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That's a Lot of Turns For a Season Overall Album Score: 8.1 out of 10 The problem with the Byrds' revolutionary Mr. Tambourine Man was that it sounded samey and monotonous the whole way through. Their follow-up to that album Turn! Turn! Turn! is just an extension of that album --- with the same old problems. You can almost tell how excited I am about an album based on how fat my track reviews are. Just purusing them --- they're pretty skimpy. There's not much point delving into a lot of detail about songs that sound so much alike. I guess that means if you didn't enjoy their revolutionary album (which you probably bought because it was historically significant), there's no point in owning this. I mean, unless you like wasting your money! If anything, this album takes a bit of a turn for the worse. For the most part, musicians having a second go at their formula typically don't come off as fresh sounding. Even the Byrds themselves sound a little bored here. This album contains a few bored vocals in several tracks --- and they manage to top it all off with the most boring cover of them all: "Oh Susannah!" But the Byrds don't forget to include at lease one great classic for the ages. It's the title track again, "Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)" is famous for a fantastic reason! It's not a Bob Dylan cover this time; it's a Pete Seegar cover! And it's a huge improvement over the original --- you hardly even recognize it. Otherwise, there are some fantastic originals in here. "If You're Gone" isn't too far behind ... Their extra entertaining treatment of that track made it sound much nicer than some of the covers that sound tossed off, more or less. This would point to their follow-up album Fifth Dimension (which fortunately takes up some real diversity for a change) where their songwriting would fully blossom. Overall, this is a good album --- after all The Byrds were probably one of the finest bands of their era. Though, in truth, this is probably the worst album of their original classic line-up (i.e. everything they would release henceforth until Sweetheart of the Rodeo). Overall Album Score: 8.1 out of 10 (The Byrds do it again --- another pretty though overall boring album. It's a shame this had to be a clone, but it's not a bad creation overall.) Average Song Score: 8.4 (The songs are all around pretty! The melodies aren't the best, but it's the sound that mostly counts.) Album Tilt: 8.0 (The album is very consistent. Read: Too samey!) Artist Rating: 8.0 (It might be a figment of my imagination, but The Byrds seem like they're more bored here. Well, at any rate, this is nothing more than a clone of their revolutionary album. Not that there's anything necessarily wrong with that.) Track Reviews Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season) 10/10 This is the classic old song on this album if you haven't been clued into that yet! This is a cover of a Pete Seeger song, and it's quite an improvement over it. Their jangly twelve stringed guitars and their beautiful harmonizations brings the old protest song to heartmelting heights! This is gorgeous --- and thanks to Seeger for writing this. It Won't Be Wrong 8/10 It isn't bad. The melody is OK except their harmonies really seem to jumble this one. I like the instrumentation and rhythm, which is varied throughout the composition despite its relatively short length (less than two minutes). Set You Free This Time 8/10 A nice song but it's pretty boring to be honest. It's a Byrds original, and they do the smart thing and just let one singer go at it! The songwriting is great, and I like the melody. Their sound is always pretty mesmerizing. Lay Down Your Weary Tune 8/10 They take on some Dylan again with "Lay Down Your Weary Tune," which sounds like an old church hymn or something! The tune is OK though Dylan certainly had better melodies! Their sleepy vocal performances are making me sleepy... He Was a Friend of Mine 8/10 A nicer song, I think. Somehow the melody is more enjoyable to me, and I am able to take in their haunting instrumentation more nicely. Everything's rather simple, but I guess that's not a bad thing! The World Turns All Around Her 9/10 Finally, the Byrds put together a solid little track! "The World Turns Around Her" is a relatively upbeat-ditty. The vocals seem more excited than bored, and the melody captures my attention. It's nice that this is a Byrds original --- they're really getting to be solid songwriters. (Of course, that won't be fully realized until their next album.) Satisfied Mind 8.5/10 Actually I like "Satisfied Mind." I used to not care for it, but now I think it has one of the album's nicest melodies. Their instrumentation isn't so great though... What happened to the jangle sound? It seems to consist of a rather disrupted guitar tone and, mixed very loudly, the vocals. They add in some harmonica for good measure! If You're Gone 9.5/10 The production is notable. I love that strange echo we hear in the background. The song was written by Gene Clark, and I also think it's one of the better songs on here. Clearly, they're taking more care with these originals than they are the covers --- there's nothing wrong with that --- just an observation. The Times They Are A-Changin' 8/10 The bad thing about "The Times They Are A-Changin'" is that it's entirely unnecessary! They give it the same old treatment of "Mr. Tambourine Man" except it didn't seem greatly suited for that. This is enjoyable more or less, but definitely stick with the Dylan original! Wait and See 8/10 This is pretty nice although the melody is a bit too repetitive for my tastes. I do think they're nicer when they're being upbeat and poppy though. Unfortunately, this song isn't too memorable --- by this point in the album, I am getting pretty bored with it. Oh! Susannah 7.5/10 And now a usless cover of an old folk song that we used to sing when we were six. "Oh! Susannah" given the old Byrds treatment has its entertainment value. I don't really care about it, and I think they're boring with it frankly. Bonus Tracks: "The Day Walk (Never Before)" is a bit of riff rock! They got a lot of "Satisfaction!" out of that riff. This track is pretty enjoyable though, and the riff rock was something they might have tried more to enhance their sound and keep it from boring me to tears. "She Don't Care About Time" isn't bad at all! Again, what's the big deal with holding these as bonus tracks and keeping them off the album? Why hold the material? Anyway, this is another nice track from these guys. There's nothing special about hearing this sound again although I do like that classical music quote they insert in here. (I don't know the name of it --- it's often played at weddings.) And now there's another version of "The Times They Are A-Changin'" This is a type of bonus that I don't think we needed! But wait a second --- this one seems even more spirited and the production is a little strange. Hm. For some reason, this one is better. "It's Over Now, Baby Blue" seemed more like a Dylan song that was more up their alley. That's a pretty song, and the Byrds' production is good though not the most beautiful and haunting we know these guys were capable of. Maybe they weren't trying for that. Well, this is a good bonus track just the same. Again, with the song "She Don't Care About Time." You'd think an alternate version of a song in the bonus tracks is getting excessive! Well, certainly the fans have nothing to complain about. This one's a little rockinger and sloppier. (That harmonica is a bit icky...) "The World Turns Around Her" is an excellent song .... again. I honestly don't have preferences between version. I don't really care enough to figure out what they are... "Stranger in a Strange Land" begins with a pretty strange guitar pattern ---- yeesh! This is an instrumental that I assume they didn't get around to writing lyrics for. Or maybe they just wanted to show off that trippy pattern they came up with. The chord changes are nice also.... They sound familiar.... Leave your comments about this album here.

All reviews are copyrighted by the author, Michael Lawrence. He turn! turn! turned! into a neeewwwwwt.