FOREVER CHANGES
LOVE
1967
I was playing Love’s Forever Changes album for a friend, describing it as a cornerstone of psychedelic rock, when she asked me a surprising but pertinent question. “What makes this music psychedelic?” I guess I was surprised because, to my ears, it just sounded so trippy, but I was at a loss for a proper definition and could only come up with, “Its rock music made in the late sixties that seems to be influenced by drugs and uses non-traditional instruments for rock ‘n’ roll."
After giving it further thought, I’m sticking with that definition. It may sound odd to limit a genre to its time period, but I can’t think of a truly psychedelic song that did not come out between 1966 and 1968. Sure, you can have contemporary artists mimic that sound and come up with a neo-psychedelia, but it’s just not the real thing.
One reason the music is so identified with its time is that it quickly evolved into progressive rock, which shares many of the same qualities, but is distinctly its own genre. Pink Floyd’s Piper’s at the Gates of Dawn was seminal phychedelia, but by Dark Side of the Moon, the sound had evolved into something more in line with prog rockers like Genesis (Peter Gabriel’s) and Queen than Sgt. Pepper or Surrealistic Pillow.
During the psychedelic period, there were generally two camps. Hard rockin’ garage psychedelic bands like The Electric Prunes and The 13th Floor Elevators tended to have very short careers, but listening to them in retrospect reveals an intense vitality, probably due to their not being around long enough to sound dated.
The more prominent albums can be classified as lush psychedelia, the best examples of which create truly beautiful soundscapes. Pet Sounds, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band and Forever Changes are solidly in this category. Revolver, which was The Beatles first contribution to this genre, had one foot in both camps. The Stones, The Who, The Beach Boys and especially The Beatles all had psychedelic periods, but all moved passed it after incorporating it into their larger style.
Love was the brainchild of African-American singer/songwriter, Arthur Lee, who, through the course of three albums, moved from garage psychedelia (of which their biggest single,“7 & 7 Is” is a great example) to the lush version and a defining moment in the genre that is Forever Changes.
Forever Changes may be the only example of a minimalist psychedelic album. The dominant instrument is always the acoustic guitar, which is brought forward in the mix whether during a straight ahead rocker, a soft ballad or a rich arrangement of strings and horns.
The album’s first song sets the scene for the proceedings. Alone Again Or, which is one of two songs on the album I’d heard previously, begins with a soft acoustic guitar joined by Lee’s folky vocals. A quivery violin is subtly added and than finally a Spanish sounding horn solo really kicks it up a notch before reverting to its softer beginnings. Unlike the Moody Blues, who backed themselves with a whole orchestra, Love never let’s the core band get left behind.
The second track, A House is Not a Motel, begins similarly, but grows into a straight ahead rocker with no flourishes. Andmoreagain (not a typo) is probably the most familiar song on the album and is representative of the beautiful melodic progressions that I believe surpasses Pet Sounds and approaches Sgt. Pepper level of greatness.
A song like Old Man takes its melody in surprisingly non-pop directions both musically and lyrically. “I know the old man would laugh - He spoke of love’s sweeter days - And in his eloquent way - I think he was speaking of you” offers the kind of honest sentimentality only The Kinks normally traffic in. At the same time, titles like The Good Humor Man He See’s Everything like this will be sure you don’t forget its 1967.
Forever Changes’ crowning achievement is its final song, You Set the Scene. Like The Who’s A Quick One, it’s one of the earliest examples of a mini-opera with three district sections. Lyrics about nothing less than the search for meaning to life and death join to such an infectious melody that I’m shocked it’s not better known. Only at the very end of this last song does the acoustic guitar finally disappear into a triumphant sea of horns.
So is it timeless or dated? Like the best psychedelic rock, it’s both. That Arthur Lee was not a household name at the time of his death a few years back may be a reflection of the bands short tenure, but the cult remains and new bands like The Polyphonic Spree and Arcade Fire still show the influence of Forever Changes.
LOVE
1967
I was playing Love’s Forever Changes album for a friend, describing it as a cornerstone of psychedelic rock, when she asked me a surprising but pertinent question. “What makes this music psychedelic?” I guess I was surprised because, to my ears, it just sounded so trippy, but I was at a loss for a proper definition and could only come up with, “Its rock music made in the late sixties that seems to be influenced by drugs and uses non-traditional instruments for rock ‘n’ roll."
After giving it further thought, I’m sticking with that definition. It may sound odd to limit a genre to its time period, but I can’t think of a truly psychedelic song that did not come out between 1966 and 1968. Sure, you can have contemporary artists mimic that sound and come up with a neo-psychedelia, but it’s just not the real thing.
One reason the music is so identified with its time is that it quickly evolved into progressive rock, which shares many of the same qualities, but is distinctly its own genre. Pink Floyd’s Piper’s at the Gates of Dawn was seminal phychedelia, but by Dark Side of the Moon, the sound had evolved into something more in line with prog rockers like Genesis (Peter Gabriel’s) and Queen than Sgt. Pepper or Surrealistic Pillow.
During the psychedelic period, there were generally two camps. Hard rockin’ garage psychedelic bands like The Electric Prunes and The 13th Floor Elevators tended to have very short careers, but listening to them in retrospect reveals an intense vitality, probably due to their not being around long enough to sound dated.
The more prominent albums can be classified as lush psychedelia, the best examples of which create truly beautiful soundscapes. Pet Sounds, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band and Forever Changes are solidly in this category. Revolver, which was The Beatles first contribution to this genre, had one foot in both camps. The Stones, The Who, The Beach Boys and especially The Beatles all had psychedelic periods, but all moved passed it after incorporating it into their larger style.
Love was the brainchild of African-American singer/songwriter, Arthur Lee, who, through the course of three albums, moved from garage psychedelia (of which their biggest single,“7 & 7 Is” is a great example) to the lush version and a defining moment in the genre that is Forever Changes.
Forever Changes may be the only example of a minimalist psychedelic album. The dominant instrument is always the acoustic guitar, which is brought forward in the mix whether during a straight ahead rocker, a soft ballad or a rich arrangement of strings and horns.
The album’s first song sets the scene for the proceedings. Alone Again Or, which is one of two songs on the album I’d heard previously, begins with a soft acoustic guitar joined by Lee’s folky vocals. A quivery violin is subtly added and than finally a Spanish sounding horn solo really kicks it up a notch before reverting to its softer beginnings. Unlike the Moody Blues, who backed themselves with a whole orchestra, Love never let’s the core band get left behind.
The second track, A House is Not a Motel, begins similarly, but grows into a straight ahead rocker with no flourishes. Andmoreagain (not a typo) is probably the most familiar song on the album and is representative of the beautiful melodic progressions that I believe surpasses Pet Sounds and approaches Sgt. Pepper level of greatness.
A song like Old Man takes its melody in surprisingly non-pop directions both musically and lyrically. “I know the old man would laugh - He spoke of love’s sweeter days - And in his eloquent way - I think he was speaking of you” offers the kind of honest sentimentality only The Kinks normally traffic in. At the same time, titles like The Good Humor Man He See’s Everything like this will be sure you don’t forget its 1967.
Forever Changes’ crowning achievement is its final song, You Set the Scene. Like The Who’s A Quick One, it’s one of the earliest examples of a mini-opera with three district sections. Lyrics about nothing less than the search for meaning to life and death join to such an infectious melody that I’m shocked it’s not better known. Only at the very end of this last song does the acoustic guitar finally disappear into a triumphant sea of horns.
So is it timeless or dated? Like the best psychedelic rock, it’s both. That Arthur Lee was not a household name at the time of his death a few years back may be a reflection of the bands short tenure, but the cult remains and new bands like The Polyphonic Spree and Arcade Fire still show the influence of Forever Changes.
