Forever Changes

I wanted to write this review for Amazon UK because while this album was slow to take off in the US , the Brits seemed to embrace it much more easily and it is no coincidence that Arthur Lee and Love devoted a lot of tours throughout Britain to perform this album. Whether this album is one of the greatest of all time or not, or sold poorly in the beginning , or ranks with the Beatles best or the Beach Boys or whoever, is of little importance. I believe it is a rock master work and add my opinion with the rest of the enthusiastic reviewers on this site only in hope of encouraging others to listen. It's reputation is enough to make many curious to give it a try. The album is largely acoustic as was much of Love's early recordings , and while Love's lead guitarist John Echols does let loose here and there don't expect anything like what the Jimi Hendrix Experience or Cream were serving up at the time. I believe the albums strength is in the lyrics of Lee and Maclean and the unique way they are delivered. The approach is not verse chorus verse. There is a lot being said on these songs as befits performers who have something to say and want to say it in the normally constrictive confines of a rock and roll album. It doesn't matter if every line is not the most profound statement. Lee was writing about what he knew (alienation ) or what others related to him ( soldiers home from Vietnam telling him blood mixed with mud turns grey in color ). As has been mentioned here, Lee has said he believed this album was " his last words to the planet ". It is a psychedelic album in a sense but that label alone is too limiting. Roger Waters used to get annoyed when Pink Floyd's music was described as being about "outer space"- it was all about "inner space", he said . In the end the best recommendation you can give a recording is the staying power it has. I've listened to this album far too many times to accurately know and I never get tired of it, I'm quite sure I never will.

This one has been on my desert island list since 1967. It is an acoustic/ electric/ mariachi/ flamenco/ psychedelic classic of the highest order. Every moment is glorious and no drugs needed.
A couple of months after my wife died in 2002, Arthur Lee came to Newcastle with the final incarnation of Love - just when I needed him most. I saw the 'Forever Changes' gig in 2003 and in 2004 I took my new (and continuing) love to see Love at Newcastle University. The place was packed with undergraduates and 50-somethings. The kids new all the words!
In his final years Arthur Lee and Love performed brilliantly and he was a contender for the title of 'Coolest Man on the Planet'. Buy both the studio and the live version of this album.
Thank you Arthur Lee wherever you are now.

That rare breed. An album which actually lives up to and, almost certainly, exceeds the hype that surrounds it. There is so much going on in the record, so many surprises and exciting turns that it's difficult to know where to start. The instrumentation is superb. Not only the way they are played but the choice of instrument. There are some great melodies and wonderfully atmospheric chord sequences. My favourite track is the impossible-to-remember-it's name "Maybe The People Would Be The Times Or Between Clark and Hilldale," though "Alone Again Or" "Old Man" and "You Set The Scene" are not far behind. I love the guitar playing throughout but Ken Forssi's bass and Michael Stuart's percussion contribute massively also. Then there's the use of brass, which completes the wonderful musical fabric. Whenever I've played this album to people, they ask what it is and are invariably instant converts. Just excellent!!