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Forever Changes
Colorful human faces merged into one head, has text, all on a white background
Studio album by
Love
ReleasedNovember 1, 1967 (1967-11-01)[1]
RecordedJune 9–September 25, 1967
StudioSunset Sound Recorders Hollywood, California
Genre
Length42:05[2]
LabelElektra[3]
Producer
Love chronology
Da Capo
(1966) 		Forever Changes
(1967) 		Four Sail
(1969)
Singles from Forever Changes
  1. "Alone Again Or" / "A House Is Not a Motel"
    Released: January 1968[4]
  2. "The Daily Planet" / "Andmoreagain"
    Released: March 1968[5]
  3. "Your Mind and We Belong Together" / "Laughing Stock"
    Released: September 1968[6]

Forever Changes is the third studio album by the American psychedelic rock band Love.[7] It was released by Elektra Records in November 1967 and would be the final album by the original band, as subsequent albums featured leader Arthur Lee backed by a variety of new players.

Forever Changes failed to achieve commercial success when it was first released in 1967, but it has since become recognized as one of the greatest albums ever made, ranking 40th on Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time,[8] being inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2008, and being added to the National Recording Registry in 2011.[9] The album was also included in Robert Christgau's "Basic Record Library" of 1950s and 1960s recordings, published in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981).[10] It was voted number 12 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums 3rd Edition (2000).[11]

Background

In 1966, Love had released two albums in relatively rapid succession, including their second LP Da Capo, which spawned their only Top 40 hit, "7 and 7 Is".[12] However, the group's opportunity for major national success dwindled as a consequence of frontman Arthur Lee's unwillingness to tour, Lee's deteriorating relationship with Love's other songwriter Bryan MacLean, and the overshadowing presence of label-mates The Doors.[13][14] In a 1992 interview, MacLean spoke of him and Lee "competing a bit like Lennon and McCartney to see who would come up with the better song. It was part of our charm. Everybody had different behaviour patterns. Eventually, the others couldn't cut it".[15] Throughout this period the band – reduced to a quintet with the departures of Alban "Snoopy" Pfisterer and Tjay Cantrelli – were known to retreat to Bela Lugosi's mansion in Hollywood, nicknamed "The Castle", where the group became further stagnated by their use of LSD and heroin.[16]

Rather than base his writings on Los Angeles's burgeoning hippie scene, Lee's material for Forever Changes was drawn from his lifestyle and environment.[16] The songs reflected upon grim but blissful themes and Lee's skepticism with the flower power movement.[17] Writer Andrew Hultkrans explained Lee's frame of mind at the time: "Arthur Lee was one member of the '60s counterculture who didn't buy flower-power wholesale, who intuitively understood that letting the sunshine in wouldn't instantly vaporize the world's (or his own) dark stuff".[18] Love's third studio album also brought about a sense of urgency for Lee. With his band in disarray and growing concerns over his own mortality, Lee envisioned Forever Changes as a lament to his memory.[18]

At this juncture, Elektra Records founder Jac Holzman suggested to Love to "advance backwards" by embracing the more subtle approach of folk music. While typically independent in his musical directions, Lee accepted Holzman's proposal, setting the foundational approach to the Forever Changes recording sessions.[19] Having already produced the group's first two albums, Bruce Botnick was enlisted in overseeing the production of the third album along with Lee.[20] Botnick, who had just finished working on Buffalo Springfield's Buffalo Springfield Again, invited Neil Young to co-produce the upcoming Love album, but Young, after initially agreeing, excused himself from the project.[21] As Botnick recalled "Neil really had the burning desire to go solo and realize his dream without being involved in another band".[19] According to the liner notes in the compilation album Love Story, Young was involved in Forever Changes long enough to arrange the track "The Daily Planet." Young, however, has denied such involvement.[22]

The title of the album came from a story that Lee had heard about a friend-of-a-friend who had broken up with his girlfriend. She exclaimed, "You said you would love me forever!" and he replied, "Well, forever changes." Lee also noted that since the name of the band was Love, the full title was actually Love Forever Changes.[23]

Recording

Love started recording Forever Changes in June 1967 at Sunset Sound Recorders. However, beginning with the early recording sessions, the band, except Lee, was plagued by internal conflicts and lack of preparation for Lee's intricate arrangements. Through Holzman's perspective, Botnick was an "album savior", guiding and motivating Lee's bandmates out of their trying period.[24] In order to compel the band to participate, Botnick enlisted top session musicians, the Wrecking Crew's Billy Strange (guitar), Don Randi (piano), Hal Blaine (drums), and Carol Kaye (bass guitar) to work with Lee, completing the sessions.[25] Shocked by the implications of losing their role in the album's development, Botnick's plan succeeded in motivating the Love members in recording the other nine tracks appearing on Forever Changes.[19]

Botnick recalls that the use of session musicians "sparked" the band, and they "realized they had blown it, got their act together and recorded the rest of the album." After much rehearsal, the group returned to the studio in August and continued through September, quickly laying down the remaining nine tracks, at a total estimated cost of $2,257.

Lee spent three weeks with David Angel, the arranger of the strings and horns, playing and singing the orchestral parts to him. Lee envisioned the horns and strings from the beginning, and they were not added as an afterthought.[23] A September 25 recording session finished the album, adding the horns and strings, as well as some additional piano from Randi, who played all the keyboard parts on the album as the band now had no keyboard player.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[26]
NME10/10[27]
The Village VoiceA−[28]

Upon its release in late 1967, Forever Changes was largely unsuccessful commercially. It spent 10 weeks on the Billboard 200 album chart, according to Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Albums. It peaked at No. 154 in 1968, which was the worst showing among Love's first three albums. Forever Changes had a much stronger showing in Great Britain, where it reached No. 24 on the UK album chart in 1968. It peaked at No. 63 when it re-entered the chart in 2001.

Initial reviews were positive. Writing for Rolling Stone in 1968, Jim Bickhart regarded Forever Changes as Love's "most sophisticated album yet", applauding the orchestral arrangements and recording quality.[29] In Esquire, Robert Christgau said it is an elaboration on Love's original musical style and "a vast improvement" over their previous recordings, because "Lee has stopped trying to imitate Mick Jagger with his soft voice, and the lyrics, while still obscure, now have an interesting surface as well."[30] Pete Johnson of the Los Angeles Times believed the album "can survive endless listening with no diminishing either of power or of freshness", adding that "parts of the album are beautiful; others are disturbingly ugly, reflections of the pop movement towards realism". Gene Youngblood of LA Free Express also praised the album, calling it "melancholy iconoclasm and tasteful romanticism."[23]

Music critics and writers have described Forever Changes as folk rock,[31] psychedelic folk,[32] baroque pop,[33] psychedelic pop[34] and psychedelic rock.[35]

The 1979 edition of The Rolling Stone Record Guide gave the album a rating of five stars (out of five). It also received five stars in the 1983 edition of the guide and in the 1992 guide four.[36] In a special issue of Mojo magazine, Forever Changes was ranked the second greatest psychedelic album of all time. In the January 1996 issue, Mojo readers selected Forever Changes as #11 of the "100 Greatest Albums Ever Made."[37] Forever Changes was praised by a group of members of the British Parliament in 2002 as being one of the greatest albums of all time.[38] Rolling Stone ranked the album 40th in its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time in the December 11, 2003 issue, maintaining the rating in a 2012 revised list.[39] In 2013, NME ranked the album number 37 on their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Publishers such as AllMusic, Slant Magazine and Sputnikmusic have praised the album as well.[40] In a 2005 survey held by British television's Channel 4, the album was ranked 83rd in the 100 greatest albums of all time.[41] The album was included in the 2005 book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[42] According to the New Musical Express, The Stone Roses' relationship with their future producer John Leckie was settled when they all agreed that Forever Changes was the "best record ever".[43]

Reissues

Forever Changes was included in its entirety on the 2-CD retrospective Love compilation Love Story 1966–1972, released by Rhino Records in 1995. The album was re-released in an expanded single-CD version by Rhino in 2001, featuring alternate mixes, outtakes and the group's 1968 single, "Your Mind and We Belong Together"/"Laughing Stock", the final tracks ever to feature the Forever Changes line-up of Arthur Lee, Johnny Echols, Ken Forssi, Michael Stuart-Ware and Bryan MacLean (Forssi and MacLean both died in 1998).[44][45]

The Forever Changes Concert was released on DVD in 2003 and marked the first time many of the songs had been performed live. The set features the entire album performed in its original running order, recorded in early 2003 during Lee's tour of England, in which he was backed by the band Baby Lemonade and members of the Stockholm Strings 'n' Horns ensemble. The DVD features the album concert, five bonus performances, documentary footage and an interview with Lee.[46]

A double-CD "Collector's Edition" of the album was issued by Rhino Records on April 22, 2008. The first disc consists of a remastered version of the original 1967 album. The second disc contains a previously unissued alternate stereo mix of the album, plus ten bonus tracks.[47]

A Super High Material CD (SHM-CD) version of Forever Changes was released by Warner Music Japan in 2009.[48]

A 24 bit 192 kHz High Resolution version of the album was released by HDTracks in 2014, and in the same year a hybrid Super Audio CD (SACD) version of the album was released by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab.

Another 24 bit 192 kHz High Resolution remaster of the album was released through Pono in 2015, remastered by original engineer Bruce Botnick.

A 50th anniversary deluxe edition box set was released by Rhino on April 6, 2018, featuring four CDs, a DVD and an LP. It contains remastered versions of the stereo, mono and alternate stereo mixes of the album, a disc of demos, outtakes, alternate mixes and non album tracks, a DVD containing a 24/96 stereo mix of the album and a bonus music video, and a new LP remaster of the album, remastered by Bruce Botnick and cut from high resolution audio by Bernie Grundman.[49][50]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Arthur Lee, except "Alone Again Or" and "Old Man", written by Bryan MacLean

Side one
No.TitleRecordedLength
1."Alone Again Or"September 10, 19673:15
2."A House Is Not a Motel"August 11 & September 10, 19673:25
3."Andmoreagain"June 9, 12 & August 11, 19673:15
4."The Daily Planet"June 9–10 & September 25, 19673:25
5."Old Man"August 12 & September 25, 19672:57
6."The Red Telephone"August 12 & September 21, 25, 19674:45
Side two
No.TitleRecordedLength
7."Maybe the People Would Be the Times or Between Clark and Hilldale"September 10, 19673:30
8."Live and Let Live"August 11, 19675:24
9."The Good Humor Man He Sees Everything Like This"August 11, 19673:00
10."Bummer in the Summer"August 12, 19672:20
11."You Set the Scene"August 12, 19676:49
Total length:42:05

2001 Rhino bonus tracks
A single disc collection, presenting the original stereo album, remastered, plus the following bonus tracks:

No.TitleLength
12."Hummingbirds" (Demo)2:43
13."Wonder People (I Do Wonder)" (Outtake)3:28
14."Alone Again Or" (Alternate Mix)2:55
15."You Set the Scene" (Alternate Mix)7:01
16."Your Mind and We Belong Together" (Tracking Sessions Highlights)8:16
17."Your Mind and We Belong Together" (Single A-side)4:27
18."Laughing Stock" (B-side of "Your Mind and We Belong Together")2:31


2008 Rhino "Collector's Edition" bonus tracks
A two-disc collection. Disc 1 presents the original stereo album, remastered, while disc 2 is a previously unreleased alternate stereo mix of the album, featuring the following bonus tracks:

No.TitleLength
12."Wonder People (I Do Wonder)" (Outtake, Original Mix)3:21
13."Hummingbirds" (Demo)2:41
14."A House Is Not a Motel" (Backing Track)3:11
15."Andmoreagain" (Alternate Electric Backing Track)3:08
16."The Red Telephone" (Tracking Sessions Highlights)2:07
17."Wooly Bully" (Outtake)1:27
18."Alone Again Or" (Mono Single Remix)2:54
19."Your Mind and We Belong Together" (Tracking Sessions Highlights)8:16
20."Your Mind and We Belong Together" (Single A-side)4:27
21."Laughing Stock" (B-side of "Your Mind and We Belong Together")2:31


2018 "50th Anniversary Edition" bonus discs
A box set comprising four CDs, one LP and one DVD: disc 2 presents the original mono album, remastered; disc 3 is the alternate stereo mix; disc 4 is outtakes, single versions, demos, session highlights and non album tracks from the era; disc 5 is the original stereo album on vinyl, remastered and cut from high resolution audio; and disc 6 is a 24/96 stereo mix on DVD, featuring a bonus music video.

Disc 3
No.TitleLength
12."Wonder People (I Do Wonder)" (Outtake; Alternate Mix)3:23
Disc 4
No.TitleLength
1."Wonder People (I Do Wonder)" (Outtake; Original Mix)3:20
2."Alone Again Or" (Single Version)2:48
3."A House Is Not a Motel" (Single Version)3:22
4."Hummingbirds" (demo of "The Good Humor Man He Sees Everything Like This")2:41
5."A House Is Not a Motel" (Backing Track)3:06
6."Andmoreagain" (Alternate Electric Backing Track)3:06
7."The Red Telephone" (Tracking Sessions Highlights)2:07
8."Wooly Bully" (Domingo Samudio; Outtake)1:25
9."Live and Let Live" (Backing Track)5:37
10."Wonder People (I Do Wonder)" (Outtake; Backing Track)3:30
11."Your Mind and We Belong Together" (Tracking Sessions Highlights)8:16
12."Your Mind and We Belong Together" (Single A-side)4:27
13."Laughing Stock" (B-side of "Your Mind and We Belong Together")2:34
14."Alone Again Or" (Mono Single Remix)2:51
Disc 6
No.TitleLength
12."Your Mind and We Belong Together" (Video)4:27

Personnel

Music

According to the liner notes of the 2008 "Collector's Edition".[51]

Love

Additional musicians[52]

  • Carol Kaye: bass guitar on "Andmoreagain" and "The Daily Planet"
  • Don Randi: keyboards on "Andmoreagain" and "The Daily Planet"; piano on "Old Man" and "Bummer in the Summer"; harpsichord on "The Red Telephone"
  • Billy Strange: electric rhythm guitar on "Andmoreagain" and "The Daily Planet"
  • Hal Blaine: drums on "Andmoreagain" and "The Daily Planet"
  • Neil Young: arranger on "The Daily Planet"[53]
  • David Angel: arranger, orchestrations
  • Strings: Robert Barene, Arnold Belnick, James Getzoff, Marshall Sosson, Darrel Terwilliger (violins); Norman Botnick (viola); Jesse Ehrlich (cello); Chuck Berghofer (string bass)
  • Horns: Bud Brisbois, Roy Caton, Ollie Mitchell (trumpets); Richard Leith (trombone)

Production and design

  • Bruce Botnick and Arthur Lee: Producers
  • Bruce Botnick: Engineer
  • Jac Holzman: Production Supervisor[54]
  • Zal Schreiber: Mastering
  • William S. Harvey: Cover Design
  • Bob Pepper: Cover Art[55]
  • Ronnie Haran: Back Cover Photo
  • Andrew Sandoval: Project Producer
  • Andrew Sandoval, Dan Hersch, Bill Inglot: Remastering, Disc 1
  • Steve Hoffman: Remastering, Disc 2, tracks 1–11
  • Dan Hersch and Andrew Sandoval: Remastering, Disc 2, tracks 12–21
  • Michael Kachko: Product Manager
  • Andrew Sandoval: Liner Notes
  • Amanda Smith: Art Supervision
  • Vanessa Atkins and Cory Frye: Editorial Supervision

References

  1. ^ "FLASHBACK MAGAZINE". Facebook.com. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  2. ^ a b Deming, Mark. Forever Changes at AllMusic. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
  3. ^ Love (24 May 2011). "Forever Changes". Archive.org. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  4. ^ "Alone Again Or / A House Is Not a Motel by Love". Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  5. ^ "The Daily Planet / Andmoreagain by Love". Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  6. ^ "Your Mind and We Belong Together / Laughing Stock by Love". Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  7. ^ Hultkrans, Andrew (25 April 2019). "Forever changes". New York : Continuum. Retrieved 25 April 2019 – via Internet Archive.
  8. ^ "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone (Special Issue). 40 | Forever Changes – Love. November 2003. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  9. ^ "Love, Dead in National Recording Registry". Psychedelicsight.com. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
  10. ^ Christgau, Robert (1981). "A Basic Record Library: The Fifties and Sixties". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 0899190251. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
  11. ^ Colin Larkin, ed. (2000). All Time Top 1000 Albums (3rd ed.). Virgin Books. p. 39. ISBN 0-7535-0493-6.
  12. ^ Unterberger, Richie. "Love – Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved May 31, 2016.
  13. ^ Duersten, Matthew. "Halfway Between Watts and Charles Manson: Local idol Arthur Lee". Lamag.com. Retrieved May 31, 2016.
  14. ^ Sullivan, James. "Arthur Lee (1945–2006)". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 31, 2016.
  15. ^ "Orbituary: Bryan MacLean". Independent.co.uk. Retrieved May 31, 2016.
  16. ^ a b Various writers (2007). The Mojo Collection (4th ed.). Canongate Books. p. 114. ISBN 9781841959733.
  17. ^ "Love: Forever Changes - Studio 360". Wnyc.org. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  18. ^ a b Hultkrans, Andrew (2003). Love's Forever Changes. Bloomsbury. pp. 3–4. ISBN 9781441128706.
  19. ^ a b c Olsen, Ted. ""Forever Changes" – 1967" (PDF). Loc.gov. pp. 1–2. Retrieved June 1, 2016.
  20. ^ Unterberger, Richie. "Bruce Botnick interview". Richieunterberger.com. Retrieved June 1, 2016.
  21. ^ Unterberger, Richie (2003). Eight Miles High: Folk-rock's Flight from Haight-Ashbury to Woodstock. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 52. ISBN 0879307439.
  22. ^ McDonough, Jimmy (2002). Shakey: Neil Young's biography. New York: Random House. ISBN 978-0-679-42772-8. OCLC 47844513. p. 160 footnote
  23. ^ a b c Einarson, John. Forever Changes: Arthur Lee and the Book of Love. A Genuine Jawbone Book. 2010. ISBN 978-1-906002-31-2
  24. ^ Olsen, Ted. ""Forever Changes" – 1967" (PDF). Loc.gov. pp. 2–3. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
  25. ^ Jones, Chris. "BBC - Music - Review of Love - Forever Changes". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  26. ^ Larkin, Colin (2007). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0857125958.
  27. ^ Kessler, Ted (12 September 2005). "Love: Forever Changes". NME. Retrieved 12 September 2005.
  28. ^ Christgau, Robert (December 20, 1976). "Christgau's Consumer Guide to 1967". The Village Voice. New York. p. 69. Retrieved June 22, 2013.
  29. ^ Bickhart, Jim (10 February 1968). "Love: Forever Changes". Rolling Stone. ISSN 0035-791X. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  30. ^ Christgau, Robert (June 1968). "Columns". Esquire. Retrieved December 3, 2018.
  31. ^ Unterberger, Richie. "Great Moments in Folk Rock: Lists of Aunthor Favorites". Richieunterberger.com. Retrieved 2013-09-22.
  32. ^ Jones, Chris (2007). "Love Forever Changes Review". BBC Music. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  33. ^ Christopher Monger, James. "Trilogy: Love/Da Capo/Forever Changes > Review" at AllMusic. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  34. ^ Howe, Sean (May 2008). "Reissues". SPIN. New York City. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  35. ^ J. DeRogatis, Turn On Your Mind: Four Decades of Great Psychedelic Rock (Milwaukie, Michigan: Hal Leonard, 2003), ISBN 0-634-05548-8, pp. 94 – 99.
  36. ^ DeCurtis, Anthony; Henke, James; George-Warren, Holly (25 April 1992). The Rolling Stone Album Guide: Completely New Reviews : Every Essential Album, Every Essential Artist. Random House. ISBN 9780679737292. Retrieved 25 April 2019 – via Google Books.
  37. ^ "The 100 Greatest Albums Ever Made". Mojo. London: Bauer Media Group. August 1995. ISSN 1351-0193. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  38. ^ "Freed 1960s star meets MPs". BBC News. 18 June 2002. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  39. ^ "500 Greatest Albums of All Time Rolling Stone's definitive list of the 500 greatest albums of all time". Rolling Stone. 2012. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
  40. ^ "Love - Forever Changes". Albumoftheyear.org. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  41. ^ "The 100 Greatest Albums". Channel 4. Archived from the original on 19 April 2005.
  42. ^ Dimery, Robert (2009). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Octopus Publishing Group, London. pp. 42–43. ISBN 9781844036240. Retrieved 2013-05-18.
  43. ^ "The Stone Roses – resurrected?". Nme.com. 9 July 2009. Retrieved 26 September 2011. Reni said, 'What's your favourite record ever?' I came out with Love's 'Forever Changes' and they all fell about and said, 'That's our favourite record as well!'
  44. ^ Burnsed, Cathy. "Tallahassee Democrat obituary index - August 3, 1997 - January 28, 1998". Files.usgwarchives.net. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
  45. ^ "Bryan MacLean: Obituary". The Independent. 1 January 1999. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
  46. ^ Deming, Mark. "The Forever Changes Live Concert". AllMusic. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
  47. ^ Forever changes. 25 April 2019. OCLC 228442121.
  48. ^ "Forever Changes by Love". Rateyourmusic.com. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  49. ^ "Forever Changes". Amazon.com. 6 April 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  50. ^ "In Stores Tomorrow: Love, FOREVER CHANGES: 50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION - Rhino". Rhino.com. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  51. ^ "Love - Forever Changes". Discogs.com. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  52. ^ Burger, Jeff (8 May 2018). "Album Reviews: Love - Forever Changes (50th Anniversary Edition) and More New Music". The Morton Report. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  53. ^ Weiss, Jeff (8 November 2017). "Love's Forever Changes May Be the Greatest Album Ever Made in L.A." L.A. Weekly. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  54. ^ "Forever Changes - Love - Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  55. ^ "Juxtapoz Magazine - Sound and Vision: Love's "Forever Changes" With Cover Illustration by Bob Pepper". Juxtapoz.com. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
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