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Rating: I must admit that at first listen I said, literally:
"Damn, this album is crap, only a poor imbecile could say it's good!".
And I gently placed it back in the damn CD case, eager never to listen to it again.
The next morning, incredulous at having wasted 12 euros on such trash, I read something about them on the internet, and I try to listen to it again. And the reaction improves. I'm inexperienced; I should have expected that one listen wouldn't suffice for an album like this. So I carry on listening to it, 3, 4, 5 times, often skipping part of the last song, "Revelation", 18 minutes long, which by the end makes you feel like shooting yourself in the legs. It's not exactly "Echoes", which could easily go on for half an hour. It must be said that Love was starting to experience a good resurgence, bolstered by a strong album like "Love", and they were beginning to be recognized on the street. Thus, Love decided to imprint a more jazzy and less easy listening sound, a choice that certainly won't deliver them to the history of Los Angeles' '60s culture.
In the same year, on the same sidewalks the Love walked, strange songs began to be sung, partly new and partly old, those of "Break On Through", "The End", and "Soul Kitchen". There are 7 tracks, for a bewildered listening experience. Yes, because listening to this album requires a considerable level of commitment. I can't imagine what "Trout Mask Replica" and the damn Beefheart will be like.
It's definitely not an easily accessible album, or rather, you can divide the album into two parts: when that damned genius Arthur Lee's voice kicks in, everything becomes quite simple and engaging. But the instrumental parts, and especially the lengthy suite "Revelation", as I mentioned earlier, leave me quite puzzled, from the 10th minute onwards up to the 18th.
I shouted miracle, I don't know why, when in this piece Arthur Lee, with a voice resembling a howl, sings "Everybody needs somebody to love". Could it be that the Blues Brothers listened to this piece, but I can't know. But ideas are certainly not lacking for Arthur Lee and Brian MacLean. That’s why we see songs with the most varied melodies, free from musical compromises, standing out in a non-imposing manner while advancing on the sound scales that are created. But sometimes these sounds are absent, allowing for truly pleasant yet never trivial songs, like "The Castle", which at a certain point revisits the playful theme of Vaudeville. Track number 4, "Seven & Seven Is", the only one released as a single, anticipates, quite significantly, the mocking punk atmospheres of the Ramones, aligning itself with the garage-rock tradition of the '60s, alongside the Kinks and Sonics. An important point is that there's no true chart-topping hit, there's no entirely accessible song, and for this reason, it is completely overshadowed by Love's other work, the famous 'Forever Changes'. Certainly worthy of note are the first three songs of the album, "Stephanie Knows Who", "Orange Shoes" and "! Que Vida !".
In the end, it is a universal album that captures all the nuances of the '60s, from psychedelia to blues, garage, and jazz (even a bit free), with a nod to pop and folk.
It is a decidedly complete album, with few flaws. Recommended.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
01 Stephanie Knows Who (02:34)
What's in your life, dear Stephanie
What's in your life for me
Aches and pains they cloud your sight
But tired you did you said you did
What can I say, dear Stephanie
Who shal I next inform
Of love and poetry that you bring
Your eyes, your hair, your everything
Yeah!
Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!
Come on, come on, come on, come on!
Hey, all right
Talk to me all the time
From A to Z and in between
Say it sweet all the time
All the time, yeah...
Come on, come on, come on, come on
What am I now, dear Stephanie
Am I you in disguise
The words they come so naturally
I save them all for Stephanie, yeah!
Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!
Come on, come on, come on, come on!
Hey, all right!
Talk to me all the time
From A to Z and in between
Say it sweet all the time
All the time, yeah...
02 Orange Skies (02:54)
Verse 1:
Orange skies
Carnivals and cotton candy and you
and I love you too you know I do
Verse 2:
Nightingale
Prettier than anything in the world
And I love you too
You know I do
Bridge:
You make me happy
Laughing, glad, and full of glee
And you don't have to try, girl
For you it comes so naturally
Right here in my arms
[repeat verse 1]
[repeat bridge]
03 ¡Que Vida! (03:43)
Verse 1:
With pictures and words
Is this communicating?
The sounds that I've heard
The growling voice then fading
And yes my heart was beating
Or was it just repeating
Verse 2:
With nickels and dimes
You soon will have a dollar
Am I in your time
I see no need to swallow
Or catch a plane to travel
My mind's not made of gravel
Verse 3:
Can you find your way
Or do you want my vision
It's dark there, they say
But that's just superstition
And in my last inspection
Is this the right direction
Verse 4:
I once had a girl
She told me I was funny
She said in your world
You needed lots of money
And things to kill your brother
But death just starts another
05 The Castle (03:04)
Verse 1:
Here's my baggage, hand me my staff
I'm leaving on a plane, a boat or raft
Verse 2:
my love, I love, so hard to choose
If that were in my mind, it I would use
Oh...
Bridge:
Goin' back to Mother
Leavin' on the double
Think I'll go to Mexico
06 She Comes in Colors (02:46)
A thought in my head, I think
Of something to do
Expressions tell everything
I see one on you
Whoa-oh-oh-oh, my love she comes in colors
You can tell her from the clothes she wears
When I was invisible
I needed no light
You saw right through me, you said
Was I out of sight?
Whoa-oh-oh-oh, my love she comes in colors
You can tell her from the clothes she wears
Whoa-oh-oh-oh, my love she comes in colors
You can tell her from the clothes she wears
Whoa-oh-oh-oh, my love she comes in colors
You can tell her from the clothes she wears
When I was in England town
The rain fell right down
I looked for you everywhere
'Til I'm not around
Whoa-oh-oh-oh, my love she comes in colors
You can tell her from the clothes she wears
07 Revelation (18:56)
Hey you
Child, standin' over there
Girl, you look so good
Yeah, you look all right
Hey girl
Hear me callin' your name
Baby, the way uou walk
Say you drive me insane
Oh you're lookin' so good
When you're in my bed
Baby, I feel so good
Till you give me a little head
On your knees, on your knees
So good, all right, do it, yeah
Say it's sweet, say it's sweet
All right, yeah yeah
Get it on, do it, baby
Do it baby
Tell me baby, do you want my lovin'
All right, baby
So good, you're so good
Oh hear me talkin' to you, mama
So good, get it on
Get it on, baby
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
You're so good, so good
So good, so good
So good, so good, so good
Yeah, yeah, yeah, all right
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,yeah, yeah
All right, do it, baby
On your knees, oh yeah
Everybody, everybody
Everybody, yeah yeah
I said they need somebody
To love, to love, to love
To love, to love, to love
To love, to love, to love
Love, love, love, love
Love, love, love, love
All the time, all the time
All the time, yeah
All the time
All the time I feel all right
All the time I feel so good
All the time I feel all right
So good, I feel allright
Yes it is, yes it is
Yes it is, mama, yes it is, mama
Yes it is, mama, feel all right
Feel all right, feel all right
I wanna scream
I feel, I feel, I feel good
I feel so good
Feel all righ, feel all right
I feel so good
I feel so good, yeah
Everybody, everybody feel good
Everybody feel good
Yeah, yeah
Feel so -
Can you, can you feel it, mama
Can you feel it, mama
can you feel it, mama
Do you feel like I do
Do feel all right
Do you feel all right, yeah
I feel all right
I feel all right
I feel all right
I feel all right, yeah
Yeah, yeah
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