The Notorious Byrd Brothers - Release and Reception

Release and Reception

The Notorious Byrd Brothers was released on January 15, 1968 in the United States (catalogue item CL 2775 in mono, CS 9575 in stereo) and on April 12, 1968 in the UK (catalogue item 63169 in mono, S 63169 in stereo). However, there is some evidence to suggest that the U.S. release date may have been brought forward to January 3, 1968. Regardless, the album's appearance during the first month of 1968 surprised many fans of the band, who had been led to believe by contemporary press reports that the album was still in the planning stages. It peaked at #47 on the Billboard Top LPs chart, during a chart stay of 19 weeks, but fared better in the United Kingdom where it reached #12, spending a total of 11 weeks on the UK chart. The album's front cover photograph was taken by Guy Webster, who had also been responsible for the cover of The Byrds' Turn! Turn! Turn! album. The "Goin' Back" single was released ahead of the album on October 20, 1967 and reached #89 on the Billboard Hot 100 but failed to chart in the UK. The album is notable for being the last Byrds LP to be commercially issued in mono in the United States, although subsequent albums continued to be released in both mono and stereo variations overseas.

The album was almost universally well received by the music press upon release, with Jon Landau in the newly launched Rolling Stone magazine noting that "When The Byrds get it together on record they are consistently brilliant." Landau went on to praise The Byrds' musical eclecticism, before stating "Their music is possessed by a never-ending circularity and a rich, child-like quality. It has a timelessness to it, not in the sense that you think their music will always be valid, but in the sense that it is capable of forcing you to suspend consciousness of time altogether." Crawdaddy! magazine was also enthusiastic in its praise of the album, with Sandy Pearlman describing it as "enchantingly beautiful". Pete Johnson, in his review for the Los Angeles Times, summed up the album as "11 good songs spiked with electronic music, strings, brass, natural and supernatural voices, and the familiar thick texture of McGuinn's guitar playing."

In a contemporary review published in Esquire magazine, music critic Robert Christgau described The Notorious Byrd Brothers as "simply the best album the Byrds have ever recorded." Christgau went on to rank it with other releases of the era by Love (Forever Changes) and The Beach Boys (Wild Honey), remarking "t's hard to believe that so much good can come out of one place ." In the UK, Record Mirror gave the album a rare five-star rating, commenting "Hard though it was for The Byrds to follow-up their near-perfect Younger Than Yesterday album, they've done it with this fantastic disc." The Melody Maker newspaper was also complimentary about the album, describing it as "A beautiful selection, representing US pop at its finest." Beat Instrumental concluded their review by stating "It's true to say that The Byrds are one of the two best groups in the world. Nobody can say any different with the proof of this album."

In 1997, Rolling Stone senior editor David Fricke described the album as The Byrds' "finest hour" and "the work of a great rock & roll band, in every special sense of the word". On his official website, Robert Christgau again commented on the album, declaring that The Notorious Byrd Brothers (along with its follow-up, Sweetheart of the Rodeo) is " of the most convincing arguments for artistic freedom ever to come out of American rock". Parke Puterbaugh, writing for the Rolling Stone website in 1999, noted the presence of "burbling Moog synthesizers and purring steel guitars" on the album, which he ultimately described as "a brilliant window onto an unforgettable place and time".