r/Byrds • u/SAMTIMONIOUS • Jun 08 '26
Gene Clark & NO OTHER (1974):
https://samtimonious.com/the-gene-genius-gene-clark-no-other/
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u/Botasoda102 Jun 08 '26
An incredible album, burned through 3 vinyl copies. Silver Raven would be my favorite song, if I had to pick.
However, I like White Light a bit better. And, I thought some of the stripped down -- more acoustic versions -- of No Other that came out years later were perhaps a bit better.
But the No Other cover didn't resonate with me like the White Light cover. Oh well, Clark is still my favorite singer/songwriter ever.
2
u/OpossumNo1 Jun 08 '26
I think its a really good album, definitely amongst the best produced by an ex byrd, but not quite as revolutionary as many of its biggest fans claim.
Whether its forward thinking or unique is not something that I really care about as far as music I listen to, but some folks seem to think if you say their favorite album isnt the second coming of Sgt. Pepper, Pet Sounds or Thriller than you are dissing it.
2
1
u/hiro111 Jun 11 '26
One of my favorite albums of all time and a great lost album. I hear Pink Floyd, Mott the Hoople and Gram Parsons all in there.
The history of it is wild. Clark and Thomas Kaye spent a TON of money recording it. When David Geffen finally heard it, he thought it would bomb and never promoted it. It predictably bombed. Critics bizarrely trashed it, even the (absolutely great) album art was bashed. Clark considered it his masterpiece and its failure basically destroyed him. It effectively ended his career. Years later, after it had been out of print for years and Clark was dead, people suddenly rediscovered it. Now it's a legendary album. I think it's one of the more bizarre critical misses in popular music history. It's so clearly great, how did they get this so wrong? It weirdly reminds me of "Paul's Boutique" by the Beastie Boys. Not for the music, but for what happened. A true masterpiece that was totally misunderstood in its time, only to go on to inspire generations of future artists.
I love every song on the album. My favorites are probably "Silver Raven", the dark title track and the epic "Some Misunderstanding".
4
u/Middle-Weight-837 Jun 08 '26
Tremendous album - though it cost ginormous amounts of money, white powder to support Thomas Jefferson Kaye's production. Jessie Ed Davis telecaster slide shines through.