Forever Changes

by

Love

Edit

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.

Those pop culture curators and preservationists over at Rhino usually do a fantastic job of remastering and repackaging old classics for the new century (see, for example, the excellent reissues of The Stooges, Gram Parsons, The Cure, etc.). Unfortunately, they completely and totally butchered the sound on this otherwise fantastic folk-psychedelic gem.

I am not an audiophile so forgive my non-technical description but basically they cranked up the bass which muddies and overwhelms the vocals, guitars, horns, and strings--essentially all other sounds. Further diminishing the sound is their unnecessary separation of said instuments: you have the acoustic guitars isolated to, and hence, coming out of only the left speaker, the horns coming out the right one, etc. This has the effect of providing neither good mono nor good stereo but some sort of crappy offspring of both.

Given the fact that the bonus tracks are ho-hum at best, you'd do best to seek out the now out-of-print original issue. It's cheaper and the sound quality is better by some distance. (I'll give the Rhino folks one mulligan or two, but please don't ever ruin one of my favorite albums like this again!)