For everyone who's going to grab this new 4AD reissue of No Other because they are Byrds fans, or because they were searching for this near-mythical album that's only grown in statute these last few years, there will be loads more, like myself who came here because of the second This Mortal Coil album. And while Filigree and Shadow is overflowing with great tunes, both originals and covers, it's "Strength of Strings", a solo number from an ex-Byrd, that provided one of the real highlights of that release. The tune is one of many here on this 1974 album that solidified Gene Clark's legacy as a solo artist. And, with this massive reissue of No Other out now via 4AD, it's likely that Gene Clark's 1974 record will, like those of Chris Bell and Big Star, only grow in stature.
If some of No Other is fairly straightforward, like the country rock of "Life's Greatest Fool", it is the other songs here, like the epic gospel-funk of the title track, that still floor even a casual listener. This is unearthly stuff, and for all the pieces here that seem fairly conventional, there are odd frills and subtleties to this music that suggest Gene Clark was pushing desperately against the forces keeping him boxed in. The 1974 album's budget of $100,000 is legendary, yes, and one can hear here an artist nearly creating his own genre with that money. And while the This Mortal Coil version of "Strength of Strings" remains a ghostly call from the void, the original is not too far off that mark either. What's here is corrosive and lovely, the stuff of desperate dreams given life. And there's lots on this record that gives off a similar vibe.
And if parts of No Other contain an eerie grace, there are other portions here, like the elegiac "Some Misunderstanding", that see Gene Clark work hard to blend soul music with acid rock and other elements outside the kind of thing he normally served up with The Byrds. Still, for all the chances taken here, "Lady of the North" is absolutely gorgeous, the mini-freak-outs on guitar and violin the only indications that we are far removed from the territory the Byrds covered only a handful of years earlier. It is for these reasons and others that No Other is held in such high regard. The original album is haunting, in the manner of I Am The Cosmos, actually, and so the reverence for this record makes perfect sense, really.
This deluxe reissue of No Other from 4AD sees Sid Griffin (The Long Ryders) and producer John Wood offer up multiple mixes and alternate mixes of these familiar album cuts. And while some of this material is fairly successful (like a nice airy mix of the title cut, for instance), some of this doesn't necessarily improve upon the originals. Still, that's not a criticism because, frankly, for any fan of Gene Clark or The Long Ryders, it's a blast to hear what can be done over and over with "Life's Greatest Fool", a number which, in its "Version 1" on this set, is recast as a fairly rambling bit of business. Similarly, "Strength of Strings" is offered up in two additional mixes which let the song feel even more windswept and trippy than the original already felt. As a fan of The Long Ryders, hearing Sid Griffin offer up mixes of this stuff is its own reward because no matter the result, the tunes remain resilient ones.
No Other remains a classic record. With this new 4AD deluxe edition, it's likely to be less of a lost classic and more of an acknowledged one going forward. And that's great. It makes sense that Gene Clark would get this sort of attention. And No Other has never sounded better, whether in the remastered version of the original album, or the multiple new mixes offered up here. These songs are haunting, full of timeless and elemental power. And nearly every cut on No Ghost still seems like a masterpiece. Kudos to 4AD for not only bringing No Other back into print, but also for allowing the genius of Gene Clark to be re-discovered via such a spectacular set.
No Other by Gene Clark is out now via 4AD.
[Photo: John Dietrich, from the collection of Whin Oppice / 4AD]