''Birdland'' is a studio album by the reconstituted English rock group

the Yardbirds The Yardbirds are an English rock band, formed in London in 1963. The band's core lineup featured vocalist and harmonica player Keith Relf, drummer Jim McCarty, rhythm guitarist and later bassist Chris Dreja and bassist/producer Paul Samwe ...

, which was released in 2003, and the band's fifth studio album overall. Original drummer

Jim McCarty James Stanley McCarty (born 25 July 1943) is an English musician, best known as the drummer for the Yardbirds and Renaissance. Following Chris Dreja's departure from the Yardbirds in 2013, McCarty became the only member of the band to featu ...

and rhythm guitarist Chris Dreja reformed the group in 1994 and for the album, the Yardbirds lineup included lead singer and bassist

John Idan John Idan is an American guitarist and vocalist from Detroit, best known for his work with the Yardbirds, the McCarty Band, and his own bands, the John Idan Group and the Top Topham – John Idan Band. Career John Idan, who is originally fr ...

, lead guitarist Gypie Mayo, and harmonica player

Alan Glen Alan Glen (born 21 December 1951) is a British blues harmonica player, best known for his work with The Yardbirds, Nine Below Zero, Little Axe, and his own bands, The Barcodes and The Incredible Blues Puppies. Career Glen started playing ha ...

. The album features contributions by several guests, including

Joe Satriani Joseph Satriani (born July 15, 1956)Prato, Greg"Joe Satriani – Music Biography, Credits and Discography". '' AllMusic''. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved May 28, 2014. is an American guitarist, composer, songwriter, and guitar teacher. Early in his ...

Steve Vai Steven Siro Vai (; born June 6, 1960) is an American guitarist, composer, songwriter, and producer. A three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee, Vai started his music career in 1978 at the age of eighteen as a transcriptionist f ...

Slash Slash may refer to: * Slash (punctuation), the "/" character Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Slash (Marvel Comics) * Slash (''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'') Music * Harry Slash & The Slashtones, an American rock band * Nash ...

Brian May Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and astrophysicist, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead guitarist of the rock band Queen. May was a co-founder of Queen with lead singer Freddie Mercury and ...

, and original group guitarist

Jeff Beck Geoffrey Arnold Beck (born 24 June 1944) is an English rock guitarist. He rose to prominence with the Yardbirds and after fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, he switched to a mainly instrumental style, with a fo ...

. The album contains seven new originals, composed mainly by McCarty or Dreja, and eight remakes of classic Yardbirds songs from the 1960s. The song "An Original Man (A Song for Keith)" was dedicated to

Keith Relf William Keith Relf (22 March 194312 May 1976) was an English musician, best known as the lead vocalist and harmonica player for rock band the Yardbirds. He then formed the band Renaissance with his sister Jane Relf, The Yardbirds ex-drummer Ji ...

, original Yardbirds singer who died in 1976. ''Birdland'' reached number 25 on ''Billboard's''

Independent Albums The Independent Albums chart (previously titled Top Independent Albums) ranks the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays (EPs) in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by '' Billboard'' maga ...

chart in the US and number 67 in Germany.

Critical reception

In a review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

, critic

Richie Unterberger Richie Unterberger (born January 19, 1962) is an American author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing. Life and writing Unterberger attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he wrote for the university newspaper '' ...

gave the album two out of five stars. He noted that while the new lineup cannot be compared to the original, it "is a lot better than you'd expect, and certainly far more respectable than most reunion/comeback efforts by decimated lineups of classic outfits". He added that the remakes of some of the classic Yardbirds songs are "not done badly, though you feel as though you're listening to a really good Yardbirds tribute band rather than the real deal". Jason McNeil, in a review for ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television ...

'', wrote: "Perhaps the greatest thing the group has going for it is sounding contemporary without sounding like your run-of-the-mill roadhouse covers band". In going through the album's songs, he praises the remakes of "I'm Not Talking" and "The Nazz Are Blue", but faults those of " Train Kept a Rollin'" and " Over Under Sideways Down". Dan Forte, writing for ''

Vintage Guitar A vintage guitar is an older guitar usually sought after and maintained by avid collectors or musicians. The term may indicate either that an instrument is merely old, or that is sought after for its tonal quality, cosmetic appearance, or histo ...

'' magazine, believed that McCarty and Dreja were still very strong performers and that new member Gypie Mayo's (formerly guitarist with Dr. Feelgood) "blues roots and over-the-top daring are the perfect combination". He also identified the remakes of "

Mister, You're a Better Man Than I "You're a Better Man Than I", alternately listed as "Mr. You're a Better Man Than I" or "Better Man Than I", is a song first recorded by the English rock band the Yardbirds. It was written by brothers Mike and Brian Hugg, and became the opening tr ...

" with

on guitar and "

Happenings Ten Years Time Ago "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago" is a song by the English group the Yardbirds. Written and recorded in 1966, it is considered one of their most progressive works. The song was the group's first to feature the dual-lead guitar line-up of Jeff Bec ...

" with

Steve Lukather Steven Lee Lukather (born October 21, 1957) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer, best known as the sole continuous founding member of the rock band Toto. His reputation as a skilled guitarist led to a stea ...

as "the best cameos".

Track listing

Personnel

The Yardbirds * Chris Dreja – rhythm guitar *

– harmonica, percussion *

– bass guitar, lead vocals * Gypie Mayo – lead guitar *

– drums, percussion, vocals Additional musicians * Jeff "Skunk" Baxter – guitar *

– guitar *

Johnny Rzeznik John Joseph Theodore Rzeznik (; born December 5, 1965) is an American singer-songwriter, best known as the founder, guitarist and frontman of the American rock band Goo Goo Dolls, with whom he has recorded 14 studio albums. Early life Rzeznik w ...

guitar and backing vocal * Martin Ditchamadditional percussion

References

{{Authority control 2003 albums Favored Nations albums The Yardbirds albums