The Byrds ( B40 )

The reunion album, titled simply Byrds, was released on March 7, 1973 to mixed reviews. As a result, a planned tour in support of the album failed to materialize. Among the album's shortcomings, critics made note of a lack of sonic unity and the absence of the Byrds' signature jangly guitar sound. Nonetheless, the album managed to climb to number 20 on the Billboard Top LPs & Tapes chart and number 31 in the UK. In the United States, the album became the band's highest charting LP of new material since 1965's Turn! Turn! Turn!, which had also been the last Byrds' album to feature Gene Clark as a full member. Among the tracks included on the album were McGuinn's folk-flavored "Sweet Mary", the Joni Mitchell cover "For Free", a re-recording of Crosby's song "Laughing" (which had originally appeared on his 1971 solo album, If I Could Only Remember My Name), and a pair of Neil Young songs. The album also featured the Gene Clark compositions "Changing Heart" and "Full Circle", the latter of which had provided the reunion album with its working title and was subsequently released as a single, although it failed to chart.

The negative critical reception that Byrds received in the music press resulted in the band losing faith in the idea of an ongoing series of reunions. In the years following its release, all five band members were openly critical of the album, with the general consensus being that the material included on it was weak and that the recording sessions had been rushed and ill-thought out. In addition, McGuinn and Hillman have both suggested that with the exception of Gene Clark, the songwriting members of the band were reluctant to bring their strongest compositions to the recording sessions, preferring instead to hold those songs back for their own solo projects. In the wake of the reunion, the five original Byrds quietly returned to their own careers, with the June 1973 release of McGuinn's eponymously titled solo album serving to effectively mark the end of the Byrds.

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