylan fans who actually believe there are too many songs on Blonde on Blonde, and that the album a bit tedious to listen to sometimes. But I also can’t imagine removing even a single number from the tracklist, so make of that what you will.

In any case, Blonde on Blonde is one of the more legitimately rocking efforts from Dylan’s ’60s heyday. And yes, Dylan continues to thumb his nose at the folk set who felt he’d betrayed them by going electric throughout this set. Guitar rock aside, Blonde on Blonde is also an album that regularly leans into his folky roots, even as Dylan also dabbles in southern soul, country balladry, and a myriad of other musical styles. He even kicks things off with a pseudo ragtime rocker in “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35,” which is about as iconic an album opener as has ever been recorded.

If you can believe it, Blonde on Blonde only gets better from there. Even as the album arguably drags a bit through disc 2, it’s almost impossible to turn it off. And that’s more true than ever with this delightfully punchy Mono pressing from Vinyl Me, Please.

Cover Matters

This is a Bob Dylan album. Since that name meant more than just about any in rock & roll when Blond on Blonde was released, it’s only fitting that his face grace the cover. And just for the record, that pic is intentionally out of focus. So save your photography tips.

Yes, it’s supposed to be sideways too. ‘Cause it’s a gatefold sleeve that opens up to a full shot of Dylan looking his usual dapper self.

If you like that front-back cover spanning shot, you’ll surely dig those inside the gatefold too.

As always, do not to overlook the foil stamp forever marking Blonde on Blonde a VMP Essentials pick.

Ditto for the hype sticker, which details precisely why this pressing of Blonde on Blonde is as Essential as they come.

Speaking of stickers, there are two more in this month’s box. The first is the cosmically inspired VMP fan contest winner from Joel Rockey. The other may or may not be a teaser for a VMP Dolly Parton box set. Follow those QR codes if you wanna know more about either.

Just FYI – there’s some important info on the album’s OBI-strip as well, including an excerpt from the listening companion booklet for Blonde on Blonde.

As for that booklet, it’s chock full of fascinating details about Dylan, and the recording of Blonde on Blonde.

And since this Bob Dylan classic is on the Essentials Track, it indeed comes with an album-inspired art print. This Dylan-centric print form Elio Moavero is a bit of a stunner.

On the topic of stunners, these Blonde colored vinyl beauties more than qualify too.

And please believe they’re gonna look just as stunning on your turntable.

How’s it sound? Like Bob Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde… but in Mono. And if you’re anything like me, hearing it that way is almost like hearing it again for the first time.

Give Vinyl Me Please a Spin

Understand that I make that last claim as someone who’s listened to Blonde on Blonde in its entirety dozens of times over the years… and it’s not even my favorite of Bob Dylan’s works. Still, the album does contain three or four of my favorite tunes from Dylan’s ’60s songbook, including the all-timer “4th Time Around.” While I’ve had a decent-enough copy of the album for over a decade, I’m officially gifting that copy as this fresh Vinyl Me, Please press blows it completely out of the water. And as I noted with Check Your Head last month, that’s as ringing an endorsement for an album as I can possibly make.

check out the Vinyl Me, Please website and sign up to get some choice wax delivered right to your door each and every month! Be sure to check back next month to see what vinyl treasure Team VMP sends our way!