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Alone Again
Fourth Love
Ireland
188 Posts |
 Posted - 27/01/2008 : 15:35:33
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| I only recently heard Vindicator and enjoy it not love it though.I was expecting a bit more but its still probably my favourite post Four Sail album.I would recommend that and Bryan Macleans 'IfYouBelieveIn' |
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ed the bear
Fourth Love
USA
215 Posts |
Posted - 29/01/2008 : 06:53:34
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A couple of you mentioned not meeting many Love fans, being in your 20's. Same thing in my 50's. I don't have any more recommendations to add -- although if you can get hold of the picture-disk vinyl "Love Live" album there's a killer "Aloneagainor" -- but wanted to mention that I've been listening to Arthur for 40 years now, and the music never gets old. Better now than it was then.
Goodfella, you mentioned "A House Is Not A Motel." Consider that Arthur wrote "The news today will be the movies of tomorrow" in 1967 or 1968. He was on to something, huh? |
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John9
Old Love
United Kingdom
2154 Posts |
Posted - 29/01/2008 : 10:07:40
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quote:
Originally posted by ed the bear
Goodfella, you mentioned "A House Is Not A Motel." Consider that Arthur wrote "The news today will be the movies of tomorrow" in 1967 or 1968. He was on to something, huh?
Right on Ed - also, from the same song "By the time I've come through singing, the bells on the schools of war will be ringing".
I think that this song, along with 'Red Telephone' constitute the peak of Arthur Lee's magnificent achievement. It is interesting to note that 'Andmoreagain' aside, Arthur virtually ignored 'Forever Changes in Love's Concerts between 1970 and 1975. 'Bummer in the Summer' was obviously there as well for a while and by 1974 this had been swapped for 'Alone Again Or'. I remember when he was over here in '74 a journalist asking Arthur him about 'Andmoreagain' and he replied "the other guys don't think that one's too hip". On his return the following year, he said that he had been quite startled by the continuing interest in 'Forever Changes' and as a result he was starting to write songs in that style again. But of course as far as we know, nothing ever came of that - nor had we a right to expect it to. For me 'Forever Changes' will always stand as a timeless monument to the fact that creativity invariably seems to flourish best during times of confusion and uncertainty about the future. Didn't Orson Welles once say something similar to that in 'The Third Man'? |
Edited by - John9 on 29/01/2008 10:37:55 |
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rocker
Old Love
USA
3606 Posts |
Posted - 29/01/2008 : 14:28:13
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And this is what Arthur said to an Australian magazine back then..
"It was just the way I felt at the time about the situation around me, and I was fortunate enough to put it in music. I saw something and I wrote about it....and it's happening exactly right now. It keeps repeating itself, the wars and things you know? It's like an everlasting thing,it's like it's always going to be. And my last words to this planet if I had passed on in that time period were FOREVER CHANGES, meaning that's what's happening on this earth, that's what I saw happening".
There it is. You know I don't think I would've got along with Arthur.
We're just two different personalities but for some reason I'll always be connected to him, his thoughts and feelings through the music he made. Crazy but it's there where we come together and I hear him loud and clear. He's certainly made me conencted to this planet we're all on. "This is the time in life that I am livin' and.... |
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DaveyTee
Fourth Love
United Kingdom
238 Posts |
Posted - 05/02/2008 : 20:58:48
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So, Goodfelladh - how did you get on with the Blue Thumb recordings?
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goodfelladh
First Love
USA
9 Posts |
Posted - 15/08/2008 : 03:12:03
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quote:
Originally posted by DaveyTee
So, Goodfelladh - how did you get on with the Blue Thumb recordings?
DT
I know this is an incredibly late reply, but I hadn't been on the boards in a while, so I'm getting around to responding about three months late. 
As for the Blue Thumb recordings, as a lot of you said, they were a bit hit and miss. It seemed to me that the further removed from Forever Changes the band/Arthur got chronologically, the less impact the music had on me. So I guess you can say that I thought the music weakened with each album, but that's not to say that I disliked it at all. I thought that Out Here was better than False Start, but I'm definitely glad to have them.
On a related note, as most of you also predicted, Forever Changes feels as fresh listening to it today as the first time I listened to it. And Four Sail continues to increase in stature in my mind. I can understand the backlash about not having the original band on the album, but musically it's nothing short of brilliant. |
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John9
Old Love
United Kingdom
2154 Posts |
Posted - 15/08/2008 : 11:47:15
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| Well said goodfellahd - Arthur definitely still had his muse when 'Four Sail' was recorded. In fact, an old friend of mine who knew Love's music long before I did, has always claimed that it is second only to 'Forever Changes'. My main disappointment with 'The Blue Thumb Recordings' isn't with the two studio albums - but with the 'Live In England 1970' disc. I remember someone on this site commenting that Arthur's slightly distorted vocals sound very different from those on the live version of 'Stand Out' - which, after all, comes from one of the same concerts. I cannot make out whether this really was to do with a fault in the recording....or in Arthur's voice. Again, the earlier contributor observed that Arthur sounded as though he had just had a tooth pulled. The other night I played 'August' from the concert disc - and then immediately followed it with the 2003 version from 'The Forever Changes Concert'. It was so refreshing to hear the superior, later performance. |
Edited by - John9 on 15/08/2008 12:07:23 |
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lemonade kid
Old Love
USA
9876 Posts |
Posted - 16/08/2008 : 05:22:36
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I was listening to a station on XM (I think it was the "Loft") on Directv & in the middle of an eclectic mix...lo and behold "A House Is Not A Motel" started. It sounded so fresh, I thought for a moment, "wow, what is that?!" I don't know if you've experienced that, but it is so rare to hear Love on any station that , at first, my mind just "does not compute"!
It was so great hearing that on a worldwide medium!  Nothing to me is so vital & continually NOW as FC!!
I am completing my Love collection by getting (on vinyl) False Start & Out Here (by post, next week). I agree that Four Sail is great & needs to stand on it's own. trying to compare it to the first three love LPs is unfair. They are simply the best. I'm looking forward to listening to these last two Love LPs. I'll let you know what I think.
Oh, & belated welcome goodfelladh. By the way, have you gotten Bryan's 'andifyoubelievein" LP yet? To me, an absolute essential piece in the Love story!
He's a bit mad, isn't he.......?
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Edited by - lemonade kid on 16/08/2008 05:29:27 |
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John9
Old Love
United Kingdom
2154 Posts |
Posted - 16/08/2008 : 09:27:08
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| Lemonadekid - best of luck with Out Here and False Start. They are very different albums and False Start in particular does need a little patience. Although no one could possibly call it a great album, it was the second Love LP I ever bought and so I have always retained a special affection for it. If you can get past the long instrumental passages and the filler on Out Here you'll hear plenty that is well up to the standard of Four Sail and also a little that is redolent of Forever Changes. |
Edited by - John9 on 16/08/2008 09:34:20 |
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lemonade kid
Old Love
USA
9876 Posts |
Posted - 16/08/2008 : 21:50:44
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quote:
Originally posted by John9
Lemonadekid - best of luck with Out Here and False Start. They are very different albums and False Start in particular does need a little patience. Although no one could possibly call it a great album, it was the second Love LP I ever bought and so I have always retained a special affection for it. If you can get past the long instrumental passages and the filler on Out Here you'll hear plenty that is well up to the standard of Four Sail and also a little that is redolent of Forever Changes.
thanks, john9. Having heard various "reviews" from you guys here, my expectations are not unrealistically high, so I will hopefully be pleasantly surprised with some tracks.
I was very pleased when I first heard "Four Sail", even after owning the first three for years. "Autumn" is especially good & I agree that it is as complex a composition as any other Love track.
He's a bit mad, isn't he.......?
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Edited by - lemonade kid on 16/08/2008 21:56:07 |
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goodfelladh
First Love
USA
9 Posts |
Posted - 29/08/2008 : 22:16:09
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quote:
Originally posted by lemonade kid
quote:
Originally posted by John9
Lemonadekid - best of luck with Out Here and False Start. They are very different albums and False Start in particular does need a little patience. Although no one could possibly call it a great album, it was the second Love LP I ever bought and so I have always retained a special affection for it. If you can get past the long instrumental passages and the filler on Out Here you'll hear plenty that is well up to the standard of Four Sail and also a little that is redolent of Forever Changes.
thanks, john9. Having heard various "reviews" from you guys here, my expectations are not unrealistically high, so I will hopefully be pleasantly surprised with some tracks.
I was very pleased when I first heard "Four Sail", even after owning the first three for years. "Autumn" is especially good & I agree that it is as complex a composition as any other Love track.
He's a bit mad, isn't he.......?
That was similar to what happened with me. I had read lukewarm reviews of everything the band did after Forever Changes, so I got Four Sail and did not expect all that much. Imagine my surprise when I turned it on and was absolutely blown away. I genuinely love the album... and while Forever Changes would be in my top 5-6 albums of all time by any artist, Four Sail would be in the top 50 or so, which is still an incredible compliment if you consider how many albums that could possibly entail. So the low expectations didn't dim the beauty of Four Sail for me. |
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Joe Morris
Old Love
3492 Posts |
Posted - 01/09/2008 : 05:53:50
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Oh come on
Love's Four Sail in the Top 50 all time?
Up there with Dylan (Blood on the Tracks.. indeed most of his albums released to Blood, including JWHarding, New Morning) Beatles (all of their albums really need to be in a mans top 50 list, except Let It Be)
Loves Four sail - its not a great album. Its merely ok. Some good songs (Nothing) - some odd ones (Neils Song, the jazzy Good Times)
Gotta tell ya, its one of my least favorite Love albums. Arthur should not have been calling it Love with the whole band gone! I'm sure he might have written some of the songs earlier (I remember reading in the Castle that the odd song intro dated from the Forever Changes period)
But the loss of Bryan Maclean.. that would've killed MANY a band. Christ, if only that guy would've been allowed to contribute more to da capo, then that would be one of the GREAT albums, rather than what it is now, an excellent EP (try to ignore the second side - who ever listens to Side 2 or "Revelation" anyway?)
So we're left with a very good first album, a frightening flawed middle album and a perfect third album, perhaps the best album ever recorded, a staggering collection of VERY STRONG songs
Four Sail though - yeah, thats not a GREAT album. Has some good songs, but I can't imagine anyone picking up that and saying, "Wow, I gotta check out this band"
As great as a band as LoVE was, their legacy rests on Changes. Thats the best. Its good that Arthur didn't quit music or DIE after recording it, but he shouldn't been carrying on as LoVE when so much of the original band had gone
The general esteem held by LoVE in the eyes of Elektra is that it took YEARS for Four Sail to see release on cd. Should it have been released earlier? Sure! But is it a great album. Not really
Side 1 of False Start is better.. |
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Old_Man
Old Love
United Kingdom
668 Posts |
Posted - 01/09/2008 : 07:23:49
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"Arthur should not have been calling it Love with the whole band gone!"
Love = Arthur Lee and whoever he chose to be in his band! |
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Joe Morris
Old Love
3492 Posts |
Posted - 01/09/2008 : 08:12:03
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Didn't he form the band with Johnny?
Man, he REALLY needed the rest of the band.. From Forever Changes to Four Sail (the band LITERALLY was for sale, saying goodbye to Elektra.. of course Holzman was the last to know)
If only the band could've lasted after Changes (Stuarts book makes perfectly clear why not: drugs)
What a waste. Nothing Arthur did was ever as successfull as Changes. If only he could've gotten with Bryan, do some more songs together
On a side note, I understand "Five String Serenade" was a song that Arthur had from the 60s that the group persuaded him to play
An absolute tragedy that Love (the original, and one and only!) was never able to really become successfull. Bryan might make light of this (in the BBC interview from the late 90s) that more success would have killed him
But the first 3 Elektra albums have songs that SHOULD be better known. Its cool that FC won a grammy recently (FINALLY!) but its an absolute tragedy that the only way you can get a friend into Love is to pick them up Forever Changes.
RIP Kenny Bryan and Arthurly |
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DaveyTee
Fourth Love
United Kingdom
238 Posts |
Posted - 01/09/2008 : 16:27:12
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quote:
Originally posted by Old_Man
"Arthur should not have been calling it Love with the whole band gone!"
Love = Arthur Lee and whoever he chose to be in his band!
How I disagree. Love was a band at a particular time in a particular place, not just one man, and its music was the collective essence of that band. Sure Arthur was out there in front, but he needed a catalyst for the genius that gave us Love's music and that catalyst was MacLean. Once MacLean had gone, once the band had gone, so had the music that was Love. Anything after that was Arthur and a bunch of musicians.
DT |
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Post-Four Sails
