The Notorious Byrd Brothers

Not my cup of tea but listenable. (Listened to it on Apple Music)

This record would probably be a whole lot better with Gene Clark.

Pleasant enough but ultimately forgettable. I feel like The Byrds are over-represented on the list.

Solid, mellow - doesn't contain any of their big hits but it was still enjoyable overall

Pretty decent psychedelic pop. Solid 4 Stars.

I’m at a 5. Perhaps I’m just a sucker for an album with no brakes, but I happened to like this one. There’s lots to read up on about the making of the album, David Crosby’s departure, the horse on the cover, and the early use of a Moog synthesizer on some of these tracks (most obviously “Space Odyssey”), but it might take someone longer to read all of that than it takes to listen to the album. This is a brisk 28 minutes that doesn’t really have much filler; it’s relatively basic, but it’s just well done. Their harmonies are nice, the push/pull of each track feels dynamic (especially when the synths, guitar or drums push in a bit), and the way everything transitions helps the pace. There's a good variety from track to track, and I’m obviously a sucker for the country soundscapes as much as I am the weird sci-fi stuff or the filtered guitars. This is psychedelic rock, sure, but it feels like the Byrds really experimented on this one; not to the same degree as say, the Beatles did on “Across the Universe”, but for 1968, this feels outside of their usual bag. I don’t think there’s too much more to say; the tracks are pretty straightforward, covering a lot of the late ‘60s (including the drugs, the hippies & the Vietnam War, as one might expect), and I’d say they’re all well done. Occasionally, some tracks could’ve used a little more (mostly “Space Odyssey”, honestly), but I think the album is pretty clean as is. The floor is a 3, and it’s one I’d understand if you can’t see it as anything other than competent. I just happened to enjoy it a lot, and while it might be a little closer to a 4.5 than it is a flat 5, I feel good about it either way. I don’t know if it HAD to be on the list, but I’m not complaining.

This album sounds great. Too bad the songs themselves are pretty dumb.

Old junk

It's a good 60s time capsule of an album, but that's just what it is. It's dated. I don't mean that negatively; I think The Byrds are great. It's good but forgettable. Change Is Now was my fav song of the album and my fav first listen. Goin' Back was my other highlight

Slow, chill, lovely psychedelia. Unsurprising to learn they're contemporaries of the Grateful Dead. I still find the Byrds kind of boring. It's cool that they were early adopters of the Moog, but I'm not a big synth fan, so that's a dubious distinction. A fine listen but I'll forget it soon. 3/5

A few of the songs I liked but some got too country, and some were just whatever.

I used to think I hated the 70's the most as a musical decade, but this project has made me realize I hate the 60's much more. Most of the albums I've gotten so far from this decade are all hippie-dippy, Scooby-doo sounding schlock. I don't care for it at all. I don't hate The Byrds; I rather dig Sweethearts of the Rodeo. This album isn't irredeemable, but it's only barely deserving of 2 stars.

This sounds like everything else in this stupid, overrepresented genre. It’s exhausting having to listen to essentially the same album dozens of times.

My third Byrds album here, I like it better than the others. Songs are nice and short, there is stylistic variety, the jangle and psychedelia and sci fi are all tastefully done. It's quite okay, a bit better than Okay, I think I'll call it Good, 7/10.

A solid entry on the list. True artists demonstrating a wide array of talents and genres while introducing innovative techniques and instruments and all within a compact and fully utilized span of roughly half an hour. This album belongs on the list.

Överlag mycket behagligt och varierat, men lite segt mot slutet. Ytterst stark trea

Lite märkligare än jag hade förväntat mig men det hade definitivt något.

Jag är så svag för den här typen av pop.

Skulle kanske ge högre vid omlyssning!

I’ve never liked the Byrds but after this I went and re listened to Sweetheart of the Rodeo and I love that one. So then I came back and listened to this one again but still nah.

I love the Byrds....but not this album

Way too much Crosby, but the Hillman songs are ok, and I am fascinated by the fact that the two singles written by Carole King sound exactly like songs by the Byrds.

There's something peculiar about hearing a band approaching the end of one musical identity while the beginnings of another are already becoming audible. *The Notorious Byrd Brothers* finds the Byrds in precisely that position, and much of my response to it was shaped by a growing sense that their psychedelic vocabulary was approaching the end of its useful life. There is musical intelligence here, sometimes quite remarkable intelligence, but there's also a prevailing impression of tiredness. The record is charming, occasionally inspired, and frequently more interesting to examine than it is to experience. I came to it the day after listening to David Crosby's solo work, which made his increasingly difficult relationship with the Byrds an interesting piece of background. Crosby was dismissed during the recording sessions, Michael Clarke's involvement was becoming irregular, and the band was struggling to maintain its identity. Yet the album doesn't particularly sound like a group collapsing under the weight of interpersonal disagreements. If anything, it sounds like musicians who remain perfectly capable of playing together but are becoming uncertain about what musical language they should be speaking. The opening three tracks did little to persuade me that their current language had much life left in it. *Artificial Energy* is an odd collision of psychedelic pop, jazzy seventh chords and a substantial brass arrangement. It's certainly an attention-grabbing opener, but the recording has a peculiar concentration of energy in the middle frequencies. There's an awful lot happening without much sense of space or weight underneath it. This slightly tinny, congested sound becomes one of the album's recurring characteristics. The lyric is rather more arresting than the arrangement. Where contemporary drug songs frequently resorted to allusion, *Artificial Energy* is startlingly explicit about amphetamine use, finishing with the narrator imprisoned after killing someone. It's an extraordinarily bleak conclusion to a song that initially seems almost exuberant about its subject. There's a rather unpleasant contrast between the apparent musical excitement and the consequences being described, although I'm not sure the arrangement fully exploits it. *Goin' Back* presents a different problem. It's a good Goffin–King song, and the Byrds give it their familiar treatment of chiming guitars and carefully blended harmonies. But what are they actually adding? The Byrds' early reputation owed a great deal to their ability to transform other people's compositions, most notably Dylan's, into something with a musical identity quite distinct from the original. Here, the established Byrds sound seems to have become a template into which a perfectly good song can be inserted. Knowing that Crosby opposed recording it, preferring his own *Triad*, adds another dimension. His disagreement seems entirely understandable as a question of musical direction, regardless of whether his alternative would have made a better record. The song itself concerns a longing to return to an earlier, simpler existence, which is a peculiar sentiment for a group whose musical future is becoming increasingly uncertain. The performance is attractive enough, but it doesn't convince me that the Byrds are discovering anything. *Natural Harmony* compounds that impression. The playing is perfectly competent, and there are interesting musical ideas, but the lyric wanders somewhat and the phasing is distracting as all hell. Instead of expanding the composition, the studio treatment seems to draw attention away from it. The music announces its psychedelia without necessarily doing anything adventurous. At this point I was hearing less an adventure in psychedelic music than a rather uninspired period piece. The recording techniques, instrumental decorations and familiar harmonies were all present, but the sense of discovery that ought to animate them was noticeably absent. *Draft Morning* attempts something more substantial. The juxtaposition of blissed-out psychedelic harmonies with the horrors of the Vietnam War is certainly arresting, although the battlefield sound effects give it something of the character of psychedelic theatre. The pastoral musical setting and the sounds of warfare occupy such different emotional worlds that their collision feels almost staged. The ending is considerably more effective, with the guitars playing the Last Post. That simple, recognisable musical gesture communicates the human cost of war more persuasively than the literal noises of battle. It's the point at which the arrangement stops illustrating its subject and starts saying something about it. Things begin to improve with *Wasn't Born to Follow*. This sits in a fascinating overlap between folk-rock, country and psychedelia, with the three musical languages blending rather more naturally than anything on the preceding tracks. The country-inflected guitar has an identity of its own, while the psychedelic interruptions provide a meaningful contrast rather than another layer of decoration. There's a sense of the band's musical future beginning to emerge from its present, and for the first time I felt that the arrangements were opening possibilities rather than revisiting familiar territory. *Get to You* is another improvement, for quite different reasons. Its use of 5/4 gives the song a distinctive striving restlessness. Five-four needn't be lumpy, and the Byrds handle it with a remarkable naturalness. The lyric is comparatively simple, expressing the desire to reach someone and be together, but the metre introduces an emotional complexity that the words don't need to spell out. The extra beat prevents the musical phrases from settling into an entirely comfortable symmetry. There's a feeling of reaching forward, of movement that isn't quite resolved. This is precisely the sort of experimentation I wanted from the album. The unusual construction isn't simply an intellectual exercise. It contributes directly to what the song expresses. Remove that rhythmic character and you'd fundamentally alter its emotional effect, whereas removing some of the conspicuous phasing elsewhere on the record might actually improve the music. The album reaches its strongest point with *Change Is Now*. A persistent pedal bass gives the song an almost modal character, establishing a tonal foundation around which the guitars can move with considerable freedom. There's something hypnotic about the stability of that bass note, particularly when the rest of the arrangement begins exploring different textures. Then comes a sudden movement into much more overt country territory, and what makes it so satisfying is how entirely organic it feels. Clarence White's guitar work in the middle section is genuinely excellent. The country playing doesn't arrive as a novelty or stylistic interruption. It seems to grow naturally out of the musical material already established. Nor is the recording phased to within an inch of its life. The psychedelia works because it emerges from the harmonic atmosphere, the instrumental relationships and the actual playing. The arrangement allows the musicians to create something expansive without the studio constantly advertising its own ingenuity. This is easily the best song on the album, and perhaps the clearest indication of where the Byrds' future lies. It isn't necessarily a choice between country and psychedelia. *Change Is Now* demonstrates that the two can coexist beautifully, provided the musical ideas are strong enough to accommodate them. *Old John Robertson* continues to whet the appetite for country-rock. There's a directness and character to the country elements that I increasingly found myself wanting from the rest of the album. The baroque instrumental interruption is amusing, but it also contributes to the impression of a band that hasn't quite finished rummaging through the musical dressing-up box of 1967. By this point I was almost dying for the Byrds to go full-on country-rock. The arrival of Gram Parsons and the subsequent development of his Cosmic American Music conception seemed increasingly tantalising. Not that Parsons invented the band's country instincts: Chris Hillman's bluegrass background and these recordings already demonstrate their presence. What Parsons would bring was a more explicit commitment to a musical fusion in which country could coexist with soul, gospel, R&B and rock without needing to justify itself as a novelty. In some respects, the seeds of that approach are already audible here. What I wanted was for the Byrds to stop treating country as one more possibility among the psychedelic decorations and allow it to become a musical foundation. *Tribal Gathering*, however, demonstrates that the psychedelic Byrds haven't entirely exhausted their possibilities. Another composition employing 5/4, it uses the metre quite differently from *Get to You*. Here the rhythm section establishes a persistent, chugging movement while Crosby's pattering vocal hovers above it, creating a sense of nervous social energy. The two elements seem to operate almost independently, but their relationship gives the song its character. The lead guitar over the chorus is gorgeous, providing a lyrical expansiveness that contrasts beautifully with the rhythmic insistence beneath it. Then a heavier, distorted guitar passage arrives, and the change is entirely appropriate. The accented grouping of 3+3+2 creates a different rhythmic momentum while retaining something of the asymmetrical character of the preceding 5/4. It feels like an intensification of the song rather than an interruption. There's real compositional intelligence here. Crosby's interest in unconventional metres is especially fascinating having listened to his later solo work the previous day. More importantly, the rhythmic complexities are expressive rather than exhibitionist. The music works because the vocal phrasing, rhythm section and contrasting guitar passages all contribute to a coherent idea. *Tribal Gathering* is thoroughly psychedelic, but its psychedelia is achieved through musical relationships rather than studio gimmickry. It demonstrates that the Byrds could still do something exciting within this musical territory when they had a sufficiently compelling reason. The album's fascination with unusual metres and displaced accents may actually be its most consistently impressive characteristic. *Get to You*, *Tribal Gathering* and *Dolphin's Smile* all demonstrate an impressive fluency with rhythmic asymmetry. The band doesn't treat these devices as technical challenges to be overcome. They seem to understand how an unusual rhythmic structure can create movement, tension or emotional character without demanding that the listener admire the cleverness involved. And yet, technical inventiveness isn't necessarily the same as artistic vitality. *Dolphin's Smile* is an amusingly blissed-out piece of psychedelia. I particularly enjoyed the curious little opening guitar figures, with muted hammer-ons suggesting the clicks and chatter of dolphins. It's a charming example of instrumental mimicry, achieving an illustrative effect without needing actual animal sounds. The fascination with displaced accents continues, lending the music a playful, darting quality. But the song remains rather slight. There's imagination in its construction, certainly, and I can appreciate the ingenuity without feeling especially moved or excited by the result. Increasingly, that's how the album strikes me as a whole: clever musical details embedded in compositions that don't always reward the attention those details invite. The closing *Space Odyssey* is another matter entirely. What a peculiar piece of medieval futurism this is. The song takes a vision of space exploration and delivers it with something approaching the solemnity of an ancient ballad or sea shanty. There's an almost archaic quality to the vocal delivery, as though a medieval chronicler has somehow acquired knowledge of humanity's future adventures among the stars. The Moog provides the technological accompaniment, but the result sounds less like a voyage into the future than an ancient mariner recounting one. Unfortunately, this immediately brought *Future Sailors* from *The Mighty Boosh* into my head, an association from which the song never quite recovered. The imagined future is particularly entertaining because its events are set in 1996, a year that has long since passed into rather more mundane history. Instead of exploring the mysteries of the universe, we were wrestling with dial-up modems, computer manuals and endless *For Dummies* books. Apple was approaching bankruptcy, its Performa range was hardly setting the world alight, and the acquisition of NeXT in December would bring Steve Jobs back into the picture. This prompted an impromptu medieval ballad about the fortunes of Cupertino, which was frankly rather more entertaining than the recording that inspired it. There's an enjoyable eccentricity to *Space Odyssey*, but once the central conceit has established itself, there isn't much of a song left to discover. It's psychedelic whimsy rather than psychedelic invention. A load of old tosh, really, and a peculiar ending to an album whose strongest moments seemed to be pointing towards a much more promising musical future. All of this leaves me with a slightly contradictory response. I don't think *The Notorious Byrd Brothers* is a bad album. There are some genuinely fine compositions, excellent instrumental performances and moments of real imagination. *Change Is Now* is outstanding, *Tribal Gathering* works beautifully, and *Get to You* demonstrates how an unusual time signature can become an essential part of a song's emotional vocabulary. But those achievements don't entirely overcome the impression of a record that is running short of conviction. I kept returning to the distinction between musical sophistication and artistic purpose. The Byrds were clearly capable of sophisticated playing, interesting arrangements and adventurous rhythmic construction. But the earlier material in particular seems to rely on an established psychedelic sound without quite remembering what made that sound exciting in the first place. The slightly congested production doesn't help. Much of the album seems to crowd its instruments and voices into the middle frequencies, producing a strangely brittle sound despite the number of ideas competing for attention. The distinction between production supplying the weight and composition supplying the movement became increasingly apparent during the listening. On the weaker tracks, conspicuous studio treatments seemed to be carrying too much of the burden of making the music interesting. On the stronger ones, the musical construction itself generated excitement. The effects could then become an expressive part of the arrangement rather than a substitute for invention. I don't want to exaggerate that distinction into a rule against studio experimentation. Production can be every bit as creative as composition, and some of the greatest psychedelic recordings depend upon their manipulation of sound. But the manipulation needs to change the musical experience rather than simply decorate it. Here, the Byrds are often more persuasive when they stop reaching for the studio trickery and allow the relationships between the musicians to do the work. It's tempting to interpret the record entirely through its historical position, with Crosby departing, the group's identity in flux and *Sweetheart of the Rodeo* waiting around the corner. But that risks giving the album credit for what came afterwards. Its transitional character is interesting because it can actually be heard in the music, not because the chronology obliges us to admire it. And the transition isn't quite as straightforward as a band abandoning psychedelia for country. The best moments demonstrate that the musical possibilities are much more interesting than that. The country passages in *Change Is Now* work because they emerge naturally from a psychedelic setting. The unusual metres of *Get to You* and *Tribal Gathering* demonstrate that there was still expressive territory available within the band's existing approach. There's no reason, in principle, why these musical directions couldn't have continued alongside one another. What I hear, though, is a group whose most compelling musical instincts are beginning to point away from the sound by which they've become established. The problem isn't necessarily that psychedelia has nothing more to offer. It's that the Byrds' engagement with it seems increasingly intermittent. Occasionally they find something new; elsewhere they appear content to repeat what they already know. And perhaps that explains the peculiar mixture of admiration and impatience the album produced. I could hear the intelligence. I could appreciate the unusual rhythmic decisions and the beautiful guitar playing. I could recognise when the country and psychedelic elements achieved something genuinely organic. But I was seldom swept along by the record as a whole. The opening felt tired, the middle contained some excellent music, and the ending seemed almost to parody the psychedelic era's appetite for whimsical grand concepts. There was sufficient invention to keep me interested, but not enough sustained conviction to make me love it. So I finished the album much as I had begun it: finding the psychedelic Byrds charming, sometimes rather clever, but ultimately slight. The difference was that by the end I could hear how much more they were capable of becoming. *The Notorious Byrd Brothers* is therefore an interesting record at the boundary between two musical identities, but being at an important boundary doesn't automatically make the music on either side of it equally compelling. I wasn't mourning the end of the psychedelic Byrds. I was increasingly impatient for them to move on. *Sweetheart of the Rodeo* couldn't come quickly enough.

This feels like The Byrds caught somewhere between the band they had been and where they were about to go next. “Draft Morning” and “Natural Harmony” still sound a lot like the Byrds I’m used to, but then they start throwing in brass, synthesizers, country sounds, and all kinds of other stuff. The brass on “Artificial Energy” was great, and . I really liked the contrast of the electric guitar solos and the steel guitar on “Change Is Now.” “Moog Raga” was pretty cool too. You can almost hear them discovering the synthesizer in real time and just having fun seeing what kind of noises they could get out of it. That experimental side is probably what I liked most about the album. It still sounds like The Byrds, just with them starting to stretch the boundaries a little more. Favorite song: “Draft Morning”

The more The Byrds come up on this list, the less I seem to like them. They're not bad, they're just unexceptional. How on earth did they get 5 albums on the list?! This was going to be a 3 until "Moog Raga" came up. While I can understand wanting to show off your new instrument, that arrangement was annoying as hell. 2.4

For a 60s album, this felt pretty progressive and I imagine, for example, the farty synths on Moog Raga felt pretty far out and futuristic at the time. Not a bad album and worthy of a place on the list.

Er no dråger her

It’s the Byrds

Mediocre C&W keech with the occasional listenable track.

Not for me.

Se pasó de ayer a hoy con este disco, siendo otro que el reto recomienda de esta banda. No recuerdo el anterior pero debo decir que este me gusta más. Es al pedo: la psicodelia me engancha más. En algunas canciones se sienten sus ecos en proyectos de éste siglo como Tame Impala. Muchas gracias y hasta mañana

- amazing music - Beatles style, but plus osé - last song is a random recording of prqctising a song, incl empty spaces and siscussions in the group - great orchestration

pleasant, nothing too special

3,5 stars

Not their best album

I don’t get The Byrds, I guess. “Turn, Turn, Turn” is a banger, of course (although I haven’t gotten it yet on one of the….i think FIVE Byrds albums I’ve encountered so far), and I guess the harmonies are nice on most of the songs. But everything just feels like….implications of songs. Ideas of songs. Nothing is substantial, nothing is developed. Every song is 2 minutes or shorter, not even long enough to create a real impression. I guess they were just early experimenters and necessary for what came later, but five albums of them seems excessive. They’re not giving me much!

From a musical and instrumental perspective I found the album enjoyable. From a vocal point of view it is not my thing. I really like it musically and just did not get into the singing.

Soft and enjoyable album with nice lyrics. Favourite tracks included 'Get to You' (where Crosby's contribution is made clear) and 'Draft Morning- alternate end' with beautiful guitar, strings and I think even harp? Some tracks however, didn't really work for me, such as 'Moog Raga' (which reminded me of Minecraft), or 'Universal Mind Decoder', a Futura free-esque album closer, just as long, but not quite as emotive or enjoyable. Maybe if I were a die hard fan of the band I'd be more appreciative of this little snippet into their process, but it didn't really do much for me. Another important note here is that this record is incredibly similar stylistically to the Beatles, especially in terms of vocals and harmonies on tracks like 'Goin' Back', so reccomend this to any Beatles fans.

Underwhelming

Is this a good album? Yes I think it is. But it's not one I would listen to again. I like that you can see a lot of what's to come in this record but it just isn't something that really holds my attention. It does deserve its place on the list but it would fall into the "rightfully here, but not my thing" column for me. 3/5

It's want to be different but it's undertone is safe, with shades of country coming through

Very soft and a little country-ish, overall I like the album and it has a few instrumentals which I like.

A bit too groovy for me, lol. Some solid songs on here. I’m glad they had fun haha

Does this list need this many entries by The Byrds? I would say no. This is not bad, but I struggle to find it all that interesting either.

Enjoyed this one. Definitely a mix of genres happening here, with a good dose of psychedelia layered over parts of it. Some good country/rock vibes happening in parts as well with the guitar twang. You can also absolutely tell that the track Goin' Back was written by Carol King. Favorite tracks were Artificial Energy, Change Is Now, Old John Robertson.

Tribal gathering slaps

Very very cool! Loved how experimental it clearly was, love the fact that it's one of the first appearances of the Moog!

Not my thing. To much hippie style.

Not earth-shattering, but solid company. It's got that groovy 60s vibe, but it's not trying too hard. Spins: 1 Playlist Additions - Goin' Back - Draft Morning - Wasn't Born to Follow

I liked that is short. I'm sure it was interesting when it was released and experimental too but we would need to listen to the albums in chronological order to appreciate that. Judging just by what it is now, it's a cute, short, folky rock album. It's good, but this one doesn't need a second listening.

I liken this album to a Monday. It's a little dull and can be exhausting to get through. I don't really understand why there are so many Byrds albums on this list because I've been unimpressed with all of them so far. There are some decent moments here, but overall it just doesn't do much for me. Another Byrds album checked off the list.

Fine but kinda overrated. I'd rather listen to the Byrd's influences.

Ei oikeen lähtneyt tämäkään. Tuttu bändi tottakai, mutta liian vanhaa. Tuntuu että musiikki ei lähde missään kohtaa käyntiin, sen sijaan toistaa samaa kaavaa jatkuvalla syötöllä joka alkaa kyllästyttämään aika nopeasti.

I went into this one not recognizing a single song title, and came away loving the entire album. What impressed me most was how The Byrds experimented without completely losing the sound that made them The Byrds. “Artificial Energy” grabbed me immediately with the horns, while “Goin’ Back” brought those classic Byrds harmonies. From there, they kept adding different sounds, psychedelic passages, country influences, horns, and harder rock, but the experimentation always seemed to serve the songs. “Old John Robertson” might be the perfect example. It sounded country, then dipped some acid, then went right back to country. It reminded me of what happens when an established band realizes the musical landscape around them is changing. They evolve to stay relevant while trying not to lose their identity. The Byrds pulled that off beautifully here. There wasn’t a song I disliked, and even the strangest moments worked for me. They evolved without completely losing themselves. Although, considering the band turmoil at the time, they did literally lose a couple of Byrds along the way. 😂 Definitely one I’d buy on vinyl, and my favorite discovery of the week.

Another album from The Byrds' good acid rock phase. This one starts off a little weaker than Younger Than Yesterday--the song writing was just a little better in that one. But it picks up with tracks like Tribal Gathering, Dolphin's Smile and the tripped out Space Odyssey. Also, I enjoyed the expanded edition tracks on the Youtube playlist I found, which includes the Byrds version of the track Triad, which Jefferson Airplane later recorded. It's definitely a better song than Goin Back, and the Byrds were dumb for firing Crosby over it. But music won overall, as Crosby had better things to do than go country as the bad did without him after this. 4/5

beatles ja muiden näiden Hindu aikakauden jalanjäljissä menevää ihan kelpo musiikkia kumminkin

Great '60s album, but it would've been better if they had included Triad. I'm docking it a star for wussing out on that one. 4 "still a great late-60s album' stars.

Felt too “early ‘60’s”

*The Notorious Byrd Brothers* is often described as a beautiful accident: a record made by a band in a state of collapse that somehow became one of their most cohesive and forward-looking statements. It captures the Byrds at a creative peak while their original lineup was disintegrating, resulting in music that is ethereal, experimental, and deeply influential. ### 🎵 Music and Production The album is a masterclass in studio experimentation, building on the band's folk-rock foundation to incorporate psychedelia, country, and jazz. * **Innovative Production**: Producer Gary Usher was instrumental in crafting the album's seamless, ethereal sound . He employed innovative studio techniques like **phasing and flanging**, and made heavy use of **spatial panning** to create a rich, immersive soundscape . * **Pioneering Instruments**: The record was one of the first rock albums to feature the **Moog modular synthesizer**, which Roger McGuinn discovered at the Monterey Pop Festival . It also marked the first use of the **pedal steel guitar** on a Byrds recording, played by session musician Red Rhodes, which foreshadowed their move toward country rock . * **Genre Fusion**: The music mixes folk rock, psychedelia, and jazz, often within a single song. Tracks like **"Change Is Now"** shift from meditative verses to a country-tinged chorus and then into a psychedelic guitar solo, all held together by the band's signature harmonies . This blend is highlighted in the horn-spiced opener **"Artificial Energy"** and the jazz-influenced rhythms of **"Tribal Gathering"** . ### ✍️ Lyrics and Themes Lyrically, the album tackles the major themes of its era, balancing utopian idealism with darker, more personal anxieties . * **Social and Political Themes**: Songs like **"Draft Morning"** offer a chilling, first-person perspective on the Vietnam War, while **"Artificial Energy"** serves as a dark warning about the dangers of amphetamine use . * **Spirituality and Nature**: **"Natural Harmony"** and **"Dolphin's Smile"** look to nature and spiritual awakening for guidance . The Goffin/King cover **"Goin' Back"** is a poignant, nostalgic plea for the lost innocence of childhood . * **Independence and Change**: **"Wasn't Born to Follow"** became a counterculture anthem of independence and escape, later famously featured in the film *Easy Rider* . The album's closer, **"Space Odyssey,"** imagines a brighter future, inspired by Arthur C. Clarke's science fiction . ### 🌊 Themes and Influence The album's influence stems from its role as a bridge between the folk-rock of the mid-'60s and the country rock that would dominate the early '70s. * **A Country Rock Blueprint**: While not a full country album, its use of pedal steel and country-tinged songwriting (**"Wasn't Born to Follow," "Old John Robertson"**) set the stage for their next album, *Sweetheart of the Rodeo*, which is widely considered a seminal country rock record . * **Enduring Legacy**: The Byrds' "jingle-jangle" guitar sound and harmonic style directly influenced later acts like **Tom Petty and R.E.M.** . The album's reputation has only grown over the years, now widely regarded as one of their best . ### ⚖️ Pros and Cons **Pros:** * **Creative Peak**: Represents the apex of the McGuinn–Crosby–Hillman songwriting partnership, with standout contributions from all three members before Crosby's departure . * **Cohesive Vision**: Despite the band's turmoil, the album is remarkably cohesive, flowing seamlessly from one track to the next, largely thanks to producer Gary Usher . * **Forward-Looking**: The integration of synthesizers, pedal steel, and complex production techniques made it a pioneering record that still sounds fresh today . **Cons:** * **Commercial Underperformance**: The album was only a moderate commercial success, peaking at #47 in the US, which contributed to the band's declining chart presence . * **Internal Turmoil**: The recording process was famously fraught, leading to the firings of David Crosby and Michael Clarke. Some listeners might find the lack of a stable band identity (as noted in one review) to be a minor drawback . * **Missing Track**: The excellent David Crosby song **"Lady Friend"** was released as a single prior to the album but left off the tracklist, which some critics consider a notable omission . In short, *The Notorious Byrd Brothers* is a brilliant document of a band transforming instability into lasting art. It’s a must-listen for anyone interested in the evolution of American rock.

Classic Byrds. Nothing to really love or hate.

Not a lot of interest here. Yes, it's 60s folky-rock with some maybe psychedelic influences, but having said that, the whole is so much less than the sum of its parts. I'm sure this spot could have been used by something a little more worthy. At least it's over quickly, though

Booring

This was more my vibe than I expected, since psychedelic rock tends to be more miss than hit for me. Nothing about this lingered especially, but it was a fun way to spend some time. Rating: 3

A handful of ambien crushed in a tall glass of nyquil would be more interesting.

just kinda meh

Old music not a huge fan

Folk-a-delic

For the birds

good vibes GOOD VIBES

Nope. Not interesting, nor experimental, nor strange, nor envelope-pushing. This is a really bland album that I have no words for, because it’s t doesn’t really deserve them. 5.1/10 DOES IT BELONG ON THE LIST: NO REASON: BORINGGG

Eh it was ok nothing really blew me away

A lot of the older stuff doesn’t really have enough bite in the music for my liking. This album is a good example of that. It could be listening to it first thing in the morning but it hasn’t energized me at all which I really would like

hippy 60s album. first without David Crosby. it was ok.

This album is the unfortunate result of what just about every band goes through. You out a few albums that are huge / well received, the band starts to ask themselves "where do we go from here" and they feel the need to push the envelope, take their sound one step further, be "better" than what they already did. So they make something that doesn't really sound like them, and it isn't as good as when they stuck to their original sound. But then if they just regurgitated another similar sounding album to their first three, people would say they are one dimensional. You can't really win, and on this album, they didn't win.

This is the type of alblum music when i think of 60s cultural music.enjoyed the alblum.

I’ve always have enjoyed the Byrds , however this is not one of their better albums.

I really only knew a few songs from before; this was great.

The most 3 album I've ever heard

fun

With its leaning more towards Merseybeat, Folk Rock, and Psychedelia genres, I enjoyed the front half (in particular the first 4 tracks) far more than the back half of the album. The back end of the album gradually gets worse with country rock excursions until finally a standout with the psychedelic "Space Odyssey" concluding the album. Like just about all of albums by The Byrds, I am simply NOT convinced that they are essential listening and certainly don't deserve the overrepresentation on the list.

Except for "Old John Robertson" I don't really think that this album offers a great deal!

I like some Byrds but this album never managed to get it's claws in me except on a few tracks.

Some great ideas and sounds thrown at this but the blandly pristeen harmonies put me off a bit.

Guess it's essential for throwing modulation effects willy nilly onto a whole master track.

1968 Psychedelic rock, pop Otro álbum de psychedelic rock. Algunas canciones tienen trozos instrumentales interesantes, pero average por lo general.

Not sure what to make of this, I went to wikipedia to get some background. Well I guess I am getting part of why I couldn't make much sense of it. Everyone seems to be praising its creativity and forward-looking experimentation. I can see a lot of that, but I also see incomplete exploration and faulty implementation of good ideas. Sometimes the ideas mix can be quite jarring. Call me obtuse, but I only get half of this. Take Tribal Gathering for example. 2:02? Should have been near 4:00, no?

The production kept this one from rmore stars. Just sounded like everything was in a subdued wash which kept the energy and experience at a mid-level high.

Man, I forgot how many of my favorite Byrds songs come from this album. Fantastic stuff. (Plus, the only appearance of The Firesign Theatre on the list!) The last couple of songs are a little unsuccessfully weird, but otherwise, this is pure gold.

I just love this late 60s psychedelic sound. Yet I also kept thinking, some songs likely inspired (Listen to the) Flower People & Stonehenge.

Kind of boring and sleepy to me. I know Pamela De Barre loved The Byrds, but idk if I totally get the hype on this album. Although, Triad really was right on the nose for me. Kind of funny I’m listening to that right now at this moment in my life.

I like The Byrds more than most 60s bands. Triad was pretty funny. I liked Change Is Now too.

lässig langweilig

Actually pretty out there.

Surprisingly enjoyed this a lot!

The 4th Byrds album on this list...while I love a good horn section, this is not making me like this band any more than the previous three albums.

While I appreciate the instrumentation and arrangements of the songs, I just find the lyrics so literal and derivative of the more conceptual work of The Beatles and Beach Boys (Revolver and Pet Sounds in particular) that I can’t really enjoy this record without rolling my eyes.

It's okay. Another soft psychedelic album form the 60's. Nothing really differentiates this from the other albums like this from that era. Not necessarily bad, but not better than it's contemporaries either. 2.5/5 Probably won't listen again Also, this was my final album on this list. I can't say that I have enjoyed everything that I have listen to on this list, but it was a fun experience to be apart of and I have found some music that I wasn't totally familiar with that I now enjoy. Be well. -rb

More of the fucking Byrds? When will it end? Everybody likes to complain about the number of Elvis Costello albums, but 5 Byrds albums? 5!?!? The only thing I'll say in their defense is that they do change their sound quite a bit. Unfortunately none of the sounds are good.

Why the long face? Jokes aside, this is the kind of "throw a bunch of genres in a blender" stuff I really like. Very enjoyable.

Honestly very listenable, I like this style of guitar alot Moog Raga is funny, just like a fly got caught in the mic for 3 mins