Fifth Dimension

Nice harmonies. A bit rambling. The best moments are when it veers away from the 1960s psychedelia tropes.

Ok

more psy-rock sampling from the byrds today, this is their third album, most of it made when byrds songwriter gene clark parted ways with the band after rerecording tracks at different studios. even with the absence, this album too contains some covers of songs from other artists and an instrumental track, which a lot of critics ended up being more baffled by than anything else. it performed decently enough on a few charts, and most people today say that this album is probably the most experimental out of all the byrds' work. soft, long-winded vocal lines and guitars that are sometimes played like mandolins. the byrds is a band who's been popping up once in a blue moon, and to me it always seems like when it happens i'm just in a cold desolate void with these guys for half an hour or so. you know for something that's touted as experimental, it's much less... that. compared to how i thought it was going to be. i dunno man, i really tried to get down with it but i'm not sure if this one spoke to me.

This is the fourth, and I think, final album by the Byrds in the book. I've been shaky on at least one of the albums being in this book with Younger Than Yesterday and Sweetheart of the Rodeo being the two that I would have included. This is the "forebearer" to psychedelic rock, except it's not because there are other artists who did psych music before the Byrds and the Beatles released Sgt. Pepper two months prior to the Byrds releasing Fifth Dimension. I prefer the Byrds to a lot of other bands because they are just down my alley and the kind of music that I like. I also must admit no one needs this many albums by the Byrds on a list of 1001 albums to be heard before death reaches its hand from beneath the Earth and snatches us. There are several songs here that are the Byrds at their best, namely Wild Mountain Thyme, Eight Miles High, and Mr. Spaceman. Otherwise, this feels like a transitional album of sorts for the band. I have always leaned towards there being two Byrds albums in the book and the sounds the Byrds are making is not them doing that sound the best or even first. I didn't hate the album, but I also like the Byrds, so I am prone to enjoying an album of their music. My favorite tracks: 5D (Fifth Dimension) Wild Mountain Thyme Mr. Spaceman What's Happening? Eight Miles High Captain Soul Why I Know My Rider (I Know You Rider)

The CSN & sometimes Y tentacle squeezes its grip onto The List. I had David Crosby yesterday. It's fine, hippy dippy folk music with Beatles tinges & lots of covers. Done better by others but still interesting versions.

pleasant yet not a hit. strong beatles vibes okkk "john riley instr v1" is actually banger (oh its 16min long nvm)

After some background reading I get why this is on here, a group with ties to Bob Dylan making arguably the first psychedelic rock album. I'm not that into psychedelic rock or Bob Dylan though. It's a mess, the songwriter walked out and you can tell.

This is yet another 3.5 from me. I will round up, in this case, because it is very well done, an early psychedelic record, and I think the original songs are very good. However, overall, I don't think it is as good as their first album and as one critic said, "wildly uneven."

Liked the song 5D and this album overall, although the Youtube playlist kinda included additional and alternate version songs which diluted the album for me. The first 5-7ish tracks were pretty solid. 4/5.

Listened before?: never. the albums i've heard from The Byrds so far have been hit-or-miss (Mr. Tambourine Man being the best so far), but we'll see how i like this album 5 D (Fifth Dimension) - 4/5 Wild Mountain Thyme - 4/5 Mr. Spaceman - 3/5 I See You - 3/5 What's Happening?!?! - 5/5 I Come and Stand at Every Door - 4/5 Eight Miles High - 5/5 Hey Joe (Where You Gonna Go) - 3/5 Captain Soul - 3/5 John Riley - 3/5 2-4-2 Fox Trot (The Lear Jet Song) - 2/5 Average score: 3.5/5 ⭐⭐⭐

Quite enjoyed the first track then the fun slowly and surely drifted away and I couldn’t finish it. It all sounds fairly similar and I don’t particularly like that sound itself. Couple of decent tracks and obviously talented but not my cup of tea. Top Track: Eight Miles High

You can hear the birth of psychedelic rock in this

borderline unlistenable at times

Enjoyed it a lot, but probably wouldn’t listen again as an album

Not their best album as it's a bit all over the place. Still got some good songs on it and Eight miles high is a classic.

It's wild to see that there are so many Byrds albums on this list. I can understand how this band, this album, was influential to contemporaries and bands after. It's a great example of psych folks folk pop rock of its era. And it sounds very specific to its era. Elements of their sound are pervasive into, at least, the 90s. Having said that, I don't know that it does enough for me to warrant anything more that 3 stars.

Jangly guitars, tight harmonies and a song about a spaceman is a good start in my book. 'Eight Miles High's trippy guitar lines sound ahead of their time, and 'Mr. Spaceman' is a toe-tapper. The production is clean, bright and spacious, and it sounds like it was recorded last week rather than in the sixties. It does wobble.. The quieter folk numbers do sag a bit and the instrumentals feel like filler to me. But it does just enough to grab 3 stars.

Eh

RATING: 7.5/10 HIGHLIGHT: Wild Mountain Thyme LOWLIGHT: Captain Soul

ta bien che

Their first album without their principal songwriter Gene Clark is a hit and miss but it mostly hits. Mr Spaceman was always one of my favorite songs by them. Mr Clark may have wrote most of their songs but I think he found out that without their harmonies and that jangly guitar, it just wasn't the same.

Solid classic style album, very of its time.

a bit of a mix between different styles, from folk to psychedelics, can't really say i find any of the songs standout but nothing is really bad either.

Fun for the time, with good harmonies, but I'm still a little young/old for this.

#503/1001. There is something beautiful in the Byrds' psychedelic sound, and the minute you start diggin' it they throw a country number to your face. 3 stars basically for the eternal 8 miles high.

Unfortunately a difficult listen. One dimensional boring psychedelic infused 60s pop chud. I don't know man everytime the Byrds show up on this list I get pissed off. I can't relate to what makes this special because its dated and is not timeless. 2 stars since its supposed to be a legacy act that inspired all my classic rock faves.

No me gustó ni lo disfrute

I, time and again, I fall for simplicity of 60s rock. The harmonies between the singers are nothing but beautiful and the “played-out” backbeat is music to my ears. I’m non-apologetic about this. What a good album. John Riley is also an extremely well told song, probably one of my favorite stories. I also love that this album is short, packs its elegance nicely.

I did my duty for the day and listened to this album

Very boring, very uninspired, very lackluster. It's trippy 60's psychedelic rock to the core of the definition. Nothing really stood out, nothing really impressed me, it's just a played out genre. 2/10

The album cover for this entry is very 1960s with its psychedelic look, while the music is part psychedelic and part folk rock. I listened to the original release, which has eleven tracks. Overall this is a short album, typical of mid-1960s music. The final track is one I could do without, although I understand why it’s there (see Wiki). There are a couple of singles off this album (“Mr. Spaceman, “Eight Miles High”).

Why Byrds and not Birds? Were they copying the Beatles? [several wiki skims later] Yes! It "echoed the deliberate misspelling of the Beatles"! Well, that's nice. Someone else on this list did 'Wild Mountain Thyme', but I don't remember who. However, I must note that Rufus has also sang it. (Sung it?) Other wiki discoveries, re: 'Mr Space Man' - "Upon its release as a single, the music press coined the term "space-rock" to describe it, although since then, this term has come to refer to a genre of rock music originating from 1970s progressive and psychedelic music" -- is that so?? First of all, why did the music press need a special term for this song which sounds exactly like all the other songs on this album? Is the simple word "space" enough to set the masses afrenzy?! The idea that "space rock" is used for some extension of 70s prog/psychedelia feels absolutely false; I feel like it's more electro than anything (or honestly just songs with space-themed words in them, which at least is true to its supposed origin). Either way, it's surely better than Lear Jet rock. I do like a song called 'What's Happening?!?!'. Put that one on the soundtrack to my life. Highlight: "drownded" (see, these past tenses & participles are a mystery to us all)

My third Byrds album, and this one sits neatly between the jangly, altogether OK 'Mr. Tambourine Man' and the wet turd that was 'Sweetheart of the Rodeo'. So was it a gradual decline, or did they fall off a cliff somewhere along the way? I suspect Gram Parsons may have had something to do with that cliff. 'Fifth Dimension' still has plenty of jangle, but you can hear the psychedelia starting to creep in. Or perhaps this was the point where The Byrds were helping invent it? Overall, I’m about 50:50 on this album. 'Eight Miles High' is great. 'The Lear Jet Song' is fucking terrible. And there’s a fair amount of filler in between.

First listen.

I knew the band. OK tunes. OK album.

Early American folk. Kinda dull. Not really my thing but not a terrible listen

I can do without the Byrds. I know I should love them, but I just don't. It IS a good album though, and it is a least 100X better than that horrible Sweethearts of the Rodeo album they made. 4/5

Didn't have any strong opinions on this one, very 60's which is okay for a change of pace but not something I'd listen to regularly.

Another Byrds album of the Byrds doing Byrds things.

Ok 2/5

Like most people, I probably just forever associate The Byrds with "Turn Turn Turn," which is a great song, but that kind of jangle folk from the '60s is something I don't tend to listen to that often. There were some other interesting directions on this album that I wasn't really anticipating: some of the more psychedelic influence and a little bit of extended jam-out that I DO tend to like. It was a pleasant surprise.

Great 60's folk. Hendrix's Hey Joe is beautiful.

Another fucking Byrds album? There are 5 total? Is one even worthy? I don't think so. Then there are still 3 more albums of solo efforts post Byrds by Gene Clark and David Crosby?🙄

I think listening to "The Yardbirds" unfairly prepared for this album to be boring, but it was anything but. This is definitely one of the better 60s albums I've heard on here. I found the proto-psychedlic sound to be really interesting and thought there was a lot of depth to the record. The vocals are kind of weak overall, but not terrible. I also learned that "Hey Joe" wasn't written by Jimi Hendrix (or The Byrds, as it turns out).

I tried it listening to it twice. It's uninteresting. First track sounds like a bad Dylan cover.

My favorite of all the Byrds albums ive listened to so far.

Disclaimed I like the Byrds, I mean really like. The Byrds are/were one of the most influential bands of rock/pop/psychedelia/ country rock/ folk rock. That isn’t me saying that it’s people who know much more than I do. They had reciprocal relationships with the Beatles and Dylan, beyond acts they later influenced. Funny how because they aren’t one of the buzz bands these days their music is underplayed/valued on this site. Yet others who obviously influenced by them are lauded. Well whatever, sheep. They are for me the prototype rock band, carrying the DNA of what music would become. Simultaneously looking backwards and forward. They pretty much changed with most albums while staying themselves. Impossibly cool while geeky, eccentric and just gloriously imperfect. And as dysfunctional as bands it seems must be. I mean who in ‘66 would try to channel Coltrane in a rock song. The enigmatic Eight miles, the trad old English folk of John Riley and the futuristic ( at the time im guessing) of the sound effect heavy Lear jet song. All in 30 odd minutes. Not a baby boomer but still one of my favourite bands, 5 Star

I have a soft spot for The Byrds as in my mind, they are indelibly linked to that late ‘60’s flower power, Easy Rider, Jimi Hendrix period that is so evocative for me. You can spot their sound instantly, just like the Beach Boys. Good album.

Sympa rien de particulier. La dernière musique est marrante au niveau de l’instru (2-4-2 Fox Trot)

a lot of good songs here. I had heard the eight miles high (did not know who sang it) but all the rest were new to me. sort of standard 60's folk rock but very nice. I would definitely listen to this again - probably going to listen to it again today

JL : 1, What's Happening?

Some truly awful songs on this bit thankfully they are only 3 minutes long!

This is the fifth missive from The Byrds and thankfully less country than the last. It starts off a bit Dylanesque, but then he always has been a better writer than performer. But then it also gets rather psychedelic especially with the fabulous Eight Miles High. And their rendition of Hey Joe was extraordinary to say the least. On the whole I really liked this album certainly one of their better ones. I'm giving this a 4.

Quite liked the opening 2 tracks, a lovely folky vibe. But the rest didn’t do it for me.

I dont mind early period Byrds, its what I listened to in my teens, Eight Miles High, Mr Spaceman, all decent classic early psychedelia tunes here. As my friend pointed out, the Bob Dylan penned tracks really worked out well for them, they were much better musicians than old trampy Bob. Where did it all go horribly wrong for them? That has been one of my big learnings from this 1001 project. Adopting the Country sound of course, its a suicide note for me.

Enjoyed

lovely!

They have a thing for airplanes, huh? This album is all over the place but still a solid ride. lottttts of clear Beatles inspo going on too. Interesting to read the history that most of this album was written without their primary songwriter from past albums. Also hilarious that Eight Miles High was banned from some radio stations; it's sooo harmless.

I'm a nyrd for the Byrds. My only issue with this stylistic grab bag it is that the lushness on the melancholy numbers takes away from the punch of the earlier records (seek out the mono version of "Turn Turn Turn" - it sounds like a stampede). I never get tired of "Eight Miles High" - it's kind of a perfect song, but can do without their anemic "Hey Joe". "Captain Soul" is as close as the Byrds ever got to funky and "Mr. Spaceman" is them at their most fun.

Despite a couple non-essential tracks, this album’s best moments comprise a master class on chiming 12-string guitars, bittersweet vocal harmonies and anthemic songs that capture the late-60s countercultural zeitgeist. Standouts are “I See You,” the title track and the irrepressible “Eight Miles High,” which has spawned excellent cover versions by the likes of Hüsker Dü and Leo Kottke (and probably more I’m not aware of). The twangy guitar plucking on the latter, and the odd version of “Hey Joe,” seem to prefigure the band’s turn toward country a few years later.

Not usually my thing, but a pretty solid effort that has aged well.

Definitely feeling the loss of Gene Clark, though he left them with “Eight Miles High”. A strong, but somewhat uneven album, the follow up “Younger than Yesterday” is outstanding.

I just cannot get into the Byrds

3 out of 5. Two psychedelic albums in a row, with Sunshine Superman yesterday, but this one comes out on top for me.

Unexpectedly affected by I Come and Stand at Every Door.

3/10

I guess this is on the list primarily because of Eight Miles High - which is probably one of the first, if not THE first psychedelic songs. The rest of the album wears a little thin on me, and while I like the electric 12 string sounds, the use on this record got a little boring.

Favorite songs: 5D (Fifth Dimension), Mr. Spaceman, What’s Happening?!?!, Eight Miles High, Captain Soul

The jangle and chime of folk rock, with the Byrds getting all chaos squiggly amidst droney sitar-esque layers. Some good songs on here: 8 Miles High, 5D, but some real garbage as well, the Hey Joe just shows how much better Hendrix's is, David Crosby is a stoney idiot, and the instrumental is pure filler. Uneven, if interesting.

Divine harmonies and lilting but restrained melodies, except when they let loose a little. Their version of “Hey Joe” is worth hearing.

Interesting album. I think of The Byrds as being among the grandfathers of anything jangle such as Paisley Underground. They feel more like a band with hits than albums, and that’s what I discovered with this one. There are some great songs here. Classic songs. Those are what I added to the playlist instead of the album.

Pretty basic. Good genre. Certainly nothing to write home about

Love this groovy, psychedelic shit. Could listen to this all day

Eight Miles High is a classic, the rest of the album less so. I don’t like their take on Hey Joe, with added lyrics and no menace, the pass at a Scottish folk song is bland and the rest sounds like they’ve thought about what a Byrds record should be and made that.

silly little album, i love mr spaceman.

Хороший

It's OK

There's better album by The Byrds. This isn't bad, just kinda lacks some of the soul.

Weird ending. 3/5

A fine listen that is probably much better if done while under the influence. Could have done without a 16 minute vocal track at the end. I fail to find the essential nature of this album given there are four other Byrds albums to get through here. Always a bit suspicious of bands with a single frontman that remains consistent and an ever changing lineup of other musicians, even a man with a distinguished first name. As Raylan Givens reminds us, you run into assholes all day, you're the asshole.

Psychedelic folk - great harmonies, occasionally dissonant instrumentation, socially aware lyrics that sometimes don't bother with things like scansion or rhyme. It's fine.

A third star only for Eight Miles High - otherwise a bit bland, despite allegedly being a pioneering work in the history of psych.

Super spacey super jangly. Fun record

Psychedelic folk-rock that was pretty jarring in 1965. Doesn’t really work for me except for a few songs. “Eight Miles High” is classic, “Mr. Spaceman” and “2-4-2 Fox Trot” are weird fun. But Jim McGuin’s vocals are too often soporific droning, and it just kind of drones through my head.

i think the longer i listen to this, the more i like it. i recognize this could also be a hypnotic spell invoked by the creator of this website who put nearly every fucking byrds album in their book. however, in either case, i'm glad we got this one today. i understand this one is a bit of a black sheep because of the gene clark thing, but aside from that weird riff in "I See You" that happens every so often, i still feel like this is a really solid album (seriously, what the fuck, who heard that guitar part and greenlit it?). i'm weird with 4 star reviews because this is a 4 star review for an album whose re-listenability is somewhat suspect. i dunno when i'll listen to this again. but i do think it's a 4. that's weird for me because most of my 4s are easy relistens. idk man it's just a groovy record

I just can't get into the old school tin-y singing from this era. There aren't any albums that I can remember enjoying it on, and it didn't work for me here. I enjoyed the instrumentals well enough, but I'm sympathizing with others that have had previous issues with singing styles because this turned into an hour and 1 minutes of skips.

I expected this to be a bit more psychedelic based off of the name and cover. Nothing special but not offensive. Jimi’s version of “Hey Joe” is undefeated.

The Byrds are cool and very important in the canon of "jangle pop." That's about the extent of what I can say about them. I think I enjoyed everything about this album but I can't really remember it. They managed an astounding ZERO Dylan covers on this one though.

This one is a mixed bag. It starts off strong with the first 3 songs, but after that is very hit and miss. I loved 8 Miles High, but nothing else on here really compares to that.

oddily sounds pretty recent

The octave noodling in Eight Miles High sounds weirdly a lot like The Mars Volta. And then there's a lot of pointless and noisy guitar playing going on in Psychodrama City. I have never understood or enjoyed psychedelic music and I've never liked folk country stuff so this just isn't for me. Some of the stuff wasn't too bad but overall I didn't like it.

3.5/5 https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/the-byrds/fifth-dimension/ Fine album. Some nice psychedelic tracks. Does get a bit dull at some point, so lost interest relatively quick.

entertaining

A classic!

This was alright if largely forgettable. The country influence was not bad

That was very bland!

Mr. Spaceman Eight Miles High

Most of this is too busy for my preference (E.G. "I See You" with all the noodling in the background). Other than that, kinda meh folk rock. I suppose I can hear the psychedelic influences here and there. Doesn't help make it any more interesting to me. Not terrible, but not particularly for me.

I hear a bit of bands like The Strokes in songs like What’s Happening and I See You, with the ringing guitars in the background and a more drum forward drive, but there’s also a whole lot of inspid nothing on this. Another reviewer said this feels like an album created to fulfill a contractual obligation to a record company, and I agree. It’s whatever songs they had laying around left after the previous album. There’s also a really weird rendition of Hey Joe, and by weird I mean bad. ⭐️.5 verging on 1 star

Could jump no future listens.