Forever Changes (1967)

Forever Changes is the third studio album by the American rock band Love, released in November 1967 by Elektra Records. The album saw the group embrace a subtler folk-influenced sound based around acoustic guitars and orchestral arrangements, while primary songwriter Arthur Lee explored darker themes alluding to mortality and his growing disillusionment with the era's counterculture. It was the final album recorded by the original band lineup; after its completion, guitarist Bryan MacLean left the group acrimoniously, and Lee subsequently dismissed the other members.

Forever Changes had only moderate success on the album charts upon release, peaking at No. 154 in the US and No. 24 in the UK. In subsequent years, it has become recognized as an influential document of 1960s psychedelia and named among the greatest albums of all time by a variety of publications.

Background

For Da Capo, Love's second studio album, the band expanded from five members to seven in order to take on a more jazz-influenced style. Shortly after the album's release, however, bandleader Arthur Lee decided the experiment had run its course and fired drummer-turned-keyboardist Alban "Snoopy" Pfisterer and saxophonist and flautist Tjay Cantrelli. This left a lineup of Lee (lead vocals), Bryan MacLean (rhythm guitar), Johnny Echols (lead guitar), Ken Forssi (bass), and Michael Stuart (drums).By 1967, the band was facing major internal conflicts. The members were growing apart and, as a result, rehearsing and performing less. Lee's relationship with MacLean, Love's other songwriter, was deteriorating. In a 1992 interview, Lee spoke of him and MacLean "competing a bit like Lennon and McCartney to see who would come up with the better song. It was part of our charm. Everybody had different behaviour patterns. Eventually, the others couldn't cut it".

Love were also at odds with their label, Elektra Records. After recording Da Capo, the band attempted for a third time to sever their contract with the label. The resulting May 1967 agreement required them to produce one more album. Throughout 1967, Lee also grew envious of the success of fellow Elektra band the Doors, whom he had been integral in getting signed. However, it has been countered that the Doors were more willing to work on the road than Lee, who expressed a fear of leaving the band's home city, Los Angeles.

Inspiration

Lee's material for Forever Changes was drawn from his lifestyle and environment, which contrasted greatly from the typical hippie culture of the time. The songs reflected upon dark themes, such as paranoia, the Vietnam War, race issues in the US, societal breakdown, and the negative effects of drug use. In his 33 1/3 book on the album, Andrew Hultkrans explained Lee's frame of mind at the time: "Arthur Lee was one member of the '60s counterculture who didn't buy flower-power wholesale, who intuitively understood that letting the sunshine in wouldn't instantly vaporize the world's (or his own) dark stuff". With the band in disarray, and increasingly concerned over his own mortality, Lee envisioned Forever Changes as a lament to his memory.

Recording and style

Having already engineered the group's first two albums, Bruce Botnick was enlisted to oversee the production of the third album along with Lee. Botnick, who had also worked with Buffalo Springfield, invited Neil Young to co-produce the album, but Young, after initially agreeing, excused himself from the project. As Botnick recalled, "Neil really had the burning desire to go solo and realize his dream without being involved in another band". It was reported that Young arranged the song "The Daily Planet", but he denied any involvement.

According to AllMusic, the band embraced "a more gentle, contemplative, and organic sound on Forever Changes," with much of the album "built around interwoven acoustic guitar textures and subtle orchestrations, with strings and horns both reinforcing and punctuating the melodies." Elektra Records founder Jac Holzman had suggested that Love "advance backwards" by embracing the more subtle approach of folk music, and Lee, while typically independent in his musical directions, accepted the suggestion. Stephen M. Deusner of Pitchfork stated that Lee paired his "dark, discomfiting lyrics" with music that draws from rock, psychedelia, folk, pop, classical, and mariachi influences without being reducible to any of those labels.