The Byrds - Byrdmaniax (1971) (Remaster Edit 2000)

The Byrds - Byrdmaniax (1971) (Remaster Edit 2000)

Byrdmaniax has been sidelined ever since its original 1971 release, when it arrived in the wake of the triumphant Untitled. At the time, the group's musical diversity was beginning to suggest uncertainty, but in hindsight--and with the inclusion here of three contemporaneous bonus tracks--there is much to savor. Highlights include Roger McGuinn's poignant "Kathleen's Song" and the band's striking cover of Jackson Browne's "Jamaica Say You Will." Skip Battin was never better than on "Citizen Kane," a collaboration with maverick Kim Fowley. Original tracks are enhanced by a sensitive alternate version of McGuinn's "Pale Blue" and, particularly, by Bob Dylan's "Just Like a Woman." Byrdmaniax may not be the pick of the Byrds' canon, but it sits well in Sony's imaginative repackaging of this much-loved band's catalog. --Patrick Humphries

Byrdmaniax has been sidelined ever since its original 1971 release, when it arrived in the wake of the triumphant Untitled. At the time, the group's musical diversity was beginning to suggest uncertainty, but in hindsight--and with the inclusion here of three contemporaneous bonus tracks--there is much to savor. Highlights include Roger McGuinn's poignant "Kathleen's Song" and the band's striking cover of Jackson Browne's "Jamaica Say You Will." Skip Battin was never better than on "Citizen Kane," a collaboration with maverick Kim Fowley. Original tracks are enhanced by a sensitive alternate version of McGuinn's "Pale Blue" and, particularly, by Bob Dylan's "Just Like a Woman." Byrdmaniax may not be the pick of the Byrds' canon, but it sits well in Sony's imaginative repackaging of this much-loved band's catalog. --Patrick Humphries

Byrdmaniax has been sidelined ever since its original 1971 release, when it arrived in the wake of the triumphant Untitled. At the time, the group's musical diversity was beginning to suggest uncertainty, but in hindsight--and with the inclusion here of three contemporaneous bonus tracks--there is much to savor. Highlights include Roger McGuinn's poignant "Kathleen's Song" and the band's striking cover of Jackson Browne's "Jamaica Say You Will." Skip Battin was never better than on "Citizen Kane," a collaboration with maverick Kim Fowley. Original tracks are enhanced by a sensitive alternate version of McGuinn's "Pale Blue" and, particularly, by Bob Dylan's "Just Like a Woman." Byrdmaniax may not be the pick of the Byrds' canon, but it sits well in Sony's imaginative repackaging of this much-loved band's catalog...P. Humphries

Ahhh! The much maligned BYRDMANIAX, recently likened by a UK journalist to what the Byrds would sound like if Richard Carpenter was producing. Background story: The Byrds' previous album (UNTITLED) is a (relative) critical/commercial success which provides the band with a much needed upswing in fortunes. By the time of the recording of this, the follow-up, they're having personal problems and are out on the road a lot. Producer Terry Melcher plasters results in orchestrations (Phil Spector LET IT BE-style) to help disguise sub-standard performances (he says), band know nothing until record released (they say). Results? Pretty good, on the whole. "Kathleen's Song" (held over from UNTITLED) is all the better for Melcher's overdubs - it's achingly beautiful - as is the not-dissimilar "Pale Blue". Other highlights include Skip Battin's "Absolute Happiness" and the Clarence White sung "Jamaica (Say you Will)". Other tracks ain't so wonderful, but the album's far from being the dog it's been rumoured to be for so long. The bonus tracks consist of another UNTITLED-era recording ("Just Like a Woman"), an alternate version ("Pale Blue") and an out-take - a version of Gene Clark's "Think I'm Gonna Feel Better"*. What we don't get is the rumoured alternate take of "Jamaica" which Clarence White always said to be vastly superior to the album version...B. Jules

320 @
104 MB

Tracklist:

01. Glory, Glory 4:05
02. Pale Blue 2:24
03. I Trust 3:21
04. Tunnel Of Love 5:00
05. Citizen Kane 2:39
06. I Wanna Grow Up To Be A Politician 2:05
07. Absolute Happiness 2:41
08. Green Apple Quick Step 1:52
09. My Destiny 3:40
10. Kathleen's Song 2:42
11. Jamaica Say You Will 3:31
12. Just Like A Woman 4:06
13. Pale Blue (Alternate Version) 2:36
14. Think I'm Gonna Feel Better 2:34