This is by far the Byrds' finest hour; an hour filled with tremendous creativity, burgeoning songwriting ability and, of course, legendary inter-band turmoil. When they enter Columbia's Hollywood studios in July of 1967 to record their first pass at CHANGE IS NOW, The Byrds were a quartet. When they finished ARTIFI- CIAL ENERGY in December, little more than four months later, The Byrds were down to a duo- McGUINN and HILLMAN. CROSBY had been fired in October; MICHAEL CLARKE left in November. An attempt at a reunion with GENE CLARK, who had left in Spring of 1966 prior to the first cut of NOTORIOUS, was a misfire. Falling apart as a rock band, they become an art project, a brilliant intrepid studio entity abbetted by a fine complement of hired hands & a sympathetic & imaginative young producer. This a record of great beauty & vis- ceral tension, a dynamic reflection not only of the technicolor social uproar that inspired much music, but also of the artistic ferment & personality crisis that ultimately blew The Byrds apart. A whole new line-up & sound was to follow with GRAM PARSONS as the front man & the release of SWEETHEART, as sound hinted at here.

RANDY CALIFORNIA CO-FOUNDER OF SPIRIT COULD'VE GONE ON TO PLAY WITH HENDRIX IN THE 60'S BUT UNFORTUNATELY HE WAS TOO YOUNG & COULDN'T GET HIS PARENTS PERMISSION. JIMI'S INFLUENCE VOCALLY & GUITAR SOLO WISE ARE CLEARLY APPARENT ON THIS 70'S SOLO BURNER FROM MR. CALIFORNIA! AWESOME

By now we'd imagine that most of you know that Nick Cave's teenage son died tragically in the summer of 2015. Cave & THE BAD SEEDS were about halfway through with this album when that occurred so the record is obviously engulfed by that tragedy. The songs are sparse & fractured & sound more like improvised sketches at times with poetic, almost spoken vocal performances. You probably won't be surprised to hear that album has a pretty dark vibe but many of the songs are truly beautiful & ultimately somewhat sad considering everything. Tragedy can sometimes breed creations of great beauty & that's certainly the case with "The Skeleton Tree." HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION POSSIBLE.

ORIGINAL 1971 PRESSING LATER REISSUED AS GYPSYS, TRAMPS & THIEVES