How did "Oh Mercy" end up sounding so great?


Hi,
Years ago, probably not long after it came out, an acquaintance gave me a CD of Bob Dylan's "Oh Mercy," which came out in 1989. Not being a Dylan fan, I never played it until a few weeks ago, when I noticed in another thread here that someone recommended it as a recording with an impressive sound stage.
I was blown away by the sonics of this recording. While clearly a big, multi-tracked studio effort, the sonics and sense of spaciousness are extraordinary, and this is just the garden variety CD.
Now, being that 1989 was hardly a golden age of pop music recording, it got me wondering: How did this record end up sounding so amazing? I mean that two ways:
1) Technically, what techniques did the engineers and producer use to get it to sound that way? Miking? Artificial phase manipulations? I don't know anything about studio recording so I'm just guessing here.
2) How, in an era of crappy sounding, compressed recordings, was such a feat pulled off (because it leaves you wondering why more records of that era didn't sound so good)?
Thoughts?
rebbi
Same for me, I am absolutely not mad for Dylan, but "Oh Mercy" is outstanding from sonics and voicing (the vinyl for example is unbelievable good), sometimes they guys in the Studio were able to do an outstanding job. The other one is The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan.
Im not familiar with the recording, is the album a DDD recording or analog part of the recording process?
Take a listen to "Time Out Of Mind." Also Lanois produced. Grammy winning. Superb.
IS it coincidence that "Time Out OF mind" and "Oh Mercy" are two of may favorite Dylan albums?
Oh Mercy and Under The Red Sky imo. On another note, equally impressive are the last Roger Waters albums of the eighties; Radio K.A.O.S and Pros Cons Of Hitchhiking, also my favorites. But Radio K.A.O.S. really blew me away on vinyl, seriously emotive. The last vestiges of vinyl were accompanied by the best recordings possible.