Love

Love were one of the seminal '60s bands, and their crowning achievement, Forever Changes, is a perennial contender for one of the top rock albums of all time. As the Beach Boys captured the sunny optimism of southern California in the '60s, and the Doors reflected the dark, mystical underbelly of that same place and era, Love was the group that best contained both viewpoints in its unique music.

Frontman Arthur Lee was one of rock music's classic iconoclasts. A big fan of both LSD and heroin, Lee lived in a big mansion in the hills overlooking L.A., and purveyed his unique musical vision from there. Love's first two albums -- an eponymous set in 1966, and the 1967 disc Da Capo -- showed a shrewd evolution in pop songwriting. The latter featured such cuts as the jumpy, electric "7 And 7 Is," which was the group's only hit single (and later claimed by Lee to have "invented punk rock"). Songs like "The Castle," "Stephanie Knows Who," and "She Comes In Colors" also exhibited a mastery of psychedelia.

But the group's magnum opus was to come in 1968 with Forever Changes, a psychedelic touchstone that ranks up with the likes of Sgt. Pepper's in terms of adventurousness within a pop music palette. Fortunately, the album wasn't anywhere near as overplayed as the Beatles', and it still sounds remarkably fresh 35 years on.

Somewhat sadly, the talented Love is one of those groups which will really only be remembered for one album. The original lineup was disbanded shortly after Forever Changes, and though the idiosyncratic Lee would continue to make music and use the band name even to the present day, he never came close to the level of writing, musicianship and inventiveness displayed on his masterpiece. Oh well, who cares?! You should go pick up that one record and thank him later.

Album reviews

Forever Changes (Recommended)
Elektra (2000)
The 11 songs of Forever Changes comprise one of the most timeless and diverse rock portraits ever put to wax.