The Byrds
"Mr. Tambourine Man" / "Turn! Turn! Turn!" / "Fifth Dimension" / "Younger Than Yesterday" CDs (Columbia)
It's impossible to analyze the impact the Byrds have had on modern music in a record review this size, so I won't even do this band the injustice of trying. Suffice it to say that, of all the lame, pathetic, burned-out classic rock bands we've been weaned on and the peacenik nostalgia we've been immersed in for some time, the Byrds were one of the few units from the 60's, if not the only one, to make music which stood the test of time and "Freedom Rock." These albums seem a bit out of place among the newest indie/punk/avant sensation, or whatever reviews this is sandwiched between. It seems a bit odd until you recall that Bob Mould's old band covered "Eight Miles High." It seems a bit odd until you hear Roger McGuinn's gorgeously crystalline riffs which sound like light refracting through a slowly rotating prism as he carefully picks at each note. Then, hopefully, it won't seem odd at all.