Search - Byrds :: Byrds - Greatest Hits

Sound on SACD Version is Disappointing

Great Faulkner's Ghost | Washington, DC | 02/04/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"While I love the Byrds and every song on this Greatest Hits album, this review pertains only to the sound of the premium-priced SACD reissue of this album,. Something has gone terribly wrong with the remastering for the SACD version. The sound is brittle and hard and lacking in bass, and while the word is that the original masters in Colombia's vaults aren't in the greatest condition, that couldn't possibly explain it, because the sound quality is pretty terrific on Columbia's recent series of 20 bit remastered standard CD Columbia CDs, which presumably come from the same master tapes. I have not had a chance to compare this SACD version of "Greatest Hits" with the sound on the standard version, because this is not a hybrid SACD, which would contain the standard CD sound on a separate layer. So the bottom line is that if you are thinking of buying this to have SACD versions of these incredible songs, don't waste your money. Buy the remastered regular CDs."

Possibly the best American group of the early 60's

Michael Wheeler | Las Vegas, Nevada United States | 11/22/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"John Lennon called the Byds his favorite American group. In my opinion Lennon was right.

The Byrds had as much if not more influence on the music of the 60's than any band in history.

The Byrds covered Dylan as well as Pete Seeger.

Several songs to this day are classics such as Mr Tambourine Man and Turn, Turn, Turn among others.

Eight Miles High is another classic as well as Feel A Whole Lot Better and Mr Spaceman.

Roger Mc Guinn as well as David Crosby have left a mark on music that well never be forgotten.

This CD is a true classic. I would recommend it to anyone."

An interesting milestone. Not a true 'greatest hits'.

B. Marold | Bethlehem, PA United States | 03/22/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"'The Byrds Greatest Hits', originally released with this cover somewhere around 1968, before the Byrd's single most important album, 'Sweetheart of the Rodeo', always seemed to me to be 'Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits as done by the Byrds'. As such, the album is as much a testament to Dylan's importance as it is to the popularity of the Byrds. To make the picture even murkier, two of the original 11 cuts are classic traditional folksongs made popular originally by Pete Seeger.



In some ways, the Byrds are one of those groups which are more significant for the artists and groups they spawned than for their original work. David Crosby and Chris Hillman are probably much better known as parts of 'Crosby, Stills and Nash' and 'The Flying Burrito Brothers' respectively than they are as original members of the Byrds, which became primarily a vehicle for last surviving founding member, Roger McGuinn, who was responsible for the 12 string guitar, the most distinctively original aspect of their early work.



If you have no Byrds CD's, look for one of the other larger collections which cover their whole career and not just their most famous first four years."