Owing to drug use and David Crosby’s overbearing egotism, the end of the band’s original iteration was nigh. As well as branching into country and western, their 1967 record The Notorious Byrd Brothers, saw the band use pioneering studio techniques such as phasing and flanging, which again, helped to mark them out as one of the era’s most important bands, even if many did not properly heed this at the time.Īs with any massive band, tension and acrimony soon arose. The track was a satirical and heavily sarcastic jibe at the manufactured nature of groups like The Monkees, marking The Byrds out to be so much more than the constant Bob Dylan cover band they are often regarded as.Įverpresent on the ’60s music scene, they became increasingly experimental as the decade wore on. In December 1966, they released their jazz-inspired fourth album, Younger Than Yesterday, which included the McGuinn and Hillman penned ‘So You Want to Be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star’. Told by McGuinn, “If you can’t fly, you can’t be a Byrd”, Clark would then embark on a celebrated solo career, but that is a story for a different day.Ĭertainly definable as a band of the ’60s, The Byrds would carry on their prolific run. Gene Clark departed the band citing a fear of flying, a deeply embedded fear he’d had since witnessing a fatal aeroplane crash as a child. Starting off as a folk-rock band, given the ascendancy of the counterculture and drugs such as LSD and marijuana, by 1965, only a year after forming, the band would become psychedelic heroes. This is the lineup that would send The Byrds to the superstardom they enjoyed back in the ’60s. Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby, Michael Clarke and Chris Hillman all took pioneering strides. At the time of the band’s formation in 1964, they were not plucked from surrounding successful bands, rather, it is a reflection of the huge figures of rock they would all become. The truth is, only retrospectively, can the band be hailed as a supergroup. These popular Byrds CDs have been voted on by music fans around the world, so the order isn't just one person's opinion.No discussion of the band would be complete without touching on the brilliance of their original lineup. Examples include Sweetheart of the Rodeo, Turn! Turn! Turn!, and The Notorious Byrd Brothers. If you want to know the best Byrds album of all time, this list featuring The Byrds discography will answer your question. Tambourine Man, contained several Bob Dylan songs, including their dreamy folk-pop cover of the title song. The L.A.-based psychedelic rock band was led by Roger McGuinn for its nearly 10-year - and highly influential - run. Make sure you don't just vote for critically acclaimed albums if you have a favorite Byrds album, then vote it up, even if it's not necessarily the most popular. If you think the greatest Byrds album isn't high enough on the list, then be sure to vote for it so it receives the credit it deserves. To make it easy for you, we haven't included The Byrds singles, EPs, or compilations, so everything you see here should only be studio albums. This Byrds discography is ranked from best to worst, so the top Byrds albums can be found at the top of the list. List of the best Byrds albums, including pictures of the album covers when available.
The Byrds are considered one of the best '60s rock bands.