Day 16: Love – Forever Changes

Album cover courtesy of Elektra Records

I listened to tons of ‘60s rock when I was a teenager, but somehow I had missed Love. I had heard “Always See Your Face” and listened to it from time to time, but never sat down to hear a full album. Today, I decided to go for Forever Changes by Love.

Love was one of those genre-defining 60s rock bands that count The Rolling Stones and Robert Plant as fans, and yet they never became as well-known as the big boys of ‘60s rock. Partly, that seems to be credited to bandleader Arthur Lee’s aversity to touring. They became a bit of a local band in Los Angeles, becoming a mainstay at Whisky a Go Go. Forever Changes is regarded as their magnum opus and is often listed as one of the top rock albums of the era, and yet they do seem to fly a bit under the radar, even for me.

The album is called Forever Changes because Lee was breaking up with his girlfriend, who asked about him saying he’ll love her forever, to which he responded "Yeah well, you know, forever changes." That makes the record sound way douchier than it is. It’s good. I thought it would be more psychedelic than it is, as it also veers quite heavily into folk rock. In the beginning, it’s also a bit more downtempo than I expected, but it picks up during the guitar solo of “A House Is Not A Motel”. It very frequently sounds a bit like The Byrds, which is never a bad thing.

“Maybe The People Would Be The Times Or Between Clark And Hilldale” is probably my favourite song off the album, but I don’t like it as much as I like the first song I’d heard from Love. It’s a good album, but it’s not lifechanging for me. It’s a strong 7/10. It might not go into heavy rotation, but I’ll probably listen to Love from time to time.