The Notorious Byrd Brothers

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
The Notorious Byrd Brothers captures the Byrds between the seminal folk-rock glories of their better-known mid-'60s triumphs and the equally influential country-rock that would soon follow, but the album is no holding action: with onetime Beach Boy associate Gary Usher producing and Roy Halee engineering, the band weaves its signature vocal harmonies and chiming guitars through a lusher, more impressionistic art-pop tapestry that stops just short of post-Sgt. Pepper cliché, employing phased vocals, sound effects, Moog synthesizer, and horns. Thematically, the project pits utopian innocence ("Tribal Gathering," "Dolphins Smile") against a new wariness ("Artificial Energy," a cautionary look at amphetamines, and the Vietnam vignette of "Draft Morning"). In a field of well-paced, inventive songs, the zenith is the silken, wistful "Goin' Back," Carole King's poignant meditation on childhood and innocence. --Sam Sutherland

The Notorious Byrd Brothers, Music, The Byrds, Country-Rock, Folk-Rock, Pop, Popular Music, Psychedelic, Rock, Rock/Pop, V/a Compilations
The Notorious Byrd Brothers
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Best of the last of the "old" Byrds
  • This is a true pyschedelic classic!
  • psychedelic byrds. great music.
  • Flying High in the Friendly Sky
  • Last Of The Greatest
 The Notorious Byrd Brothers
The Byrds
Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Folk RockFolk Rock | Rock | Styles | Music
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Country RockCountry Rock | Rock | Styles | Music
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Similar Items:
  1. Younger Than Yesterday
  2. Fifth Dimension
  3. Mr. Tambourine Man
  4. Turn! Turn! Turn!
  5. Ballad of Easy Rider

ASIN: B000002AHC
Release Date: 1997-03-25

Tracks:

  1. Artificial Energy
  2. Goin' Back
  3. Natural Harmony
  4. Draft Morning
  5. Wasn't Born To Follow
  6. Get To You
  7. Change Is Now
  8. Old John Robertson
  9. Tribal Gathering
  10. Dolphin's Smile
  11. Space Odyssey
  12. Moog Raga (Intrumental)
  13. Bound To Fall (Intrumental)
  14. Triad
  15. Goin' Back (Version One)
  16. Draft Morning (Alternative Take)
  17. Universal Mind Decoder (Intrumental)

Amazon.com

The Notorious Byrd Brothers captures the Byrds between the seminal folk-rock glories of their better-known mid-'60s triumphs and the equally influential country-rock that would soon follow, but the album is no holding action: with onetime Beach Boy associate Gary Usher producing and Roy Halee engineering, the band weaves its signature vocal harmonies and chiming guitars through a lusher, more impressionistic art-pop tapestry that stops just short of post-Sgt. Pepper cliché, employing phased vocals, sound effects, Moog synthesizer, and horns. Thematically, the project pits utopian innocence ("Tribal Gathering," "Dolphins Smile") against a new wariness ("Artificial Energy," a cautionary look at amphetamines, and the Vietnam vignette of "Draft Morning"). In a field of well-paced, inventive songs, the zenith is the silken, wistful "Goin' Back," Carole King's poignant meditation on childhood and innocence. --Sam Sutherland

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars Best of the last of the "old" Byrds.......2007-05-24

Replaces a worn out LP. Actually a 4.25 on the star scale but there is not that choice!

5 out of 5 stars This is a true pyschedelic classic!.......2007-03-16

THis is the sound of the Byrds imploding while at the same time throwing everything but the kitchen sink into the mix. Hints of their eventual country turn sit inside burbling moogs and mellotrons- (Yes spacey keyboards)- backwards phrasing- flanged guitars and vocals - swirling inside the classic Byrds sound. The guitars still chime but this is very much a pyschedelic and one of the most unique i might add records from the era. Dont be fooled by the negative reviews this is right up there with piper-sgts peppers-( beatlesque horns at times) and for my money it may not be the best Byrds record(though i think it is)most interesting and rewarding listen. It also doesnt sound as dated as most pyschedelia. SOme of the bonus material is good (triad a crosby penned tune is very good and should have made the album originally). Crosby was booted during the recording but despite the problems internally this is a stunning album. And for the price you cant beat it.

5 out of 5 stars psychedelic byrds. great music........2007-03-12

though mr tambourine man, younger than yesterday, and sweetheart of the rodeo are usually regarded as the best byrds albums, it is the notorious byrd brothers that i find myself returning to most often. i never tire of this great album. it's spacey psychedelicism is mesmerizing. the songs abound with wonderful floating melodies and stunning harmonics. horn and string arrangements are added to the byrd arsenal of sound here, and the rythmic shifts, abrupt tempo-changes, and various psych touches leave one wondering what sonic surprise might happen next. two slow numbers, "goin' back," and "draft morning," are particularly gorgeous, while "old john robertson" and "change is now" foreshadow the country leanings their music would later acquire. this is a great album, beginning to end. the bonus tracks on the cd do not, however, add anything worthy of the original recording, and would have been best left off. anyway, the remastered version from 1997 (which contains the six bonus tracks) is a big improvement in sound over the first cd version, so if you get this, make sure you get the '97 remastered disc.

5 out of 5 stars Flying High in the Friendly Sky.......2006-07-01

The Byrds, as a working unit, were beginning to disintegrate at the time this album was released; with their main songwriter Gene Clark quitting the band because of the fact that he was terrified of plane-travel, and David Crosby feeling increasingly neglected. And yet they managed to piece together some of their finest pop music to date, but this time with a little more edge than on their previous albums.

Their main inspiration, it seems, was a healthy competitive streak with their old Liverpudlian sparring partners, and Roger Mcguinn's occasional acid-buddies, The Beatles. Sgt Peppers fever was everywhere at the time- with everyone from psychedelic jazz artists (David Axelrod) to folkies like The Incredible String Band trying to ride the wave. And the Byrds were no exeption; they hardly even tried to hide the influence. I can think of three Sgt Pepperisms off-hand: the Lovely Rita-style heavy breathing in Get to You, the horns that come in near the end of Draft Morning, and then there's the fact that each song segues into the next. However, the Byrds were always more than mere Beatles wannabes, they were wonderful melody makers too.

The opening track, Artificial Energy, sounds like Beck thirty years before the fact- the driving horns and Mguinn's laid-back vocals make for what is probably the best opener on a Byrds' album. The rest of the album doesn't disappoint; from Carole King's Goin' Back (try and check out Nils Lofgren's brilliant piano-driven version if you can too) to Space Oddyssey, which continued the Byrds' obsession with alien contact. It could be said that the latter is some, dipsy, love-child era claptrap, but, writing this review in the year when Neil Young has released a State of the Union address/album called Living With War, I could do with a little more of this kind of music. What is arguably the best song on the album didn't even make the cut on the original release, which is a very Byrdsian trend (see axed songs like Psychodrama City and She Don't Care About Time). Triad's basically Crosby asking two lovers to go take part in a menage a trois, and I wouldn't be surprised if they went with it considering he delivered the idea so beautifully. However, I also think the song is about adopting a free-living, hippie aesthetic, and in that way I think of it as a sort of sister-song to his simliar sounding Almost Cut My Hair, which he released with Crosby, Stills and Nash.

Whether or not this is their best album depends on your tastes. Personally I'd give that award to Sweetheart of the Rodeo or maybe even Fifth Dimension, but I do know it's a wonderful album of catchy, sometimes inspiring, songs.

5 out of 5 stars Last Of The Greatest.......2006-06-05

For me, this album will always represent the last of the great, classic 'Byrds' albums, even if 'Sweetheart Of The Rodeo' might have some claim for thuis title. But I am just in love with psychedelia, and even though the album cover here indicates a country album, that style first entered the Byrd repetoire on their next outing. This is just simply one of the most brilliant recordings of the psychedelic era.

'Goin' Back' and 'Natural Harmony' are pleasant, soft, psychedelic songs, well-crafted, well-played and well-sung. But with 'Draft Morning' and 'Wasn't Born To Follow' the real classics kick in, before the surprisingly powerful 'Get To You' ends side 1.

'Change Is Now' is a true gem, even if the beginning sounds somewhat dull. The chorus revives all this and brings a wonderful Byrd song, easily a contender for the same status as earlier songs like 'Turn, Turn, Turn'. 'Old John Robertson' is arguably even better, though quality then drops a little bit for 'Tribal Gathering', though it is, nonetheless, a good song.

But then comes 'Dolphin's Smile' and 'Space Odyssey', two of their most marvellous psychedelic gems, as just the titles indicate.

All these songs are, however, nothing, compared to the first track. 'Artificial Energy' is simply one of the best psychedelic songs ever. It may be outshined by Steppenwolf's 'Magic Carpet Ride', but put it up against 'Magical Mystery Tour' or 'Pinball Wizard', and it, and I hope I don't offend anyone here, for all these titles have been chosen, because they are great monuments of psychedelia, but I think 'Artificial Energy' would beat them both!

This album is not better than 'Younger Than Yesterday', but it is neither worse, and both are very very valuable creations, and it is unbelievable, how underrated they have become...
The Notorious Byrd Brothers
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • Great album, and a huge step forward for MFSL
 The Notorious Byrd Brothers
The Byrds
Manufacturer: Mobile Fidelity Koch
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

GeneralGeneral | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
Folk RockFolk Rock | Rock | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Rock | Styles | Music
Country RockCountry Rock | Rock | Styles | Music
Psychedelic RockPsychedelic Rock | Classic Rock | Styles | Music
Pop RockPop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
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ASIN: B000EZ913I
Release Date: 2006-05-23

Tracks:

  1. Artificial Energy
  2. Goin' Back
  3. Natural Harmony
  4. Draft Morning
  5. Wasn't Born to Follow
  6. Get to You
  7. Change Is Now
  8. Old John Robertson
  9. Tribal Gathering
  10. Dolphins' Smile
  11. Space Odyssey
  12. Moog Raga [Stereo][*][Instrumental]
  13. Bound to Fall [Stereo][#][*][Instrumental]
  14. Triad [Stereo][*]
  15. Goin' Back [Stereo][#][*]
  16. Draft Morning [Stereo][Alternate Take][#][*][Take]
  17. Universal Mind Decoder [Stereo][#][*][Instrumental]

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars Great album, and a huge step forward for MFSL.......2006-06-07

(Note: this is more of a review of this specific reissue than a review of the album "The Notorious Byrd Brothers." Needless to say, the album is fantastic...but those just looking to grab the record should look for the stock Legacy reissue. This Mobile Fidelity mono hybrid SACD is made for a specific crowd, as is this review)

I have to say that I haven't been spectacularly captivated by "new-phase" Mobile Fidelity. I did, however, make a pledge that if MoFi suddenly started releasing stuff that was interesting--stuff otherwise unavailable on CD, for example, which is how I saw them remaining relevant in the current music market--I would eagerly bite.

Well, with the mono Byrds discs, they have delivered something interesting, and as I'm a man of my informally-expressed internet word, I picked up this hybrid SACD of "Notorious." So how is this second entry in Mobile Fidelity's foray into the world of the Byrds?

Packaging: Okay. Not quite premium, which is disappointing given how expensive these things are. MoFi increased the size of their usual postage-stamp covers, but c'mon...do we still really need that design? The booklet seems to be a variation on the booklet included in the standard Sony package, only slightly blurrier, with little "mono" annotations and the mastering credits replaced.

The blurb on the shrink wrap is also interesting, as it implies that these mono mixes are from 1969 (aka a year after the album's release). Huh?

That said, MoFi's packaging has never been amazing, so perhaps this is an unfair area of criticism...

The sound: Excellent, for what it is: a great transfer of a somewhat muddy mix from a sort of shaky source, this nonetheless represents a really nice variation of this album on CD. For those who are wondering, this DOES seem to be an alternate mono mix. The differences are pretty subtle, though; some I've noticed thus far are less-pronounced horns on "Artificial Energy" (on "Till I'll be up in the sky"...the tape for this song, by the way, is pretty chewed), and a more-pronounced vocal effect on "Change Is Now" (which STILL has a slight fade-up). Edits and segues are also a bit different.

The stereo bonus tracks are NOT new transfers, but are derived (at least partly) from the transfers used to prepare the Sony reissue. This is unsurprising, and as these should be properly viewed as "extra content"--i.e. stuff that Sony likely mandated be included--I don't see this as a big problem.

Verdict? It's nice to see MoFi embark on a more esoteric path, but the super-premium price for a product that...isn't really super premium (re. artwork, etc.) still rankles. It's also unfortunate that "Brothers" isn't one of the more fascinating alternate mono mixes in the Byrds pantheon, but that isn't MoFi's fault. That said, if you can get a discount that pushes this into a more reasonably priced category, it's a great curio that hopefully signals the release of more similar, niche items in the future. Mono Dylan, perhaps?
The Notorious Byrd Brothers
Average customer rating: Not rated
    		The Notorious Byrd Brothers
    The Byrds
    Manufacturer: Sony
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

    Folk RockFolk Rock | Rock | Styles | Music
    GeneralGeneral | Rock | Styles | Music
    Country RockCountry Rock | Rock | Styles | Music
    Psychedelic RockPsychedelic Rock | Classic Rock | Styles | Music
    GeneralGeneral | Classic Rock | Styles | Music
    Pop RockPop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
    Classic RockClassic Rock | Imports | Stores | Music
    RockRock | Imports | Stores | Music
    Similar Items:
    1. Fifth Dimension

    ASIN: B0007OE4W4
    Release Date: 2005-05-02

    Tracks:

    1. Artificial Energy
    2. Goin' Back
    3. Natural Harmony
    4. Draft Morning
    5. Wasn't Born to Follow
    6. Get to You
    7. Change Is Now
    8. Old John Robertson
    9. Tribal Gathering
    10. Dolphin's Smile
    11. Space Odyssey
    12. Moog Raga [Stereo][*][Instrumental]
    13. Bound to Fall [Stereo][#][*][Instrumental]
    14. Triad [Stereo][*]
    15. Goin' Back [Stereo][#][*]
    16. Draft Morning [Stereo][Alternate Take][#][*][Take]
    17. Universal Mind Decoder [Stereo][#][*][Instrumental]

    Album Description

    Japanese digitally remastered pressing with 6 bonus tracks. CBS. 2005.
    The Notorious Byrd Brothers
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      		The Notorious Byrd Brothers
      The Byrds
      Manufacturer: Sony
      ProductGroup: Music
      Binding: Audio CD

      Folk RockFolk Rock | Rock | Styles | Music
      GeneralGeneral | Rock | Styles | Music
      Country RockCountry Rock | Rock | Styles | Music
      Psychedelic RockPsychedelic Rock | Classic Rock | Styles | Music
      Similar Items:
      1. Turn! Turn! Turn!
      2. Younger Than Yesterday
      3. Fifth Dimension
      4. Mr. Tambourine Man
      5. The Notorious Byrd Brothers

      ASIN: B00000DRVL
      Release Date: 1990-10-25

      Tracks:

      1. Artificial Energy
      2. Goin' Back
      3. Natural Harmony
      4. Draft Morning
      5. Wasn't Born to Follow
      6. Get to You
      7. Change Is Now
      8. Old John Robertson
      9. Tribal Gathering
      10. Dolphins' Smile
      11. Space Odyssey
      12. Moog Raga [Stereo][*][Instrumental]
      13. Bound to Fall [Stereo][#][*][Instrumental]
      14. Triad [Stereo][*]
      15. Goin' Back [Stereo][#][*]
      16. Draft Morning [Stereo][Alternate Take][#][*][Take]
      17. Universal Mind Decoder [Stereo][#][*][Instrumental]
      The Notorious Byrd Brothers
      Average customer rating: Not rated
        		The Notorious Byrd Brothers
        The Byrds
        Manufacturer: Sony/Columbia
        ProductGroup: Music
        Binding: Audio CD

        Folk RockFolk Rock | Rock | Styles | Music
        GeneralGeneral | Rock | Styles | Music
        Country RockCountry Rock | Rock | Styles | Music
        Psychedelic RockPsychedelic Rock | Classic Rock | Styles | Music
        GeneralGeneral | Classic Rock | Styles | Music
        Pop RockPop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
        Classic RockClassic Rock | Imports | Stores | Music
        RockRock | Imports | Stores | Music
        ASIN: B00009WKX9
        Release Date: 2003-07-01

        Tracks:

        1. Artificial Energy
        2. Goin' Back
        3. Natural Harmony
        4. Draft Morning
        5. Wasn't Born to Follow
        6. Get to You
        7. Change Is Now
        8. Old John Robertson
        9. Tribal Gathering
        10. Dolphin's Smile
        11. Space Odyssey
        12. Moog Raga [Stereo][*][Instrumental]
        13. Bound to Fall [Stereo][#][*][Instrumental]
        14. Triad [Stereo][*]
        15. Goin' Back [Stereo][#][*]
        16. Draft Morning [Stereo][Alternate Take][#][*][Take]
        17. Universal Mind Decoder [Stereo][#][*][Instrumental]

        Album Description

        Japanese remastered reissue of 1968 album, packaged in a limited edition miniature LP sleeve, it features 17 tracks. Sony. 2003.

        Album Details

        Japanese Limited Edition in an LP-STYLE Slipcase. Inlcudes Six Bonus Tracks.

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