The Notorious Byrd Brothers

That's not how you spell it

Some interesting sonic experimentation going on here, but unfortunately, it all sounds so dated. No stand out tracks that, to my mind, stand the test of time. While this album may have (strongly?) influenced music to follow, I don't feel that I've missed out by not hearing it before.

Love the Bryds and I really love this album and it's probably there most diverse album they made, sure the folk/rock sound is still there but other influences show up as well. To me Goin Back (and Draft Morning) is probably reason this album is on the list, it's the root of power pop, it inspired Big Star which in turn inspired countless others like Teenage Fanclub, this is the origin. Wasn't Born to Follow is a early example of country rock sound, which they would go full in on the next album Sweetheart of the Rodeo with Gram Parson, which I hope is on the list as well. Albums awesome and a very important one in rock history.

Have you been out drinking with friends and the conversation and laughs are flowing, but then something happens to snap you out of your mirth? You start questioning yourself. Have you had too much to drink? How many *have* you had? Are you going to hurl? What is your friend even saying to you at this point? Shit, he stopped talking and he's looking at you expectantly, you better laugh, he's always saying funny stuff, it was probably funny. You laugh and conversation and mirth continues. You're fine. But you switch to water instead of beer, just in case. Wasn't Born to Follow has this fairly standard country sounding sounding progression with some harmonies and jangly guitars and then... the breakdown. Totally non melodic noise. It makes you stop and question where you are. What am I doing? Is any of this even real? Then the country bass line starts back up again, and we're back in normalcy again... but it's coloured by the breakdown. It's like you've seen a monster out of the window of a speeding train. Normal doesn't feel quite as normal as it did before. And this is all in two minutes. This feels like real psychedelic folk rock. Not just a few wah pedals or phasers or tricks with tape, but psychedelia in the songwriting itself. Stuff to make you question your reality. Folk rock to set the baseline, and then all sorts of methods to pull the rug. Artificial Energy sets the tone, with a harsh edge on the bass and horns to match the lyrics that are about the harsh after affects of drugs. Natural Harmony starts with some lilting arpeggios, and then some expectant rhythmic chords, that appear to be telegraphing some upcoming rock pop chorus. But it never gets there. Instead it sorts of fades away, and ends in some fairly dissonant uneasy sounding feedback. Draft Morning starts with warm sounding music, and warm sounding lyrics, followed by a rug pull in the lyrics first, followed by a warning of horns and the sound of war. Sun warm on my face, I hear you Down below movin' slow And it's morning Take my time this morning, no hurry To learn to kill and take the will From unknown faces This album is just rug pull after rug pull. And it's all done inside such short songs. I don't like the word genius, so I won't use it, but if I liked the word, or was at least neutral about the word, I might apply it to this album I probably don't need to say it, but these five stars don't mean I would recommend it to anyone. None of my reviews are recommendations. Just how it hits me. And man, this hit me. I will listen to this a lot.

I love The Byrds and this album. Just no time to get into the details!

Really enjoyed The Byrds. Fun and upbeat, a little funky. Great album.

Nice classic.

Excellent

Great song titles.

I just know of The Byrds from their hits and the numerous references to them in Wikipedia articles about other artists they influenced. Their influence is huge, so I have been very interested in hearing more of their work. I love the swingin’ and trippy 60s sound with occasional tinges of country. It was a lot of fun feeling this groovy listening to an album.

Gotta love that originating psych-folk sound, and it is such a quick little bite that doesn't overindulge or overstay its welcome. This was delectable.

3, it's fine. Killer bass lines by the horse though.

Un très, très, très mauvais album de la part de Gene Clark et de sa bande de gugusses ignares. Je vous ai déjà dit ce que je pensais de ce chanteur et de sa capacité à choisir des pseudonymes exécrables, je ne vais donc pas revenir sur son cas personnel. Quant à l'album, rien n'est à sauver dans cet enregistrement dépourvu de tout son agréable à l'oreille.

At its best when the cosmic babble skewers the sweetie-pie folk babble, rather than the reverse. While they're incapable of having or being fun vocally, they're less inhibited sonically. By which I mean the horns on the opener sound a lot like farts.

I am disturbed by your lack of jangle.

Les doy un cinco. No me ha encantado, pero me ha apetecido escucharlo varias veces. Es muy agradable el disco. Y son The Byrds :).

1967 - Country/Folk Rock

I know a couple of tunes from The Byrds, but these were not those tunes. I didn't know anything about this album, but I really enjoyed it. The mix of psychedelic- to folk-rock was a fun listen. The album captured me from the first notes of the first track and kept my attention until the end.

Love this sound! To me, it sounds like it could have been made any time in the last fifty years!

beautiful

Such a great album!

Love! Especially the instrumentals

It was good enough to visit again

Featuring their trademark of lovely harmony vocals, jangly guitars and melodic songs, there's also some disorienting psychedelic touches, synthethsizers and sound effects. As per the previous albums, it's quite a short album, but a heck of a lot happens in under 30 minutes. It's production is shimmering and the mood is generally quite hazy. It's a fab LP to drift away on a lovely summer afternoon.

good

Not my favourite Byrds album, but still the Byrds so 5 stars.

Their best album in particular due to the two King/Coffin songs but overall it is a timeless classic of course.

Peace, love and group sex! Expectations were low and I considered it’d be variations of Turn, Turn, etc. and Tamborine guy songs. This is the music my mom would’ve listened to in college. I was generally underwhelmed until Space Odyssey played and I began seeing trails, but then Moog Raga kicked in and I was tripping balls. Moving forward to the threesome sex song Triad, was unexpected but oddly enjoyable. Take another hit, there’s a great riff on Bound to Fail. Finally, Universal Mind Decoder was another trippy song to get lost in and the banter on the alternate version in the studio provided some interesting insight into the recording process. I was pleasantly surprised at how dynamic and full this album is. In the end, how much do we really know about our parents anyway? Maybe mom was a freak who liked dropping acid and frolicking naked in the mud at Woodstock with everyone else. (yuck).

This was a kind of snapshot of so many things that were going on musically in the late ‘60s. I have been learning a lot about the Byrds and how interconnected they were to so many things going on in music then. I really enjoyed this.

So glad I got to hear and discover this. I love the style and cool info about the Moog. Also loved the Triad song.

Amazing really enjoyed the dolphin and tribe song on b side

Great space cowboy/cosmic Americana music

Kinda upset I had my shitty work headphones on for this one, I feel like I missed out on the production of it. Regardless I love this album, super cool psychedelic folk feel.

Make this a Beatles album and I went in like knowing them from little more than "Twist and Shout" and "Yellow Submarine". I'm fairly appalled by my ignorance of The Byrds, wtf. So; while I am not too keen on the "Old John Robertson" side of this album's music, it was overall delightful and immensely surprising. I'm suspecting there is a 5***** in The Byrds' discography and it's probably this one. /// Rating day. I'm not going to think "Man, you know what? I need to listen to The Notorious Byrd Brothers" any time soon, but I saved 4 tracks to my playlist of *everything* and this a damn fine album, a super nice blend of US-flavo(u)red late 60ies poprock and people being weird and experimental, yes indeed, 5 stars.

My favourite new discovery so far. This is a cracking album and one I’ll be buying. Going Back is a brilliant song. They have a lovely psychedelic folk-rock sound that just rolls through the album and then they seal the deal with effortless harmonies. I really really like it.

There are several Byrds albums on this list, and this is the one that most deserves a spot. A shining example of how psychedelia, rock, and folk could intersect. Beautiful voices and arrangements, and some of the band's most original work.

When they're not experimenting with psychedelic music, their smooth harmonies are like honey.

Willder recommended \"wasn't born to follow\" and \"going back\" Enjoying it so far, jangley 60s, if the doors weren't a bummer

9/10. A mix of unique creativity but with a slight feel of nostalgia is what I get with the Byrds. I’d rate this album between the other two. I think they have a bizarre mix of what I’d consider fairly “basic” chill music (Goin Back, Wasn’t born to follow) and experimental chill music (Space Odyssey, Moog Raga).

As good psychedelia and folk rock gets.

Stellar psychedelic rock from The Byrds. I'll have what they're having!

A fully-realised experimental album, albeit with some slightly weird sonic artefacts, like the phasing on Old John Robertson. Great songs, with the band trying as many different ideas as possible to make them standout - fuzz guitar, strings, phasing, tape manipulation, wide panning, etc.

The early Byrd gets the 5 star review for their best output and easy listenability 50 years later.

I’d recommend listening to this album with headphones or earbuds and really paying attention to the production. Between phasing, echo, and multitracking, you can truly pick up on the rich textures and dynamics of the studio effects that enhance the psychedelic soundscape of the album. An interesting aspect of this album is the internal conflicts and turmoil the band faced during its making. They lost two members, one being a founding member and the other the drummer. Additionally, an original lineup member rejoined briefly before leaving again. Despite all this conflict, the band managed to create such a high-quality, cohesive album.

Fantastic music. Mellow acoustic based rock. Very nice to listen to. Great musicians and singers.

Perfect

The one where they eventually replaced David Crosby with a horse. Sure suggests that copious intakes of LSD might have been taken during the making of this album, which may explain a few things that's going on in it. The many twists and turns of *The Notorious Byrd Brothers*, with so many hairpin curves between full-blown psychedelia and the country western flavours the Byrds would later dive headfirst into on *Sweetheart Of The Rodeo* -- not to mention its jazz forays, or its novel use of electronic touches such as phasing, flanging and the Moog synthesizer -- make for a complicated initial listen. But once you get your footing, you soon realize how wonderful and groundbreaking this LP is. Ironically, its experimental nature has been watered down a little over the years -- so much has happened since then. But it's the songwriting and guitar arrangements that makes this record quite a distinctive one today. Both the songs and their instrumental arrangements are stellar on the first side. "Artificial Energy" starts things up in a brass-laden regalia evoking later albums by Beck (Hansen, not Jeff Beck), the Carol King and Gerry Goffin-penned country-rock songs "Goin' Back" and "I Wasn't Born To Follow" are absolute gems. "Natural Harmony" is an epic micro-adventure all by itself -- not only for its experimental production values and effects, but also for its moody harmonic modulations. And "Draft Morning", obviously about the Vietnam war, is another small jewel, both topical and aptly evocative on a musical standpoint. Side two also comprises great stuff: "Change Is Now" splits the difference between psychedelic rock and country-folk in a very elegant manner (and what a great guitar solo in its middle section!). "Tribal Gathering" starts with a jazz-inspired 5/4 rhythm (also found on "Get To You"), and then transmutes to quite a heavy rocker for the time period. And "Space Odyssey" is... well, all you need to know about that one is already stated in its name. That closer eerily sounds like a Silver Apples composition, which can only be a compliment coming from my mouth. Too bad David Crosby's "Triad" (now found as a bonus on CD editions) was not included in that second side. It would have been perfect between "Old John Robertson" and "Tribal Gathering" and brought the fantastic ballad that was needed in the second half of this quite short LP. Had the Byrds been better at interpersonal relationships within the band, and kept Crosby until the end, the overall end result would have been even better. Still feel like *5th Dimension* is an even more striking album within the Byrds discography. But the more I listen to *The Notorious Byrds Brothers*, so finely attuned to the artistic (r)evolutions of the late sixties, the more I'm growing fond of it. Chris Hillman, Roger McGuinn and Michael Clarke sure were creative forces to reckon with at the time. Oh, and let's not forget that very talented horse, of course! 4.5/5 for the purposes of this list of essential albums, rounded up to 5. 9.5/10 grade for more general purposes (5 + 4.5). Number of albums left to review: 38 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 416 (including this one) Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 243 Albums from the list I won't include in mine: 306

Mi álbum favorito de The Byrds (junto con Younger than yesterday). Una absoluta obra maestra. Es una obra en que participan varios miembros de la banda que entraban y salían de la misma (Gene Clark, Michael Clarke o el propio David Crosby) además de colaboradores que luego formarían parte del grupo (especialmente el magnífico Clarence White). La producción de Gary Usher (que produjo el anterior y el posterior, es decir la mejor parte de la discografía de The Byrds, además del de but de Gene Clark con los Gosdin Brothers) es otro paso de gigante en la música. Comienza con Artifical Energy (tan actual aún hoy en día) a galope de unas trompetas rimbombantes , sigue con la versión de Goin´Back (King y Goffin) que fue el sencillo del álbum, calmada y con ligeros toques country (nada que ver con lo que vendrá en su siguiente disco). Wasn't Born to Follow es otro tema de Goffin-King que los Byrds convierten en auténtica ambrosía (incluída luego en la banda sonora de Easy Rider) Natural Harmony ya es otra cosa, space rock? psicodelia? lo que sea, pero es una delicia. The Stone Roses bebieron de Draft morning (Waterfall) y de todo el disco para su excelente debut. Es una gozada de tema. Get to you, es una delicada pieza de orfebrería pop con las voces de la banda a pleno rendimiento (aquí está el fugaz retorno de Gene Clark, también en Goin´ Back). La cara B abre con la mejor canción del disco: Change is now, una canción que va por caminos normales hasta que descarrila en otra maravillosa dimensión. Old John Robertson era una canción publicada previamente (la cara B de Lady friend). Tribal Gathering es otro viaje que merece la pena. Dolphin Smile es la típica canción The Byrds con tintes ecologistas. Cierra con Space Odyssey (hola David Bowie) que está obviamente inspirada en la literatura de Arthur C. Clarke. Introduce Moog, drones y un sinfín de cacharrería. No se puede hacer más y mejor en menos de media hora, algo que muchos músicos de hoy no son capaces de entender. La edición extendida incluye dos instrumentales además de Triad la polémica canción del polémico Crosby. En mi opinión está bien fuera del álbum, no aporta gran cosa. Este mismo año publican otro disco esencial: Sweetheart of the rodeo. En mi opinión son una banda fundamental en la historia de la música. La influencia de The Byrds en Dylan, The Beatles, en cualquier banda coetánea y posterior (REM sin ir más lejos) es enorme. THE BEATLES- White Album , THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE - Electric ladyland, Odessey and Oracle de The Zombies, THE VELVET UNDERGROUND - White light, white heat, THE KINKS - The Village Green Preservation Society, VAN MORRISON - Astral weeks, THE ROLLING STONES - Beggars banquet, CREAM - Wheels of fire, THE BYRDS - Sweetheart of the rodeo, THE SMALL FACES - Ogden's nut gone flake, THE PRETTY THINGS - S.F. Sorrow, OTIS REDDING - The dock of the bay, BLOOMFIELD , KOOPER & STILLS - Super Session, JAMES CARR - A Man needs a Woman, Dance To The Music de Sly & The Family Stone, Safe As Milk del Capt. Beefhart, Surrealistic Pillow de Jefferson Airplane, Lady Soul y Now de Aretha Franklin, We're Only in It for the Money de Zappa, Idea y Horizontal de los Bee Gees, For Once in My Life de Stevie Wonder , A Saucerful Of Secrets de Pink Floyd, Spirit de Spirit, Bookends de Simon and Garfunkel, In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida de Iron Butterfly, el Soundtrack to 1968 TV special de Elvis, Nuff Said! de Nina Simone, Child is father to the man y Blood, Sweat & Tears de Blood, Sweat & Tears... Debuts de JEFF BECK GROUP, NEIL YOUNG, THE BAND, CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL, OS MUTANTES, SILVER APPLES

This is pretty cool, nice and cruisy. Well written, good songs, almost doesn't feel like it's 50 years old. 4/5.

7/10

Extremely pleasant to listen to. I like folk in general, and this is no exception. Nearly perfection.

Psychedelic folk rock that mostly works. Best track: Draft Morning.

9.3/10

Love the harmonies.

Some jangly rock

Guter gitarrenpop. Teils noch folkig.

I never thought I’d like this kind of music. It was actually pretty nice

Rock psicodélico sesentero.

Nice and comfy

Nothing really outstanding, but it's still a pleasant album.

Loved this tbh

Pretty great. You can really hear the Crosby.

very good eclectic sound, enjoyed it overall.

Love dat 12 string guitar sound.

Easy listening, understandable it was so popular for the time.

Great journey.

Classic sound.

3.5/5. Another great Byrds record, they had this psychedelic rock thing down pat. Standout Tracks: Artificial Energy, Draft Morning, Get to You, Dolphin's Smile

Pretty fun and experimental, still sound like worse Crosby Stills and Nash. 7

Started off a bit too soft for me, but picked up. Weird elements of southern rock and psychedelic that somehow work pretty well.

Good ol' fashioned Americana.

¿Por qué este albúm que suena tan estándar es tan importante? En mi punto de vista es quizá el album que mejor encapsula a la banda. Combina pop, rock psicodelia y country con mucha maestría. Es un album que suena tanto feliz y sencillo como misterioso y profundo. Quizá el punto en que la banda se siente en su mayor capacidad de escribir y experimentar. Canciones como Get to You quizá suenan como algo normal pero continuando con el punto de estar a mediados de los 60s es una fusión interesante de folk, pop barroco y psicodelia que en su momento no se veía y que da la que quizá es su mejor canción. No, no son una banda que hoy suene espectacular para la mayoría, pero son una excelente banda y, como ya se ha dicho, mucho de la manera en que sonaban grupos que quizá fueron hasta más famosos es gracias a la base sentada por ellos y a la gran variedad de estilos en los que incursionaron.

Thoroughly enjoyable, if a little repetitious. The instrumentals pieces I could live without.

Good stuff! I like the soundscapes and harmonies on this album a lot, and it seems to twist and turn into some at times dark and at times transcendent places. Very creative!

I enjoyed this album a lot. My favourite song was Get To You.

Ever heard this album before. I'm very familiar with their first three albums which are classic in their own rights. The Notorious yrd Brothers has a different sound, a jazzier sound that works very well. I enjoyed each and every song. Can't quite give it a five bit I'm tempted. 4.25 🌟

Love this album. Not my favourite Byrds lp, but close enough.

I was a little skeptical about some of the raving critical reviews this album has gotten, especially starting out with the weird "Artificial Energy." But after the rough start, I was completely sold. This is a gorgeous collection of songs, full of rich vocal harmonies and some stunningly lovely guitar work. The Byrds beautifully marry a pop sensibility with psychedelic experimentation and a bit of a country twang. It really shouldn't all work together, but it does. Roger McGuinn's guitar work is ridiculously good, some of the best put to record. I really enjoyed this. Fave Songs: Get to You, Change is Now, Wasn't Born to Follow, Draft Morning, Goin' Back, Natural Harmony

I liked it. The flanger effects were probably overdone but I'm sure it was a novelty at the time.

wasn't born to follow so good!

Groovy.

Cool psychedelic country album

Good vibes! Will likely listen to more

Very good

Such a cool sound, probably the most catchy and easy going psychedelic sound I’ve heard from all of the 60s bands. It knows just how far to push it and it works. The album has a bit too much country in it for me to really get into it. A generous 4/5 - Pretty good, added to my list

A nice mix of folk and psychedelic with some heavy phasing and a weird synth song, but it all manages to hold together well, even with the changing cast of characters. It’s a bit of a time capsule of some of the different movements of the (rich) music scene of that time, especially in the US. The vocals are very recognizable as The Byrds. I only listened to the original 29 minute vinyl release and would be far less enthusiastic if the Moog Ragga was part of the package.

This was just a generally solid 60s album. Some psychedelic, some blues, some other stuff. Just very enjoyable

C’est eclaté. Du bon rock psychedelique. Comme il ne s’en fait plus. K’ai bcp aime. 4.5

Who knew that David Crosby was holding the Byrds back? Some argue this is the band's finest work. I'm not ready to co-sign that statement yet. I seem to prefer my Byrds with a splash of Gram Parsons. There are still too many Byrds albums on this list (they shouldn't have more than 3). So cut two off, but this one stays.

Sweet melodies and harmonies. Lush and a treat

LSD was good in 1968 👍👍. The strongest 7/10 I can give without it being an 8/10. In all honesty it probably is an 8/10 album, might be a 9/10, I'm not sure yet. I'll rate it how I feel right now after just listening to it.

Not bad.

Great instrumentation on most of the songs, the pedal steel countrified psychedelics, and I can listen to McGuinn play a Rickenbacker 12 all day long. Plus the harmonies! On the other hand, the stereophonic effects are bit much, but I guess a bit novel for the time or thought to contribute to mind expansion, using what I imagine were the terms in the day. There are couple misses. Moog Raga should have been cut and not used up precious studio time and recording tape.

I’m surprised there are this many Byrds albums on here, but I guess I’ve found them all pretty enjoyable I mean Sweetheart of the Rodeo was probably the most obnoxious but I think all the ones I’ve heard had something I liked anyway this gets an 8/10 from me the songs (I think there were multiple?) that used 5/4 were really impressive and sounded surprisingly good

Oh yeah, I like this. Great use of brass on the opening track, getting Beatles vibes. Absolutely love "I wasn't born to follow"! I knew it from Easy Rider, pleasantly surprised to hear it here.

A delightful album full of quality tracks from the folk rock era with some new instrument experimentation going on as well (but you can keep the awful Space Odyssey).

As usual, The Byrds have produced a soft and well-crafted album, which has the effect of a sunny day where it is good to live peacefully. I love their vibe and would be ready to listen to them at any time.

Love the fact that hey put exotic instrument and psych sound into a more mainstream ablum. Pioneer of the genre. Great folk song as well. I Always enjoy The Byrds.

Sunny album for a sunny day. Great folk rock bangers in this one, I really enjoyed it!

The Byrds are the kind of band that I like but from which there's no albums I'm totally crazy about. This one's a good example, extremely pleasant and a really nice transition from their more psychedelic first years, but in the end nothing from it will really stick with me. I'll be really glad every time I hear it, but it won't become a personal classic.