New Page 1
Gene Clark’s 1974 masterpiece
gets the reappraisal it’s long overdue. On the eve of what would have been
American singer-songwriter and Byrds founding member Gene Clark’s 75th birthday
comes the reissue of one of his finest works, No Other. Released in 1974
on Asylum Records, a year after the Byrds short- lived reunion, Gene reached for
the stars with No Other; a psychedelic rock, folk, country and soul
record that famously cost a small fortune to make. Although received warmly by
critics, it flopped and was soon deleted, a failure Gene never came to terms
with. However, as The New York Times wrote around the record’s 40th anniversary
in 2014, “hindsight has burnished No Other, as it has redeemed other
albums that went on to be reconstructed as rock repertory, like Big Star’s
Third/Sister Lovers and Lou Reed’s Berlin,” with the album now being
increasingly recognized as one of the greatest of its time, if not all time. 45
years on and recently remastered at Abbey Road, 4AD are giving No Other
the reappraisal it deserves.