Forever Changes

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Forever Changes
Studio album by Love

Publication
(s)

November 1, 1967

admission

June 9, 1967 - September 25, 1967

Label (s) Elektra Records

Format (s)

LP , CD , MC , SACD

Genre (s)

Folk rock , psychedelic rock , baroque pop , psychedelic folk

Title (number)

11

running time

42:05

occupation

production

Bruce Botnick, Arthur Lee

Studio (s)

chronology
Da Capo
(1966) 		Forever Changes Four Sail
(1969)
Love in 1967

Forever Changes is the third studio album by the American rock band Love . It was released in November 1967 on the Elektra Records label. Forever Changes , which had no commercial success when it was released, is now considered by music critics to be one of the best albums of all time.

background

The Los Angeles- based group Love was one of the first bands with mixed skin colors. It was led by the Afro-American singer, songwriter and guitarist Arthur Lee , who was a close friend of Jimi Hendrix . Love emerged from Lee's previous folk band The Grass Roots in 1965 . In their hometown, Love was a sought-after concert band, but outside of Los Angeles they were barely noticed. Her first two albums Love (1965) and Da Capo (1966) were not very successful commercially. To work on Forever Changes , Lee and the band retired to a remote mansion in the city's mountains. The two songwriters Lee and Bryan MacLean and other members were also heavily addicted to heroin. Arthur Lee planned the instrumentation of the album almost exclusively acoustically, which gives Forever Changes a strong orchestral sound. In addition to the usual rock instruments such as guitar and drums, string and wind instruments are also used on the elaborately arranged album . David Hutcheon described the music as " acid rock on acoustic guitars with orchestral accompaniment". The recordings for the album took four months and took place mainly in the Sunset Sound Recorders studio in Hollywood . In terms of content, the record is a "thematic conglomerate of death wishes, sexual conflicts, fear of addiction and enthusiastic self-reflection". The creative process was influenced, among other things, by the police violence against hippies in Los Angeles, which was reflected in the dark lyrics of Arthur Lee.

The psychedelic illustration on the album cover , which shows the band members in the shape of a human heart , was created by the graphic designer Bob Pepper.

Track list

Except for Alone Again Or and Old Man , all of the songs were written by Arthur Lee .

page 1
1. Alone Again Or (Bryan MacLean) - 3:15
2. A House Is Not a Motel - 3:25
3. Andmoreagain - 3:15
4. The Daily Planet - 3:25
5. Old Man (MacLean) - 2:57
6. The Red Telephone - 4:45
Page 2
7. Maybe the People Would Be the Times or Between Clark and Hilldale - 3:30
8. Live and Let Live - 5:24 am
9. The Good Humor Man He Sees Everything Like This - 3:00
10. Bummer in the Summer - 2:20
11. You Set the Scene - 6:49
Bonus Tracks (2001)
1. Hummingbirds (instrumental, demo) - 2:43
2. Wonder People (I Do Wonder) (outtake) - 3:22
3. Alone Again Or (Alternate Mix) - 2:55
4. You Set the Scene (Alternate Mix) - 7:01 am
5. Your Mind and We Belong Together (Tracking Session Highlights) - 8:16 am
6. Your Mind and We Belong Together (Single A-Side, June 1968) - 4:26
7. Laughing Stock (Single B-Side, June 1968) - 2:31

publication

The album was released on LP in November 1967 . It was first released on CD in 1987 by Elektra Records. A rerelease from 2001 contained previously unreleased tracks. In 2008 a Collector's Edition was released, which, in addition to the bonus tracks, also includes an alternate mix of the studio album. A 45th Anniversary Edition followed in 2012. The Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab released Forever Changes in 2014 as an "Original Master Recording" on SACD . In 2015 a new remaster was released as download ( High Resolution Audio ). On the occasion of the 50th anniversary, a 50th Anniversary Edition was released by Rhino Records in 2018 .

Lack of success

Forever Changes was a financial failure in the US and only reached number 154 on the Billboard album chart. In the UK, it was ranked 24th. Bad sales split the band and Arthur Lee sank deeper into drug addiction. Members John Echols and Ken Forssi have been sentenced to prison terms for criminal offenses.

reception

source rating
Allmusic
Laut.de
Music Express

Forever Changes is now considered a masterpiece and appears in various leaderboards. The album ranked No. 40 in the list of 500 best albums of all time the music magazine Rolling Stone . The New Musical Express voted it 36th of the 500 best albums. The magazine Mojo leads Forever Changes in 11th place of the 100 best albums. It ranks 51st in the selection of the 100 best albums by Q. Uncut magazine chose it as number 6 of the 200 best albums. Pitchfork Media placed Forever Changes at number 33 of the 200 best albums of the 1960s. The German magazine Musikexpress put it in third place of the 30 best psychedelic albums. The British daily The Telegraph took Forever Changes in the composition of the "50 essential albums you've probably never heard" and described it as "probably the largest cult album of all time". The Californian band's Magnum Opus is one of the 1001 albums You Must Hear Before You Die .

“Through her wild concerts in the clubs of the Sunset Strip, Love had quickly blossomed into one of the most sought-after acts in Los Angeles. Forever Changes , their third album, exceeded all expectations in its brilliance. It conveys a concise portrait of the flower power metropolis at the time of its countercultural heyday, without sounding stale to this day. On the contrary: Forever Changes belongs to the series of masterpieces by the Beatles or Beach Boys . "

- Uwe Schütte

“The schizoid spirit of the Aquarian Age dominated this disc with music that was partly ecstatic (“ Alone Again Or ”), defiant (“ Live And Let Live ”), blissful (“ More And More Again ”) and confused (“ A House Is Not A Motel ") was. Melodic horn sounds embellished the overall sound, only to destroy the reverie with vicious solo interludes. [...] An album that is more than a psychedelic time capsule and an excellent mix of compositions that just doesn't want to die. Crazy and essential. "

- Nig Hodgkins

“If you listen to Forever Changes today , a good 50 years after it was first released, you are still amazed at how great this music sounds. On the basis of psych rock and baroque pop Love created a sometimes weightless and elegant music. Songs like Alone Again Or , Andmoreagain or Maybe The People Would Be The Times Or Between Clark And Hilldale anticipate the entire aesthetic of indie pop , and also give colleagues like Jimmy Page , Ian Hunter or David Bowie an idea of ​​how folk and rock get together to be brought to a new level. The Doors may have won the race back then, but with all the love for their LPs: The great timeless masterpiece is called Forever Changes . "

- André Bosse

“When the group released a milestone of the late 1960s with their third album Forever Changes , which was hailed as a masterpiece in unison ,“ Elektra ”boss Jac Holzman had long since found his new house favorites. The fame of the first Doors records dwarfed what Lee and co-producer Bruce Botnick had put on tape with Forever Changes as their "answer to Sgt. Pepper" of drug-induced music. And as it is with cult records: After many years they are being rediscovered as a pioneering achievement and are now shamelessly plundered as a treasure trove for ideas. British neo-psychedelics were resourceful long before the great Led Zeppelin robbery began. "

- Franz Schöler

In 2008 Forever Changes was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and in 2012 into the National Recording Registry .

The British punk band The Damned had a hit a few years later with a cover version of Alone Again Or . Other musicians such as Billy Bragg , Alice Cooper , Calexico and the Ramones covered songs by the band.

50th Anniversary Edition

Forever Changes: 50th Anniversary Edition
Box set from Love

Publication
(s)

April 6, 2018

Label (s) Rhino Records

Format (s)

CD , LP , DVD-A

Title (number)

70

production

Bruce Botnick, Arthur Lee, Bill Inglot, Jac Holzman

source rating
Uncut
The Times

On April 6, 2018, Warner subsidiary Rhino Records released an anniversary edition of Forever Changes on 4 CDs, an LP and a DVD. CDs 1 and 2 contain the album remastered as a stereo and mono version, CD 3 an alternative mix and the bonus track Wonder People (I Do Wonder) , CD 4 singles and outtakes, the LP the album remastered in the stereo version and the DVD Forever Changes as a remaster from 2015 in high-resolution audio format (24 bit / 96 kHz) and the promotional video Your Mind And We Belong Together from 1968. Also included is an illustrated booklet. With the 50th Anniversary Edition, a mono version of the album was released on CD for the first time. Bruce Botnick and Bernie Grundman were responsible for the remasters.

Singles and Outtakes (CD 4)
  1. Wonder People (I Do Wonder) (Outtake-Original Mix)
  2. Alone Again Or (Single Version)
  3. A House Is Not a Motel (Backing Track)
  4. Hummingbirds (demo)
  5. A House Is Not a Motel (Backing Track)
  6. Andmoreagain (Alternate Electric Backing Track)
  7. The Red Telephone (Tracking Sessions Highlights)
  8. Wooly Bully (Outtake) ( Domingo Samudio )
  9. Live and Let Live (Backing Track)
  10. Wonder People (I Do Wonder) (Outtake - Backing Track)
  11. Your Mind and We Belong Together (Tracking Sessions Highlights)
  12. Your Mind and We Belong Together
  13. Laughing stick
  14. Alone Again Or (Mono Single Remix)

The Forever Changes Concert

The Forever Changes Concert
Live album by Arthur Lee & Love

Publication
(s)

September 9, 2003

admission

January 15, 2003

Label (s) Snapper Music

Format (s)

CD , LP , HDCD

Title (number)

17th

running time

71:38

occupation
  • David Chapple - bass
  • Caroline Valdermossen - violin

production

Gene Kraut, Arthur Lee

Studio (s)

Royal Festival Hall , London

source rating
Allmusic

On January 15, 2003 Arthur Lee and Love performed with orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall in London and played the album and other songs by the band in front of an audience. At this point, Lee was the only remaining member of Love's original cast. The recording of the concert was published in the same year on the live album The Forever Changes Concert , followed in 2007 by an extended new edition called The Forever Changes Concert & More . A concert film was also released on DVD .

Forever Changes
1. Alone Again Or (MacLean) - 4:19
2. A House Is Not a Motel - 4:08
3. Andmoreagain - 4:04
4. The Daily Planet - 3:42
5. Old Man (MacLean) - 3:39
6. The Red Telephone - 7:12 am
7. Maybe the People Would Be the Times or Between Clark and Hilldale - 3:57
8. Live and Let Live - 5:13
9. The Good Humor Man He Sees Everything Like This - 3:42
10. Bummer in the Summer - 2:34
11. You Set the Scene - 7:40 am
Bonus tracks
12. 7 and 7 Is - 2:51
13. Your Mind and We Belong Together - 4:11
14. Orange Skies (MacLean) - 3:09
15. She Comes in Colors - 3:00
16. Listen to my Song - 2:03
August 17th - 5:34 am
Bonus Tracks (2007)
1. Signed DC - 6:49
2. My Little Red Book ( Burt Bacharach , Hal David ) - 2:33

literature

  • Andrew Hultkrans: Forever Changes ( 33⅓ ), Continuum, New York 2003, ISBN 978-0826414939
  • John Einarson: Forever Changes: Arthur Lee and the Book of Love , Jawbone Press / Edition Olms, Zurich 2011, ISBN 978-1906002312

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Buckley, Peter (ed.): Rock Rough Guide, 2nd edition, Verlag JB Metzler Stuttgart / Weimar 2004, p. 450.
  2. ^ Schütte, Uwe: Basis-Diskothek Rock and Pop, Philipp Reclam jun. Stuttgart 2004, p. 107.
  3. ^ BR Hall of Fame Forever Changes on br.de
  4. ↑ Schütte 2004, p. 107.
  5. ↑ Dimery, Robert (ed.): 1001 albums - music you should hear before life is over, 8th edition, Edition Olms Zurich 2015, p. 109.
  6. ^ Schmidt-Joos, Siegfried / Kampmann, Wolf (eds.): Rock-Lexikon 1, 2nd edition, Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag Hamburg 2008, p. 1020.
  7. ↑ Schütte 2004, p. 108.
  8. ↑ Buckley 2004, p. 450.
  9. ^ Schmidt-Joos, Siegfried / Kampmann, Wolf, p. 1020.
  10. ↑ Review by Mark Deming on allmusic.com (accessed December 20, 2017)
  11. ↑ Review by Moritz Fehrle on laut.de (accessed January 12, 2020)
  12. ^ A b Review by Franz Schöler, in: Musikexpress Sounds 09/1988, issue 392, p. 105.
  13. ↑ 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2012) on rollingstone.com, accessed December 20, 2017
  14. ↑ The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time: 100-1 (2013) on nme.com, accessed December 20, 2017
  15. ↑ Mojo: The 100 Greatest Albums Ever Made (1995) on rocklistmusic.co.uk
  16. ↑ Q Magazine 100 Greatest Albums Ever (2006) on discogs.com, accessed December 20, 2017
  17. ↑ Uncut: 200 Greatest Albums Of All Time on rateyourmusic.com, from: Uncut 02/2016 (accessed June 20, 2018)
  18. ↑ The 200 Best Albums of the 1960s on pitchfork.com, accessed December 20, 2017
  19. ↑ The 30 best psychedelic records (2017) on musikexpress.de, accessed on December 27, 2017
  20. ↑ 50 essential albums you've probably never heard - Music on thetelegraph.co.uk (accessed September 6, 2018)
  21. ↑ Schütte 2004, p. 107.
  22. ↑ Buckley 2004, p. 451.
  23. ↑ André Bosse: flopped masterpiece in: MINT - Magazine for vinyl Culture, No. 05/2018, Issue 20, pp 131st
  24. ^ BR Hall of Fame Forever Changes on br.de
  25. ↑ Review by Tom Pinnock (2018) on uncut.co.uk (accessed June 5, 2018)
  26. ↑ Review by Will Hodgkinson (2018) on thetimes.co.uk (accessed June 5, 2018)
  27. ↑ a b Forever Changes (50th Anniversary Edition) on rhino.com (accessed June 5, 2018)
  28. ↑ Review by Mark Deming on allmusic.com (accessed October 6, 2018)