Amazon:
One of rock's most overlooked masterpieces, this third album by the L.A. folk-rock outfit led by inscrutable singer-songwriter Arthur Lee sounds as fresh and innovative today as it did upon its original release in 1968. With David Angel's atmospheric string and horn arrangements giving the work a conceptual underpinning, Lee explores mainstream America's penchant for paranoia ("The Red Telephone") and violence ("A House Is Not a Motel") with songs that are as sonically subtle and lilting as they are lyrically blunt and harrowing. Add two gems by Love's secret weapon, second guitarist Bryan MacLean ("Alone Again Or" and "Old Man"), and you've got one of the truly perfect albums in rock history. Rhino's deluxe reissue serves up seven bonus tracks, including outtakes, alternates, and the "Your Mind and We Belong Together"/"Laughing Stock" single. --Billy Altman
I inadvertantly wrote a review for this deluxe re-issue under the banner of the original CD version, so this is my attempt to address the recently released, 7-bonus track edition of this stellar album. I can understand why people wouldn't know or care about Love, but then again they are probably the same people who think Britney Spears is an "artist". To the uninitiated, it helps to know that Love was Jim Morrison's favorite group; when "Forever Changes" was first issued in 1967, it was their third album for Elektra, who eventually signed The Doors and released that group's incredible debut the same year. If it weren't for Arthur Lee and Love: 1) Elektra would not have gotten into the rock game; 2) The Doors might not have gotten signed to Elektra (Arthur Lee saw the group play The Whisky a Go Go and referred them to Jac Holzman and Ahmet Ertugen); 3) Jimi Hendrix might not have been exposed to a recording studio until much later in life (Lee recorded Hendrix on a rare 45 in the early '60's, and later included sessions with Jimi on subsequent Love LPs); and my life would still be the same. The re-issue offers a little insight into this deliberately mysterious group by supplying fans with outtakes from the original line-up's last session ("You and I and Your Mind Belong Together"), a demo version of one of the tracks ("The Good Humor Man..." re-titled as "Hummingbirds"), alternate mixes of classic Love tracks ("You Set The Scene" and "Alone Again Or", which emphasizes Brian Maclean's vocals more prominently), and even a song deleted from the original album completely ("Wonder People"), as well as the B-side "Laughing Stock" which is from the same session as "You and I..." Needless to say, the album sounds great, despite the original multi-track tapes being MIA. Lee seems like a prophet when he rattles off lines like "The news of today will be the movies of tomorrow"... Too bad the band went through all the tragic cliches that accompany bands that come close to stardom: infighting, ego trips, money issues, refusals to tour, line-up adds and drops, and the obligatory drug abuse that grew to mythic proportions... Unlike any other album released in 1967, this one shows both sides of the coin that was the Summer Of Love: Hippie pride paired with nihilism, romance with despair, mind-expansion with paranoia. Arthur Lee was onto something, and until he is released from jail in 2005, we may never hear anything this well-written and executed from the man ever again. You can hear in this one album where artists as diverse as The Damned, UFO, The Smiths, Baby Lemonade, Neil Young, The Hooters, Echo & The Bunnymen, and even John Frusciante of the Chili Peppers copped some of their best ideas; you can also hear how well Love incorporated their own influences and peers into their songs: you hear Dylan, Neil Young (again), Brian Wilson, The Byrds, mariachi and flamenco music, Memphis Blues, folk, and acid rock peek up here and there, but the overall sound and texture is pure Love. Take a risk, all you adventurous pop music fans out there who are looking for interesting, elegant melodies to sing along to as you drive around L.A. or wherever it is you may live.
[Amazon user]
“...indescribably essential.”
- Dave Marsh
“...one of the most distinctive masterpieces in that era of masterpieces.”
- Rolling Stone
With Rhino's new 2-CD FOREVER CHANGES (COLLECTOR'S EDITION), Love's definitive 1967 masterpiece is expanded with over 77 minutes of bonus material, most of it previously unreleased. A groundbreaking orchestral mix of rock, folk and psychedelia that the New York Times has called, “a milestone of pop ambition,” the album is fueled by Love co-founder and legendary front man Arthur Lee's enigmatic lyrical poetry and haunting lead vocals. Inducted into the GRAMMY Hall of Fame in 2008, FOREVER CHANGES is #40 on Rolling Stone's list of the “500 Greatest Albums Of All Time,” where they evocatively liken its sound to “elegant armageddon.”
The third and final LP by the original Love line-up, FOREVER CHANGES was produced by Lee and longtime Doors producer/engineer Bruce Botnick (Lee championed The Doors and helped influence their signing to Elektra). Highlights include the Love classics “Alone Again Or,” “Andmoreagain,” “The Red Telephone” and “Live And Let Live.” The COLLECTOR'S EDITION's bonus material boasts a previously unissued alternate mix of the entire album plus ten bonus tracks, including previously unreleased outtakes of “Wonder People (Do I Wonder)” and “Wooly Bully,” a mono remix of “Alone Again Or,” tracking session highlights from “The Red Telephone,” the Jac Holzman-produced demo “Hummingbirds” and more.
Pioneering in more than their sound, Love was one of the first interracial bands in rock. In its 2006 obituary for Arthur Lee, who was born in Memphis but made his mark in Los Angeles, where he moved as a young boy, the New York Times wrote, “Mr. Lee called himself 'the first black hippie,' and his band pushed boundaries...Love took the Sunset Strip rock scene by storm in 1965 with catchy but shifty songs, as playful as they were dark. Even in their sweetest moments, disorientation and nightmarish paranoia were never far away.”