Name(s): The Notorious Byrd Brothers
Release Date: January 15, 1968 (estimated)

On The Notorious Byrd Brothers, The Byrds oversaturate their album with too much hippy-dippy, reverberating, psychedelic production and undermine the immediacy of their signature jangly pop rock. The hooks are obscured, and their pleasant vocal harmonies are melted into an indistinct, goopy sugar. It’s all too much. It’s a shame, because you can tell somewhere underneath the mix that their songwriting skills had yet to diminish. You can also observe the beginning of their interest in country music that would end up dominating their next album, Sweetheart of the Rodeo. As someone who hates the direction The Byrds took after this album, this is a doubly-disappointing last hurrah.