I have tried. I really have.

Ever since seeing Love's Forever Changes listed on numerous top ten greatest rock albums lists, I have tried repeatedly to find its allure. I have come back to the album every five or so years to see if I am missing something. But all I come away with is the feeling that it carries all the worst excesses of 60's psychedelia (over-inflated orchestration, mind-numbingly bad lyrics, etc).

While I do like the opening track (Alone Again Or), I just don't get the rest. The self-titled Love or De Capo are much, much better recordings.

What am I missing here?? What about this record is top ten material??

Just curious,

I think it's one of those albums that you kinda had to be there. It sounds extremely dated now. Especially the trumpet solo in Alone Again Or (which I love for some reason) that reminds me of the Tijuana Brass. Actually the thing I like about the album is that it does kind of take you back to the 60's. There's no other decade that album could have come out of. It has some goofy 60's moments like the Red Telephone where he sings, "They're locking me up today, their throwing away the key..."

Suggestion if you can't get into it. Try it with some herb, and I don't mean oregano.

But yeah overall it is overrated a bit.

it takes a bit to get into, but I believe it is as good as some critics say. try "You Set The Scene" and notice all the changes throughout, as well as the brilliant lyrics. great song. most of the genius to this album is a bit below the surface......but it's definately there.

I was four when it was released, so I certainly wasn't 'there' at the time. I think it's one of the two or three greatest rock albums in history. Every song is a masterpiece, and the performances and arrangements are all exemplary. There is absolutely nothing bad I can say about the album.

But what is is about the performances or arrangments that are exemplary?

Belive me...I have tried to get into the album but just have never been able to. Hell, I find Captain Beefheart's "Trout Mask Replica" much more accessible!

I know this largely comes down to taste but when it ends up on so many critics top ten rock album lists, you start to wonder what you are not hearing. Since you hear it, I just want to know what "it" is?

I wish I could, but I can't. Sorry. Maybe someone else her can help. I think Hiro11 has mentioned that he thinks it's the greatest album ever. Perhaps he can verbalize it. I can't, although I wish I could.

Wednesday, April 19, 2006; Posted: 10:03 a.m. EDT (14:03 GMT)

Love frontman Arthur Lee is battling acute lymphoblastic leukemia, according to a post from Los Angeles-based club booker Liz Garo on noted Love fan site LoveWithArthurLee.com.

Lee has undergone three weeks of chemotherapy but continued treatment and a possible bone marrow transplant are looming.

As Lee is uninsured, friends are organizing a Los Angeles benefit concert for late May or early June. Garo says such venues as the Avalon, Disney Hall, the Greek Theatre and the El Rey Theatre are in consideration and that Calexico, Cake and X have been contacted to participate.

"We are looking for artists to perform a few of Arthur's songs that capture the spirit and magic of Arthur Lee and Love," Garo writes.

Highlighted by the 1967 masterpiece "Forever Changes," Love crafted some of the most celebrated rock 'n' roll of the psychedelic rock era. But its legacy languished in the ensuing years due to Lee's unpredictable behavior and prison stint on a weapons violation.

After being released from jail in late 2001, Lee assembled a new version of Love that enjoyed success touring in Europe and North America, often playing "Forever Changes" in its entirety.

Last summer, Lee's backing band, Baby Lemonade, announced it would no longer perform with him, citing the "steady decline" of his "mental and physical health." In recent months, Lee had assembled a new backing group from his new home base of Memphis.

But according to Garo's post, "Baby Lemonade is available to back up any singer" at the benefit "and there will be a string section as well."

http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Musi...eut/index.html

I agree.

Just because lots of people love it doesn't mean everyone loves it.

Love singer Arthur Lee dies at 61

Arthur Lee, singer and guitarist of the influential 1960s band Love, has died in Memphis at the age of 61 following a battle with acute myeloid leukaemia.
A Memphis native who called himself the "first so-called black hippie", Lee formed Love in Los Angeles in 1965.

The multiracial band recorded three groundbreaking albums that fused rock, blues and psychedelia - the self-titled Love, Da Capo and Forever Changes.

In the 1990s Lee spent time in prison for illegal possession of a firearm.
But the singer made a triumphant comeback in 2002, touring the US and Europe with a new version of his classic band.

Although the original members of Love were only together for two years, they typified West Coast progressive rock.

The excess and bravura of the period is reflected on Da Capo, one side of which was taken up with a single song.

The album, like its predecessor, was not a commercial success. But Forever Changes, the band's next album, did reach the Top 30 in the UK.

Considered by many as Lee's bold response to the Beatles' Sgt Pepper album, it remains one of the most enduring records of the period and has been named the 40th greatest album of all time by Rolling Stone magazine.

After that highpoint the band lost momentum and went through many changes of line-up. Lee also recorded as a solo artist, with little success.

His eccentric behaviour and fragile mental health drew comparisons to late Pink Floyd founder member Syd Barrett and led to his arrest and six-year incarceration.

But his return to the limelight in recent years drew acclaim and recognition, his live performances of Forever Changes receiving glowing reviews.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/5245310.stm

Damn shame.

Also, I think news like this deserves its own thread.