The Byrds [Import]

You'd think I'd be happy. After all these years, finally a reissue of this "lost" reunion album by those fantastic original Byrds. The music has always been under-rated because what could possibly compare to the classics Mr. Tambourine Man, Turn, Turn, Turn and 5th Dimension (I'd also include Younger Than Yesterday, though it was sans Gene Clark)? Those were perfect albums, great time capsules and timeless music. Nineteen seventy-three was NOT 1965, and they had sense enough to know that the magic of that time and place could not be recaptured, so they made the type of music that they thought was "relevant" in 1973. I think they did quite well. The album has always been lambasted by critics and Byrd fans; unfairly so, I now think. However, it's taken a lot of time to come to that conclusion. I was just as disappointed at the time it came out; I wanted the original Byrds to SOUND like the original Byrds. I even eventually gave my LP to the local public library in the 80s; at the time, I never thought I'd want to listen to it again.

But, as time passed, that hole in my collection nagged at me, and I started to want to hear the album again, to see what I'd think of it now. Finally, a couple of years ago I found the original LP, in "fair" condition, for around $[...] and I picked it up. Even through the occasional clicks and pops, it sounded glorious. Therefore, I was so excited when it finally was released domestically. Finally!...no more clicks and pops!...in glorious digital sound!

When I got this CD, however, there was one problem: it WASN'T glorious sound. It was flat and lacked definition. HMMMM...I thought maybe I was having a bad ear day and pulled out my CD recording of my old LP to do an A/B comparison. WOW! I wasn't having a bad ear day. The old LP sounded much brighter, deeper and better. So, another bad digital remaster...not the first one, and probably won't be the last. It's amazing that there have been so many inferior digital remasters. I have an old Phillips CD recorder, 9 years old, that I use to transfer my old LPs to CD. It captures every nuance that is present on the vinyl. How can access to the master tape, with no transfer loss, with all the advances in digital remastering, yeild something inferior to what I captured on an old, scratchy LP? Makes you think, doesn't it?

Also, when a classic of this calibre is finally re-released, I think it fitting that we get some sort of "package" with it. A bit of history, maybe some perspective from the surviving Byrds...SOMETHING!!!...besides a 10" X 5" sheet of paper folded in half that has the original album image, song titles and credits.

I know I seem like a whiner, but this is a really excellent album by one of the greatest musical groups of all time. One would think they (and their fans) would deserve somthing of better quality than this.

This album has caught a lot of bad press over the years because most critics have voiced the opinion that none of the participants were fully engaged in this project. This can safely be called THE David Crosby Byrds album. He's all over the music. Chris Hillman and Roger McGuinn back up and audibly let David have his way. Gene Clark and David are in fine voice and the cover songs are great. "See The Sky About To Rain" is awesome and McGuinn's "Rock-n-Roll" is very ragged but very right. Crosby got a great sound on this record. The instruments and vocals are crystal clear. It is one of my all-time favorite Byrds Albums. It's better,in its way, than anything after "Notorious".

From 1969 to 1972, Roger McGuinn was the only original member of the Byrds, taking charge and letting himself and the new members steer the group to a much more country-rock direction. The country-rock period produced several critically hailed classic songs, not to mention the legendary "Untitled" album (praised as the last great Byrds record), and most importantly, this lineup remained a highly important live touring consideration. But, for reasons known and unknown, McGuinn got rid of this version to join the idea for a 1973 "reunion" of the original Byrds lineup of himself, David Crosby, Gene Clark, Chris Hillman, and Michael Clarke. The resulting self-titled album did great on the charts, beating some of the country-rock lineup's positions by far, but it was critically shot down in most corners. Not only that, any Byrd fan expecting the 12-string folk-rock or moog synthesizer space-rock that the original quintet had innovated was in for a disappointment; 1973's "The Byrds" showed the original lineup almost immitating the same country-rock that had been perfected by the previous version of the Byrds. Where is McGuinn's 12-string Rickenbacker that defined the sound of "Turn! Turn! Turn!"? And where is the spacey studio experimentation of "The Notorious Byrd Brothers?" The last time four of these five Byrds were together in the studio they were making the psychedelic 'Space Odyssey' and sound-effect heavy 'Draft Morning.' Even with David Crosby's assertiveness over McGuinn, it sounds like Clarence White, Gene (and even Gram) Parsons are lingering somewhere in the studio and the songwriting. Of course they weren't, and that means that this album actually does more for the country-rock Byrds than for the original Byrds who made it.

That's not to say the Reunited Five didn't make a great album; their songwriting and performances are top-notch, even if they prove over and over that McGuinn's previous stint was more powerful than it seemed. There are some catchy, flavory songs like Gene Clark's 'Full Circle' and the Chris Hillman/Joe Lala song 'Borrowing Time.' Roger McGuinn's 'Born To Rock and Roll' is featured in a mood and tempo true to the title; it may not compare to the more somber version that was recorded by the previous Byrds (featured as a bonus track on the remastered "Farther Along" CD), but it is still a rollicking joy. But the songs that make this album great are those more melancholy moments, which the album is surprisingly full of. 'Sweet Mary,' co-written by McGuinn, is full of heartbreak and great mandolin work from Hillman, Crosby's languid 'Laughing' is just as stirring, while the three covers are performed with every ounce of emotion you could get from these five men--Joni Mitchell's 'For Free,' and Neil Young's 'Cowgirl in the Sand' and 'See the Sky About To Rain.'

"The Byrds" proved to be a one-time get-together, and the reunion dissolved soon after; it goes without saying that McGuinn chose not to revive the country-rock lineup. While this album may not have done anything for anyone's career, it is still a vivid gem of an album, filled with great songs and great renditions. Finally reissued on the Wounded Bird label after years of being unavailable in the US, this lost album has finally been given a suitable treatment.