The Byrds were consistently one of the 60s best bands. How come

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>>72824895
unironically one of my favorite albums of all time

Good question

>>72824981
this and the first FBB album for me

Everything from Mr. Tambourine Man through Sweetheart is at least 8/10. This stuff should be /mu/core. People here suck off the Smiths, well the Byrds invented that jangle guitar

>>72825062
Also had a massive influence on mid to late Beatles work through their harmonies.

>>72824895
Fucking love early Byrds, their first four albums are all nearly flawless for me. I'm a huge fan of classic country but don't really like their Gram Parsons stuff onward for some reason.

>>72825121
Yup. For me the holy trinity of vocal harmonies is Beach Boys, Beatles, Byrds.

>consistently
I wouldn't say that. A lot of their signature songs are just covers—covers they often owned, but still. In some ways I feel like they were a more legitimate version of the Monkees. Still, they were fairly unique for the time.

>>72825211
>signature songs
Then maybe you should dig into their albums and you'll find a wealth of original material that is excellent. Besides, when a band is able to make someone else's song better or their own, that's a mark of greatness, not something to shun.

>>72825231
I don't shun them, not at all. It's more like, I'm never in the mood for the Byrds somehow, despite liking most aspects of them. Melodies, jangling, etc. I know they have great originals like I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better, but I never am in the right mindset to scrounge.

>>72824981
Sweetheart is super awesome, but apparently McGuinn wanted to take the band in a synth heavy space rock/proto-prog direction immediately following TNBB and I kinda want to live in that reality

>>72825270
Fair enough. I would give them another go in the future though.

>>72825338
also, if you have a non-Sweetheart album that's particularly good for originals, I'll give it a spin

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>>72825417
Either the OP or this one. Get them in stereo though. The Byrds are of the few 60s bands that's actually better in stereo

>>72825417
Younger than Yesterday and Notorious Byrd Brothers duder

>>72825437
>>72825452
thanks dudes

>>72825483
No problemo, enjoy!

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Ballad of Easy Rider [Columbia, 1969]

I'm sorry to report that this is the poorest Byrds album. It improves with listening, especially at high volume, but Roger McGuinn does seem to be returning to his roots, which unfortunately lie deep in commercial folk music. All the rock dynamics are fading, and what replaces them is thoughtful but not compelling. B+

(Untitled) [Columbia, 1970]

I'm sorry. I love them--or do I mean him?--too, but it finally seems to be ending. The new songs are unworthy except for the anomalous McGuinn showcase "Chestnut Mare," the harmonies are faint or totally absent, and the live performance that comprises half this two-record set . . . well, I'm sure you had to be there. I was, lots of times, and I guess I will be again, but mostly to demonstrate my devotion. I'm sorry. C+

Farther Along [Columbia, 1971]

On that downhill road--to Kim Fowley, to songs about Antique Sandy and Precious Kate, to the day when the agent man collects what you owe him. C

>>72825606
Byrdmaniax [Columbia, 1971]

Two good white gospel (a fundamentalist and a modernist) plus one good Roger McGuinn song (out of four, and he needed a collaborator) plus one good Skip Battin song (he needed a collaborator too--Kim Fowley). In sum, better than Farther Along, but if you can only tell arithmetically how much difference can it make? B-

The Best of the Byrds: Greatest Hits Volume II [Columbia, 1972]

If their first greatest hits was (in Paul Williams's deathless phrase) "an essay into rediscovery," this one's a product into recouping. Thing is, a good statement could have been constructed. Let Notorious and Sweetheart stand on their own (though one song apiece is acceptable anyway), leave the anachronistic "He Was a Friend of Mine" in the dustbin of history, and tell Skip Battin to make his own album. Then pick a few more cuts--"Deportee," "Old Blue," "Child of the Universe"--from Easy Rider and Dr. Byrds. Presto: Roger McGuinn's Greatest Quirks. The original space cowboy deserves a testament, not an olio. B

>>72825618
>Byrdmaniax

That has one of the freakiest covers I've ever seen.

>>72825606
>>72825618
Yeah, they fell off after Sweetheart. There was really just McGuinn left and he couldn't carry the band by himself. The original quartet, and a drummer, was lightning in a bottle.

>>72825705
I tried listening to Byrdmaniax and I gave up halfway through; that's how boring it was.

>>72826030
McGuinn also way overdid it with the imitation Dylan vocals.

I've never been a fan of folk rock in general, it doesn't really speak to me.

Love the David Crosby years.