382) Love - Forever Changes

A new Damned album was always purchased but I had to admit to my friend that I didn’t think Anything was as good as Phantasmagoria but Alone Again Or was pretty good. “Aye, but the original was better.” I nodded in agreement, “aye obviously, just saying, good cover.”  That night in my room I checked the album sleeve to see the writing credits, he was right clearly not by The Damned but who the hell was Bryan MacLean. Smoothly I had got away with that one, as if.

All these years later I have now heard of Love and am aware of the importance of Forever Changes but it’s not a record that I have listened to extensively.

Alone Again Or opens the record, we all know it, in case you don’t know Bryan Maclean wrote it! he says all knowledgeable, the Spanish guitar and horns are magnificent, no wonder The Damned version was good, no one could mess up this song.

A House Is Not A Motel Arthur Lee delivers an intense vocal and the guitar solos are varied and many, it’s a psychedelic masterclass and Andmoreagain could not have come from any other time but the 60s all dramatic with strings and space throughout, think classic Burt Bacharach.

The Daily Post we are led in by acoustics and the bass is magical, the legend that is Carol Kaye. The harpsichord throughout The Red Telephone leads over the strings and guitars and Lee’s phrasing of the word yellow is worth hearing, an earie song that is growing on me with each subsequent listen.

Maybe the People Would Be the Times or Between Clark and Hilldale we return to the summery feel of Alone Again, but I had to drag the track back at the one minute fifty to hear the horns again, a joyous thirty seconds. Live and Let Live floats along, strong vocals from Lee and then the guitar solo strikes out, and as it recedes the band are back with recurring guitars and drums, almost marching and then the guitar strikes again, strong stuff.

Not all the record blows me away I find Old Man just okay and The Good Humor Man He Sees Everything Like This has some nice horn moments but never excels.

Bummer In the Summer Arthur Lee is on a talk/rap like speech fast and effective with a recurring pick like guitar and the band banging away behind them which makes them sound like luddites not the clearly skilled musicians they clearly are.

Final track You Set the Scene has everything, horns, bass, shifting drums, acoustic guitars, vocals backing Lee, strings and then the instrumental break arrives and enhances, Lee steps back in clear as a bell, and then they sweep us out in glory, it’s a song that does not overstay it’s seven minutes.

You can see why it’s rightly quoted as a classic.

8.5/10

GIVE IT A STREAM: Alone Again Or