brass, natural and supernatural voices, and the familiar thick texture of McGuinn's guitar playing". In a contemporary review published in Esquire, music critic Robert Christgau described The Notorious Byrd Brothers as "simply the best album the Byrds have ever recorded". Christgau grouped it with contemporary releases by Love (Forever Changes) and The Beach Boys (Wild Honey), remarking: "[i]t's hard to believe that so much good can come out of one place [i.e. Los Angeles]." In the UK, Record Mirror gave the album a rare five-star rating, commenting "Hard though it was for the Byrds to follow up their near-perfect Younger Than Yesterday album, they've done it with this fantastic disc." Melody Maker was also complimentary about the album, describing it as "A beautiful selection, representing US pop at its finest." Beat Instrumental concluded their review by stating "It's true to say that the Byrds are one of the two best groups in the world. Nobody can say any different with the proof of this album." In 1997, Rolling Stone senior editor David Fricke described the album as the Byrds' "finest hour" and "the work of a great rock & roll band, in every special sense of the word". On his official website, Robert Christgau again commented on the album, declaring that The Notorious Byrd Brothers (along with its follow-up, Sweetheart of the Rodeo) is "[one] of the most convincing arguments for artistic freedom ever to come out of American rock". Parke Puterbaugh, writing for the Rolling Stone website in 1999, remarked on the presence of "burbling Moog synthesizers and purring steel guitars" on the album, which he ultimately described as "a brilliant window onto an unforgettable place and time". Legacy Over the years, The Notorious Byrd Brothers has gained in reputation and is often considered the group's best work, while the contentious incidents surrounding its making have been largely forgotten. The album managed to capture the band at the height of their creative powers, as they pushed ahead lyrically, musically and technically into new sonic territory. Band biographer Johnny Rogan has written that the Byrds' greatest accomplishment on the album was in creating a seamless mood piece from a variety of different sources, bound together by innovative studio experimentation. Although the album is widely regarded as the band's most experimental, its running time of a little under 29 minutes also makes it their briefest. The album was voted the fourth-best