Search - Love :: Forever Changes

Great reissue, missing only one thing.

Kellryan | Portland, Oregon, USA | 05/06/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Brilliant reissue, even better than the 2001 reissue. This one adds the previously-unreleased "alternate mix" of the entire album, which is pretty excellent. Certain instruments stick out more in the mix; it's a bit rougher, more intimate -- definitely a worthwhile listen. The bonus tracks that weren't on the 2001 reissue are alright, not terribly necessary. The ONE THING that is missing from this reissue is the FULL LENGTH VERSION of "A House Is Not A Motel". There exists a version in which the Echols twin-guitar solo goes on a good 20 or 30 seconds longer than the original album version. However, this lack is a tiny shortcoming. The reissue as pressed is still a five star release."

The Best Album of the 60's

Selling 4 Kids | USA | 05/12/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It has been called quintessential, a masterpiece, the great lost gem. Never has an album so encapsuled the tumultuos times we are living than Love's Forever Changes. From the ultimate strums of Flamenco Guitar on Alone Again Or to Sitting on a hillside watching all the people die on The Red Telephone and to facing each day with a smile on You Set The Scene, the listener is hypnotically bombarded with the most fascinating lyrics that seem to forever change with each listen, amazing orchestration, and barrages of electric guitar that influenced oh so many from Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, The Move, and The Doors to The Ramones, Pink Floyd, Alice Cooper, Robyn Hitchcock, Television, Lenny Kravitz, and Urge Overkill. This album, this band, and Arthur Lee, its leader, deserves to be in the Rock Hall of Fame, and they will be when we stop teething.



Buy this version just to hear it in more ways. Let the re-issues of this classic keep coming and let it Forever Change our lives. Here is hoping for a successful release and an all-encompassing Arthur Lee and Love Box Set in the near future. So we can Keep the same old smile smiling."

Love - Forever Changes 2 cd box set review (Rhino Records)

Joseph Morris | Elmwood Park, NJ | 08/20/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"LoVE's Forever Changes 2cd reissue (1967 Elektra - on Rhino Records)



Absolutely essential



You got outtakes from the best album ever recorded and Wooly Bully, whats not to like?



Firstly the package: Its lovely. The Forever Changes album is in a nice little jcard box, clear, written on that that its the Collector's Edition



Now, Forever Changes was originally reissued by Rhino Records in 2001, so there is some overlap. (Curiously in the liner notes it says the mix of Wonder People (aka I Do Wonder) on the 2001 reissue is an alternate - it doesn't sound very different, to be honest, aside from some added backing vocals at the end..



But the 2cd reissue puts me in mind of the recent Monkees 2cd reissues (Monkees, More, Headquarters, Pisces Aquarius & Jones Ltd) - lovely packaging, excellent liner notes by Andrew Sandroval, beautiful pictures (some familiar from Bryans first solo on Sundazed, ifyoubelievein, incidentally)



Setting all objectivity aside, this is a set to cherish. I can't imagine anyone quibbling with the track selection. Ok, the Red Telephone sessions leading to an off the cuff version of Wooly Bully is a WTF?! moment, but its interesting to hear that Bryans fart broke up the Red Telephone sessions (it took 20 takes for them to eventually finish the song)



And to hear the guys goofing around shows they were still capable of having a good time



Forever Changes is sometimes overshadowed by the fact that this is the last album by the original group, and maybe Love should have disbanded after (which a quote from Arthur Lee in the liner notes admits



"In actuality I shouldn't have listened to people and carried on. Because I think Forever Changes is the best album so far. I have to agree with the people. People tell me, "You know what? I lived my whole life by the words you wrote in Forever Changes." (2003)



Of course by that point Arthur was touring with Baby Lemonade and doing the album in its entirety, with strings and brass, but its still a shame..



The liner notes are informative (read between the lines and theres one reason the group broke up: drugs. Arthur alludes to "personal habits" in a 1980 interview breaking up the group - heroine, actually..



And theres a picture of the session sheet which note that "Wooly Bully" was cut during the Red Telephone, which is kinda amazing considering what a powerful track this song is (the title alludes to the "hotline" the president has in the White House). And that Wooly Bully is pure throwaway. Its the one track on the 2cd set that will probably not be played too much even by the most desperate LoVE fan!



I particularly like the fact that in the liners, theres mention of the "I do wonder" track being cut in 1974 for an EP, which is how I know the track (I even prefer that version - it eventually surfaced on Arthur Lee's second solo album on Rhino Records from 1980 (called Arthur Lee). (Unfortunately the best songs on this second solo album of Arthurs are covers (Arthur doing "Mr Lee", Arthur cutting da capo's "7 and 7 Is" again, Arthur doing Jimmy Cliff's "Many Rivers To Cross" on piano). Perhaps best to give it a miss till after you collect the Elektra (Love, da capo, Forever Changes) MCA (Out There, False Start) & RSO (Reel to Real) LoVE records



The alternate mix of the album is interesting (The Red Telephone is a little longer, The Daily Planet seems to have an extra guitar in the mix - you know, the one that plays the main riff opening the song going from G to A)



I believe that You set the scene is the only repeat of the album in its alternate mix state that appeared on the 2001 version (with Arthur scat singing at the very fade of the piece - this was a vocal overdub that was left off - according to the liner notes when Arthur first heard it in prison in 2001 he did not even remember singing it and thought it was someone else! couldn't even make out the words!!)



All that aside, maybe this isn't for someone who hasn't lived/breathed the album.. I think its good that the only thing on the 1st disc is the album is the album proper.. Now, there is not a time I cannot remember not listening to this album. A lot. Hearing it in my teens was a revelation, even more than the Beatles.



I'm listening to the backing track for A House Is Not A Motel (apparently Echols lead guitar was an overdub as you don't hear it, but its terribly exciting regardless - when I first saw Love in the early 90s (in NYC at Tramps Cafe) it would usually end the show with the guitarist from Das Daman leaving the guitar against the amp for feedback, and the song went on for close to 10 minutes



Hearing an acoustic version of the song is tremendous - must get up to play it again - these are really strong songs. From what I recall reading of Bryans 40 page interview in Psychedelic Psounds (later reprinted in David Housden's The Castle publication) he and Arthur went over the album for a month before recording, playing it through on acoustic guitars.



I still prefer the electric version of the song as it appears on the album (on the alternate mix of the song on disc 2 theres a sudden ending)(I think this mix might've originally appeared on Love Masters on Elektra actually). Cos noone could play electric guitar like Johnny Echols (I hope he still records something with Baby Lemonade down the line, though of course LoVE is no more with the passing of Arthur Lee in 2006)



Back to the alternate mix of the album on disc 2 - a lot of the tracks are not too different. Might be a little jarring though - you actually get to hear the last chord of The Good Humor Man He Sees Everything Like This (on the album it skips, as you'll recall - it reminds me when I heard "Her Majesty" on the Beatles Something To Hide bootleg and you could hear the final chord ring out (on Abbey Road you never hear the note it just ends unexpectedly - its the last song on the album, mysteriously appearing 20 seconds after "The End" on Side 2!)



Also, on the alternate mix there are a lot of count ins.. Very eerie hearing a "One Two Three Four.." counting off The Red Telephone - a song that could be the oddest ever recorded. You hear Arthur clearly breaking up laughing during the coda - you can understand why they elected to leave it off! and snip off the ending guitar. Again, the album version gets the nod - but its interesting to see the original take, and why they decided to just have that wonderful fade driven by the drums after Arthurs singing "Alla Gods Children Gotta Have Their Freedom"!



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