(Country-Rock) [LP] [24/96] The Byrds - 2 LP's - 1969 - 1973, FLAC (tracks+.cue)

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Analyzed folder: /The Byrds - Dr.Byrds & Mr.Hyde (LP)
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DR Peak RMS Filename
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DR12 -0.54 dB -14.22 dB 01 The Byrds - LADO 1- This Wheel's On Fire.wav
DR15 -0.39 dB -17.11 dB 02 The Byrds - Old Blue.wav
DR12 -1.22 dB -15.23 dB 03 The Byrds - Your Gentle Way Of Loving Me.wav
DR12 -0.93 dB -14.36 dB 04 The Byrds - Child Of The Universe.wav
DR12 -0.93 dB -15.78 dB 05 The Byrds - Nashville West.wav
DR13 -0.74 dB -15.04 dB 06 The Byrds - LADO 2- Drug Store Truck Drivin' Man.wav
DR12 -0.53 dB -14.27 dB 07 The Byrds - King Apathy III.wav
DR13 -0.25 dB -14.23 dB 08 The Byrds - Candy.wav
DR13 -0.40 dB -14.71 dB 09 The Byrds - Bad Night At The Whiskey.wav
DR13 -0.71 dB -15.10 dB 10 The Byrds - My Back Pages (Medley).wav
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Number of files: 10
Official DR value: DR13
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Chris Hillman, Gram Parsons, and Kevin Kelley all left the Byrds in wake of the release of Sweetheart of the Rodeo, leaving Roger McGuinn to assemble a new band from scratch. Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde, the first album with McGuinn as unquestioned leader (and sole founding member), was an interesting but uneven set that saw him attempting to bring together the psych-tinged rock of the group's early period with the pure country that Parsons had brought toSweetheart. The new lineup on this album was as strong as any the band would ever have, with guitarist Clarence White sounding revelatory whenever he opens up, and Gene Parsons and John York comprising a strong and sympathetic rhythm section. But while everyone on board was a great musician, they don't always sound like a band just yet, and the strain to come up with new material seems to have let them down; McGuinn contributes a few strong originals (especially "King Apathy III" and "Drug Store Truck Drivin' Man," the latter written with Parsons before his departure from the group), but the two songs he penned for the movie Candy are just short of disastrous, and the closing medley of "My Back Pages" and "Baby What You Want Me to Do" sounds like padding. Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde proved there was still life left in the Byrds, but also suggested that they hadn't gotten back to full speed yet.
allmusic.com

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Analyzed folder: /The Byrds - Byrds (LP)
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DR Peak RMS Filename
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DR12 -0.14 dB -16.70 dB 01 The Byrds - LADO 1- Full Circle.wav
DR13 -2.19 dB -17.21 dB 02 The Byrds - Sweet Mary.wav
DR12 -1.45 dB -16.01 dB 03 The Byrds - Changing Heart.wav
DR16 -4.59 dB -22.73 dB 04 The Byrds - For Free.wav
DR14 -3.03 dB -19.18 dB 05 The Byrds - Born To Rock 'N' Roll.wav
DR14 -2.13 dB -18.72 dB 06 The Byrds - LADO 2- Things Will Be Better.wav
DR12 -3.86 dB -17.97 dB 07 The Byrds - Cowgirl In The Sand.wav
DR13 -1.52 dB -17.78 dB 08 The Byrds - Long Live The King.wav
DR13 -2.83 dB -18.34 dB 09 The Byrds - Borrowing Time.wav
DR15 -0.12 dB -19.92 dB 10 The Byrds - Laughing.wav
DR14 -1.01 dB -17.80 dB 11 The Byrds - (See The Sky) About To Rain.wav
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Number of files: 11
Official DR value: DR13
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THE BYRDS “BYRDS” (’73 REUNION)
The announcement of the reunion album featuring all five original Byrds raised expectations to the point where whatever emerged was almost bound to be an anticlimax. (Imagine the effect of the Beatles reforming around the same time, if you will.) Despite a general thumbs-down from the critics, fan loyalty and eager anticipation made the new long-player highly successful at the record store: in the States, the biggest-selling new-material Byrds album since Turn, Turn, Turn. Subsequent reviews expressed varying degrees of disappointment, but recent re-evaluation with almost forty years of hindsight portrays the project as fascinating historically and not without merit artistically. Interest in it has never waned and it’s been re-released on CD no fewer than four times. The Wikipedia article on it is almost a book.
The theory behind the reunion varies. According to one version, the famously unreticent David Crosby visited Roger McGuinn in mid-1972 and panned the well-loved White/Battin/Parsons Byrds lineup, saying, “you’ve done some OK stuff but you’ve also done stuff that is pretty bad. Please stop doing it under the Byrds name”. Crosby then suggested reforming the original band to record an album showing where the founder members “are at today”. Another version has the ever-opportunistic David Geffen seeing the lucrative potential of a reunion and planting the suggestion in McGuinn’s mind, noting that McGuinn himself had become dissatisfied with the long-standing lineup and replaced Gene Parsons with salaried sessioneer John Guerin. Either way, McGuinn acquiesced and the other members, all having found themselves between longterm engagements, followed.
The nature of the final work supports the first theory: the album is The Crosby Show in almost every respect. Although on the surface democracy seems to be served by each of the four principals furnishing two original compositions, two of the three accompanying covers are Neil Young songs and the third is by Joni Mitchell, both being longtime Crosby cronies (though Clark takes lead vocal on the Young ditties). It’s been suggested that the other three writers were saving their best material for their own solo projects, but though none of their offerings is a blockbuster they’re all engaging enough, especially Gene Clark’s delicate “Full Circle” and Dylanesque “Changing Heart” and McGuinn’s ersatz-traditional “Sweet Mary”. By contrast, Crosby’s “Long Live The King” is characteristically ebullient, while his “Laughing” is itself actually a cover of the original that appeared on his sublime 1971 collection If Only I Could Remember My Name. Crosby also has the sole production credit; the only tracks that show real spirit in the lead vocals are his; and in the cover photographs he’s the only one who really looks like he wants to be there. (Chris Hillman looks like he’d rather be anywhere else at all.)
The sound of the album is also heavily redolent with Crosby’s aural fingerprint. Acoustic guitars predominate, with the electrics and bass mostly mixed way back and only Hillman’s vibrant mandolin and Clark’s plaintive harmonica forefronted strongly as solo instruments. Apart from “Laughing”, all the songs have short, terse arrangements, never really catching fire. While Crosby’s lead vocals soar, Clark’s and Hillman’s are more subdued and McGuinn’s particularly sombre. The block harmonies are immaculate but display the sweetness of CS&N rather than the engaging rough edge of latterday Byrds. One is led to conclude that with this album Crosby finally achieved, albeit temporarily, belatedly and with questionable success, the domination of the Byrds that he’d craved during the classic years.
Written by Len, therisingstorm.net