Mastered at Half-Speed by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios in London

In November 2020, twelve Bob Marley albums will be available on premium half-speed mastered vinyl. This specialist artisan process results in a more detailed representation of the original sound source cuts, with a far superior high-frequency (treble) response, and richer and fuller low to middle frequencies. All tracks were mastered by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios in London.

Abbey Road's world-renowned engineers have been cutting grooves into discs since the studios first opened their doors in 1931. This record was pressed from a master cut using a precision technique known as half-speed mastering. The procedure requires the source master and the cutting lathe to run at half speed on a specially adapted Neumann VMS-80 lathe. This rare and specialized technique transforms difficult to cut highend frequencies into relatively easy to cut mid-range frequencies. The result is a cut with excellent high frequency response and very solid and stable stereo images. In short, half-speed mastering produces a master of the highest quality that enables the pressing plant to produce a superlative record.

Rastaman Vibration proved to be Marley's American/commercial breakthrough, climbing to No. 8 on the Billboard 200. The album paired hard-hitting tracks such as "War" (essentially a musical recitation of a speech by Haile Selassie, the Ethiopian emperor considered a prophet of Rastafarianism) with lighter fare such as "Positive Vibration." Bob Marley & The Wailers were declared Rolling Stone's Band of the Year for 1976. "Marley, like Dylan, has transcended genre," wrote the magazine. "You only have to see him on stage, a dancing dervish, dreadlocks wind-milling, to realize that here is a rock & roll star."