Fifth Dimension

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Work

Fifth Dimension was released on 18 July 1966 as the Byrds' third album. In December 1965 the band recorded Eight Miles High and Why at RCA Studios, but Columbia refused to release them because they had not been recorded in its own studio. Both songs were re-recorded under producer Allen Stanton, who had succeeded Terry Melcher. Shortly afterwards chief songwriter Gene Clark left the group. As a result Jim McGuinn and David Crosby began to write more themselves.

Eight Miles High blends McGuinn's guitar playing, influenced by John Coltrane, with raga structures inspired by the Indian classical music of Ravi Shankar. The song was important for the transition from folk rock to psychedelia. The album has four covers and an instrumental piece and was called uneven, and it was the first without a song by Bob Dylan. Even so it was seen as their most experimental record up to that point, and critics regard it as influential for the emergence of psychedelic rock.

Listening

Track list

1. 15D (Fifth Dimension)2:33Apple Music ↗
2. 2Wild Mountain Thyme2:30Apple Music ↗
3. 3Mr. Spaceman2:10Apple Music ↗
4. 4I See You2:38Apple Music ↗
5. 5What's Happening?2:35Apple Music ↗
6. 6I Come and Stand At Every Door3:03Apple Music ↗
7. 7Eight Miles High3:35Apple Music ↗
8. 8Hey Joe (Where You Gonna Go)2:17Apple Music ↗
9. 9Captain Soul2:53Apple Music ↗
10. 10John Riley2:58Apple Music ↗
11. 112-4-2 Fox Trot (The Lear Jet Song)2:12Apple Music ↗
12. 12Why (Single Version) [Bonus Track]2:00Apple Music ↗
13. 13I Know My Rider (I Know You Rider) [Bonus Track]2:44Apple Music ↗
14. 14Psychodrama City (Bonus Track)3:23Apple Music ↗
15. 15Eight Miles High (Alternate RCA Version) [Bonus Track]3:19Apple Music ↗
16. 16Why (Alternate RCA Version) [Bonus Track]2:41Apple Music ↗
17. 17John Riley (Instrumental) [Bonus Track]16:54Apple Music ↗

30-second previews via Apple Music. Listen to the whole album on Apple Music ↗

See also

• The Byrds