The Yardbirds are a phenomenally underrated Rock group in retrospect. Having their roots in Rhythm and Blues, they branched out stylistically over time and expanded their musical palette, much like many of their successful contemporaries, especially other British groups such as The Rolling Stones. The difference with The Yardbirds is that they featured three brilliant guitarists in their lineup over time: Eric Clapton; Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. By the recording of this album, Eric Clapton was gone for the most part from the group and he had recommended Jeff Beck to replace him. This is one of the better received and more notable releases from The Yardbirds in their several years of existence, and should be an interesting listen. Let’s hear it.

I’m a Man begins with pounding drums and harmonica. Some singing emerges, and this is an instant 1960s retro classic for people to hear and enjoy. Sure, it is merely a Rhythm and Blues staple, but it does sound really good. A wonderful, joyful and straightforward piece of music, the guitar playing present is really fantastic. Jeff Beck is great here as their guitarist (at least at this point in time he was in The Yardbirds). A brilliant and thrilling guitar solo is present in this song, and the drums build up to a wonderful climax and frenzy of sound. No doubt that The Yardbirds were better than many people gave them credit for being so. It ends after over two and a half minutes, great effort.

You’re a Better Man Than I begins with some nice Fender Esquire/Telecaster based sounds, drum rolls and a great sense of melody here. Smooth, soulful singing enters and is a sort of “don’t judge a book by its cover” sort of tune. A decent tune that is a great representation of what The Yardbirds is here, and the music is fantastic. A catchy, simple and retro tune that still sounds simple and amazing to this day. There is a fantastic guitar solo present in this song, which is really cool. It proves that even Fender Telecaster based guitars soloing in a Rock context can sound great. Jeff Beck plays wonderful lead guitar here, and this tune is top-notch and superb. A really great and top tune to listen to, it has lyrics that are self-pitying and demonising oneself for being so judgemental. Nonetheless, the music here is very excellent. Worth your ears, even for a lesser track on this album.

Evil Hearted You begins with some intricate drum rolls, and awful sounding chords and launches into an okay-ish Pop/Rock tune that sounds like the inspiration for some of The Who’s stuff on their Tommy album. Some educated sounding lyrics are present, but all the same, this is a very ordinary song, saved by Jeff Beck’s guitar work. Jeff Beck reveals himself to be a great guitarist on this song, playing a slide guitar solo on the Fender Esquire here. This is proof that an ordinary song is saved by some great guitar work. Otherwise, this is fairly naff on its own.

Still I’m Sad begins with some strummed acoustic guitar, and triangle sounds and launches into some deep chanting. This is really excellent, and although it is unconventional sounding, it is really good to hear. Some 1960s clanging guitars are present, and some interesting lyrics accompany this song. This is good, but not great music. Still, one can hear some seeds of the future musically in this song. No doubt Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd was inspired to use a Fender Esquire guitar from some of these sorts of songs. Still, this is quite medieval sounding musically, which is weird. A good listen from the 1960s, although not exactly the greatest song on this album. Good, but not sensational. Pretty weird, all right.

Heart Full of Soul is the biggest hit from this album. It begins with some guitar playing and licks, which honestly don’t sound terrific, and launches into a deep and introspective song. Sadly, this music has not aged very well and although it is good, it is not worth repeat listens. Still, one cannot blame The Yardbirds for trying here. Perhaps Eric Clapton was right to leave the group when he did. Jeff Beck plays a good and twangy guitar solo here before the song resumes nicely. It seems that Jeff Beck is the standout member of the group at this point, and he makes these poor songs average. Both The Yardbirds and Jeff Beck have done better elsewhere. The outro of this song is interesting, with the recurring guitar licks and some slight bongo beats. Fairly naff.

The Train Kept A-Rollin’ begins with some interesting distorted guitar licks, launching into a more memorable song. Again, Jeff Beck on guitar makes this come alive. Some yelped vocals are present here, and this is a cool Rhythm and Blues number to enjoy. Simple, driven and melodic, this is good but rather bland music to listen to. Jeff Beck plays very nicely here, and the song is otherwise garbage without his presence. Some rolling drum solos are here, before this launches into a good guitar solo. This lacks magic though, and is not a good alternative to The Beatles or The Rolling Stones. It just sounds plain. Anyway, you don’t need to hear this. It’s okay, but not fantastic. Hit the snooze button at the end here, this is the end of side one.

Smokestack Lightning – Live at the Marquee Club, 1964 begins side two with a few live cuts when Eric Clapton was on guitar. It is a live cut from the Five Live Yardbirds album and is really filler here. It’s just not good enough that The Yardbirds lacked musicality and imagination on these songs and chucked a few live cuts on the album to make up for that fact. In any case, Eric Clapton’s Fender Telecaster styled leads here are fantastic, and this is Rhythm and Blues territory incorporated. This is the sort of thing you should play on a long road trip through rural USA in your pickup truck, chain smoking cigarettes to with your Uncle. The music here is quite energetic, interesting and sensational sounding. The harmonica solo present is really neat sounding, and the music is driven enough to maintain one’s interest. The climaxes within this song are really cool and fantastic, and this is a good starting point for any Fender Telecaster player to get into. A euphoric, pleasant and driven piece of music, this sounds super cool. Given this is a live Rhythm and Blues number, this does sound great in that respect. The harmonica solo is fantastic in this song, and this is really great. Something to get your blood rushing, this is a great live staple from the Five Live Yardbirds album. Good to hear, although this is proof that the album itself is a half-baked affair. It ends with musical chaos.

Respectable – Live at the Marquee Club, 1964 is another cut from the earlier live album, and is one of the better songs here as well. Sadly, this album does have its moments but is a terrible idea for a marketed product. It is obvious that The Yardbirds were being strangled musically by poor band management. In any case, this is good to hear, although this live tune really shouldn’t be here. A fun listen anyway from the Five Live Yardbirds album, Eric Clapton’s guitar work is sensationally excellent here. A great song on its own regardless, this is classic 1960s music that is fun and driven. It gets louder around the middle, with crashing drums providing a great musical backdrop. Sadly, these cuts are the longest ones from the Five Live Yardbirds album, which only adds to the realisation that this is a half-baked idea for an album in general. Still, good to hear Eric Clapton’s energetic and precise guitar work. It gets chaotic towards the end, and very noisy as well. By this point, you should dig out the aforementioned live album and play that instead. It ends nicely, however.

I’m A Man – Live at the Marquee Club, 1964 is another lengthy cut from the Five Live Yardbirds album. Again, this is good but much more enjoyable on its original album. This is not the best album ever with its only somewhat caring nature of the songs and flow on it. The mix here sounds rather poor as well, given the quality of these live songs. It is so disappointing to hear that The Yardbirds haven’t made a great album here, and instead rely on a half-worked on effort aimed to squeeze some cash out of listeners. This is a good live tune though, and although Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck were very different guitarists, Clapton’s performance on these live cuts are really great. The vocal harmonies are fantastic in the second half here, and the Fender Telecaster playing by Eric Clapton is top-notch. Five Live Yardbirds was better than this, however, where all these live cuts originated from. Good to hear again, however.

Here ‘Tis – Live at the Marquee Club, 1964 is the last song on this album, again nabbed from Five Live Yardbirds. It has some excellent rhythmic and powerful guitar playing by Eric Clapton and just sounds energetic and powerful. If you really want to hear a good album by The Yardbirds, Five Live Yardbirds should be a better bet for you. Still, this cut is excellent to hear again. Very excellent, this is a gorgeous and uplifting tune with some great Fender Telecaster leads from Eric Clapton that does sound really quick and interesting. Fine and fantastic as a song alone, even on this butchered album, this is a great piece of music. Blisteringly fast and with some crazy guitar leads, this is enjoyable to the nth degree. Powerful listening for those who enjoy this sort of Rhythm and Blues with a Fender Telecaster, the last section of this song is amazing and unique musically. Good to hear, even though this live piece is an excuse to deliver a rather pathetic first album half to an indifferent public. It ends with loads of crowd screaming and cheering.

As mentioned, this is not a fluid sounding album due to the fact it is butchered. Therefore, this is not really worth your time, unless you really love Fender Esquire/Telecaster leads on rather average songs. Should you still listen to this album, despite that? Only if you dig some historical Rhythm and Blues music. Otherwise, there are better albums out there from the 1960s to explore.

Deeply disappointing.

5/10