This came out in 2001 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
Arthur Lee and Love are one of those ’60s outfits more people have heard of than have heard. Likewise, their 1967 album Forever Changes was never a hit, but is regarded by critics, old hippies and record geeks as one of the greatest albums ever. That may be pushing it, but the music nerds do have a point.
This third, final and finest album, takes the trippy Sunset Strip psychedelia of The Doors (whom Love preceded and influenced) and expands it magnificently with eclectic, ambitious and free-wheeling arrangements buoyed by horn and string orchestrations. What really sets Forever Changes apart, though, are the very un-Love-ly lyrics. “Sitting on a hillside, watching all the people die, I’ll feel much better on the other side,” serenades Lee on The Red Telephone, typifying the sense of impending doom that dominates the disc. For Lee, it was prophetic — he landed in jail in California on weapons charges in the early 2000s and he died in 2006. For the rest of us, this essential reissue (which comes with a cardboard sleeve, pristine remastering and seven rare cuts) means a few more folks might get to hear something they’ve only heard of up to now. And be forever changed.
