Notoriously go back to the main notorious Byrd page by clicking on this notorious link ... The Notorious Tyrd Brothers Overall Album Score: 8.5 out of 10 I remember hearing this album ages ago and being pretty disappointed at it. It's nowhere near as exciting and innovative as these guys previous two releases. But it's still contains some highly creative moments and more than their fair share of gorgeous melodies and harmonies. So, this effort might be considered a disappointment for some listeners ... Well these feelings might be justified, but never discount the album's great moments, either! The two greatest songs of the effort are unquestionably "Goin' Back," which captures all the beauty "Mr. Tambourine Man" was great for! Also all the beauty in "Draft Morning" manages to give even "Goin' Back" a run for its money. If there's one thing The Byrds have always done great is their harmonies and melodies ... and they nail them there. That's not to mention the other songs are good. They might not be as capturing as the group's finest, but they continue to be well written, melodious tunes. Some come off as relatively boring but these guys manage to do something completely weird to throw us off and keep it from getting monotonous. "Change is Now" is a rather uninteresting psychedelic tune that suddenly shifts into a country-western song. "Tribal Gathering" is an OK jazz tune, but then it gets a little crazy when a dark-toned electric guitar attempts to take it over! Some of their experiments extended to playing around with moog synths. Naturally, rock 'n' roll would come along way with using those instruments in a few short years after 1968, so these produce relatively primitive sounds. They create some interesting textures with "Dolphin's Smile" and try to create a full fledged synthscape with "Space Odyssey." Unfortunately, they also forgot to add compelling melody with those two tracks! Oh well. All in all, this is another highly recommended Byrds album... Don't overlook this thingy. It's the last album they would do before that boring country-rock thing they would do the following year. It's also the last Byrds album before David Crosby left the group. Overall Album Score: 8.5 out of 10 (The Byrds' greatness is on its way out, but they produce a few real gems!) Average Song Score: 8.4 (This might be a disappointment for Byrds fans, but their songwriting is still quite nice. A few failed experiments undermine the effort, however.) Album Score: 8.5 (Actually, it's not a bad listen from beginning until end. It's very enjoyable.) Artist Rating: 8.5 (They keep things interesting even though tihs might not be their most inspired release.) Track Reviews Artificial Energy 8.5/10 The entertaining and upbeat "Artificial Energy" begins this effort on a positive note. For listeners who still have their previous albums in recent memory, you'll probably notice that it's not as utterly deep as those efforts, but that doesn't negate the fact that this has an engaging and upbeat melody. And who's to say anything bad about that absolutely fantastic trumpet? Those arrangements are lovely! Goin' Back 10/10 This manages to sound a bit like "Mr. Tambourine Man." But that's only a great thing, because this song has soooooo much beauty that the average band would knock themselves silly to be able to come up with something as gorgeous as this. The instrumentation is atmospheric and thick and they even have some funny, 'twinkly' guitar effects during the chorus. This track is absolutely stunning! Natural Harmony 8/10 Yes folks, the end of the Byrds are nigh! "Natural Harmony" is rather hard to sit through at times and it doesn't have anywhere near a great melody like the average song of their previous works. The synthesizer-heavy chorus is interesting for the time, but it comes across as just a gimmick to make up for its lack of catchy melody. All of that said, it's an OK song and kind of fun. It does have a thick sound that you probably don't hear too often. Ah, they're just having fun with this 'modern technology.' Draft Morning 10/10 Oh, the beautiful 12-string guitars these guys are famous for is back with a mission in "Draft Morning!" What's its mission, do you ask? Why to be so beautiful that you can hardly stand it. I love beautiful songs, so I love this song! The melody is very good and catchy. The instrumental interlude is very off kilter (featuring some crazy horn sections and space age sound effects) and manages to give this track a ton of interesting personality. Give me this song for all the knowledge in Albert Einstein's head!!!! Wasn't Born to Follow 9/10 And the country-tinged ditty "Wasn't Born to Follow" gives a cool precursor to their revolutionary but flawed follow-up album Sweetheart of the Rodeo. This is a marvelously well-written tune with so much beautiful guitars that it's difficult for anyone who values that instrument. The pounding instrumental interlude isn't as crazy as the previous song's, but it's creative enough to also lend this track some solid personality. Get to You 8/10 "Get to You" manages to have a melody that sounds a lot like some old church hymn or something. The melody is OK, but the instrumentation seems sublimely messed up this time. For some reason, the instrumentals don't seem to be playing on cue this time ... that violin seems off horribly. It does have a unique sound, and you can't deny The Byrds the level of creativity that they put into this. It's just a tad too off-base this time. Change is Now 8/10 It doesn't have a promising start ... but I will give it that it's creative. It features a pretty off kilter rhythm as a rather psychedelic bass guitar pulsates back and forth. But then, all of the sudden, a country-western tune starts to play. This only happens for a little bit, and they sink back into that mentally insane psychedelic section with a very spaced out (and pretty awesome) electric guitar noodling. Well, this is interesting. You cannot deny that The Byrds were some of rock's most creative forces even if this album was somewhat removed from their peak. Old John Robertson 8/10 The Byrds take a melody that sounds like it's from an old sea shanty or something. "Old John Robertson" is a remarkably upbeat tune with some busy instrumentation. I like the part where they stop the folk craziness and start playing some classical violin. There was no reason in hell for them to stop and do this! But they did it! Hah!!! Well..... gosh.... I guess I can't hate this song, either. Tribal Gathering 8/10 They go in a bit of a jazzy route with "Tribal Gathering." The melody doesn't manage to excite me ... it does seem to cater to the cliches of the genre. All the same, though, this is a marvelously played song and it is very enjoyable. There's an interesting moment in the middle when a dark electric guitar starts playing an unrelated groove and attempts to take over the jazzy tune. I'd think most bands wouldn't be able to do this and sink gracefully back into the jazzy melody, but ... well these are The Byrds!!! Dolphin's Smile 7.5/10 They're really enjoying those synthesizers. The very beginning of "Dolphin's Smile" contains some neat, watery synth noises that sounds like a combination between a dolphin and whatever sound they could get out of their new toys. Despite that neat gimmick, I do think this one has one of the lesser melodies of the album. I don't get anything too hooky! Hm. Space Odyssey 7/10 And now their experiments with synthesizers has been reduced to sheer wanking. "Space Odyssey" consists of an incredibly dull synthesized groove and some scaling oscilator noises going up and down the musical scale with nothing in particular in mind. The melody they sing is like a boring hymn and a heavily distorted electric guitar just echoes that boring melody. They don't even have the sense to insert an off-kilter instrumental interlude in the middle of it! Previously in the album, they might have been getting boring, but they'd do something crazy to catch us off our guard. Not here, folks. BONUS TRACKS Moog Raga And the first bonus track is another synth-odyssey. There's more synths doing goofy things in "Moog Raga" than you would have hoped for after hearing "Space Odyssey." But at least they don't bother inserting the boring vocal melody and concentrate on the weird sounds these new-fangled moog synths are capable of producing. This sounds like a synth version of a sitar song. It's goofy.......... Bound to Fall It's well played and has a nice rock 'n' roll groove and a good theme. Where's the singing? Well, I guess it's OK if they want to do an instrumental! It makes a fine at-the-moment listen, but it's unremarkable. Triad This seems more like a product from the psychedelic era. It's a perfectly fine effort and might have been a highlight on the average band's album of the time. But for the Byrds, the melody just isn't that great....... I mean, it's fine, but I miss the deathly catchy hooks. Also, it's pretty straitlaced for these guys in this time. Oh, apart from the infamous lyrics... yeesh. Goin' Back A more stripped down version of "Goin' Back." I also believe that it's played a bit more slowly. Yes, I like the original one better. The rhythm section seems so much better paced and I like the atmospheric instrumentation better there, also. Draft Morning This is rather similar to the other version... It's just less atmospheric and compelling. Universal Mind Decoder And then there's "Universal Mind Decoder." It's a thirteen minute track featuring some instrument playing and then a lot of studio dialogue. I assume people who just pick up this album for all the lovely songs it contains in the non-bonus-track sections would only listen to this track once ... or until that little psychedelic jam stops playing. The studio bickering inserted at the end is interesting for fans, though. The Byrds were on the verge of a break up, and this is foul-mouthed ridden dialogue gives some insight there! Apparently, The Byrds weren't as harmonious as we all thought! Do you have any comments you'd like to leave here about The Notorious Byrd Brothers, you notorious dude.

All reviews are copyrighted by the author, Michael "Notorious Tyrd" Lawrence.