Untitled - THE BYRDS***

Lover Of The Bayou/Positively Fourth Street/Nashville West/So You Want To Be A Rock & Roll Star/Mr Tambourine Man/Mr Spaceman/Eight Miles High/Chestnut Mare/Truck Stop Girl/All The Things/Yesterday's Train/Hungry Planet/Just A Season/Take A Whiff (On Me)/You All Look Alike/Welcome Back Home

A strangely named double LP from The Byrds comprising separate live and studio discs. Includes the rambling and mawkish UK top twenty hit Chestnut Mare. (US:40 UK:11)

"The first LP is The Byrds doing live renditions of some of their favourites: folk rock, country rock and excellent psychedelic flourishes that go far beyond simple studio gimmickry. The live LP has a full-bodied sound, it is gritty, rootsy, heart-felt, just all around perfect folk-rock."

"Of the studio material, nothing really floats to the top. I can see the commercial appeal in Chestnut Mare, but I think it's corny and undeserving of its fame. Most of the remaining material sticks pretty closely to the fresh-out-of-psychedelia countryrock sound that McGuinn fancied at the time."

"The Untitled album by The Byrds is split between an incredible live album and a somewhat less compelling studio album. The live disc culminates in a brilliant 16 minute version of Eight Miles High, turning what was a tight little pop song into a pop-psychedelic attempt at space rock which is a sheer pleasure to listen to. The studio album, however, is much more patchy. Take A Whiff is irritating, repetitious, and moronic, and most of the other songs are quite forgettable aside from the decent (if overlong) Chestnut Mare."

"Unfortunately, opinions are so seemingly divided about the merits of the latter-day Byrds, however, one cannot deny as a performing group not too many bands were as tightly knit as these phenomenal musicians were."

"After the somewhat indecisive Ballad Of Easy Rider, which contained little memorable material with the exception of the title track, the new line-up of The Byrds finally hit its stride with Untitled, which effectively saw the transformation of the band into a genuine 1970s enterprise, with a fair share of blues-rock to add to its former folk, rock and country leanings."

"A terrific album that just gets better with each passing year. It features some of the best singing and writing that Roger McGuinn has ever produced. The live cuts are mostly songs from the band's classic period."