Fifth Dimension
by The Byrds

From mdbaxter TOP 100 COMMENTER 12/04/2019 19:07 | #245365 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

The Byrds continue to push the frontier of popular music forward with this release; this time mostly into psychedelia. The guitars are great. They're clean when they need to be and chaotic when they can be. I really admire the risks taken on this record. This is one of the most commercially successful bands of the 60s making music that they want to make. "I See You" and "What's Happening?" are two of my favorites for their almost hallucinogenic qualities. "Hey Joe" is a great take on the classic, not the best but still good. There are some misses like "I Come and Stand at Every Door" or "2-4-2 Fox Trot" but they're still enjoyable for their ambition. (Edited)

From junodog4 TOP 100 COMMENTER 09/21/2014 19:24 | #122374 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

When bands change their sound, it's a gamble. Sometimes they ruin a good thing, sometimes they reinvigorate their music and reinvent themselves. The Byrds managed to change several times and still stay solid. This album is exhibit A. (Edited)

Ragarock. The Byrds invented new genres in rock. Coltrane inspired the guitarsolo on Eight miles high and it still sounds modern to me. 5D is another gem. (Edited)

The first Byrds album after the official departure of Gene Clark. Fifth dimension, sees the band moving away from their folk/rock roots towards something more interesting. The first two thirds of the LP is brilliant, with, 5D, I see you, and, whats happening?, all very good, although, Mr. Spaceman, is a throwaway country rock number. Eight miles high, is off course a classic, and along with, Mr. Tambourine man, the bands most important single. The album though, starts to run out of steam towards the end with an okay cover of, hey Joe, a pointless instrumental, captain soul, and closing track, 2-4-2 Fox trot. Fifth dimension, is a very good album but it certainly isn't in the same class as the other heavyweights of 1966 (revolver, pet sounds, and, blonde on blonde), but is still an exciting leap forward for the Byrds. (Edited)

From Boltzmann TOP 100 COMMENTER 07/21/2021 00:13 | #271784 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

Here they introduce a trippy style of guitar playing that basically involves never letting the tones ring out and accelerating and slowing down in a fractal-like manner that has grown on me the - what is it? - four times I've come around listening to it. With "Mr. Spaceman" they show they can still as easily bust out their jangly folk/garage rock tunes even without covering Bob. On the rest of the tracks they stay true to their garage rock roots no matter how spacey their guitar solos become, which prevents them from becoming obnoxious like Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart; all I'll say to those who didn't take previous remark well is: you can't change a genre if you've diverted so much from it that you aren't in the genre anymore. (Edited)