I haven't been familiar with Love's music for that long. I mean, I've been aware of the band for quite some time, but it took me ages to actually start listening to their music in any kind of systematic manner. One of the incentives for me to pick up their albums was the book 1001 Albums you must hear before you die. I was surprised that an album this good had not really reached my ears before. The album cover was very familiar, but these songs weren't usually included on any hippy-era compilations and thus I wasn't familiar with the songs. When I had listened trough the album once, I knew that it should have a status of a classic album. I bought the album on vinyl some time later here in London. The album was never a commercial success, but it has been later recognised as one of the best albums ever made.
Love's music is easily placed in the psychedelic movement of the late 60s. There are similarities to bands like Pink Floyd, The Moody Blues and Nick Drake. There was a kind of rivalry in the songwriting between two most well known band members, Arthur Lee and Bryan McLean. The album is much more psychedelic than their two predecessors, but commercially, the album was only successful in the UK. In the US, they were overshadowed by their label-buddies, The Doors. The music sounds quite old today and it's very easy to place it in the 60s, but nevertheless, I can see the amazing talent in songwriting and production even today.
The album begins with the song Alone Again Or, which is probably the only song from the album that I remember from before listening to the album deliberately. The song has quite big orchestration in places, reminding me of the band 5th Dimension. I like how many different parts there are to the song and the Spanish style trumpets are excellent. A House Is Not a Motel has a nice dark melody and the rolling drums give it a nice urgency. This song actually sounds a bit like The Doors. Andmoreagain is a typical hippy era folk song with mainly acoustic output and psychedelic melodies. The Daily Planet has a funky bass line and vocal harmonies that remind me of early Pink Floyd. Old Man sounds like many early-70s progressive rock folk ballads. The melody is very strange, yet beautiful. The Red Telephone could quite easily be one of Syd Barrett's songs for Pink Floyd. The mellotron sound is very similar also to the Dutch musician Jacco Gardner's albums almost five decades later. Maybe the People Would Be the Times or Between Clark and Hilldale has a rising intensity and the horn sections give it a nice character. I also really like the guitars in this one. Live and Let Live is a prime example of 60s baroque pop. The bouncing and kind of childlike melodies in the verse get a nice contrast from the darker chorus. The harpsichord sounds are excellent. The Good Humor Man He Sees Everything Like This has a proper progressive rock rhythm that keeps changing all the time. Bummer in the Summer is one of my favourite songs on the album. The vocals are quite clearly attempting to mimic Bob Dylan, but the song is something completely different. The album ends with You Set the Scene, which has some glorious acoustic picking and strange studio gimmicks.
I'm often in awe about just how much interesting and innovative music was released in the 60s. Within one decade, rock n' roll was transformed into thousands of different styles that paved the way for different pop music genres of the following decades. For pretty much any musical style, you can find the seeds in the 60s. Even if Forever Changes sounds a bit outdated today, I can see how it sounded completely modern and strange when it came out. If you, like me a few years ago, have never really given this album a listen, I really do recommend you do.
Listen to the album on Spotify.
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