Archive Review: Love’s Forever Changes (2008)

One of the most beloved and enduring albums in the canon of rock music, Love’s Forever Changes was initially released in 1967 to yawns and commercial indifference. The third and final album released by the Los Angeles band’s original line-up, Forever Changes barely slipped into the Billboard Top 200 albums before sinking back out of sight…until it was rediscovered by eager rock fans during the alt-rock daze of the ‘90s.

Love’s Forever Changes

Love was formed by the brilliant singer/songwriter Arthur Lee in 1965, Lee’s artistic vision often supported and complimented by underrated guitarist Bryan MacLean. In any other band, MacLean would have been the primary talent, but in Love he often toiled beneath the long shadow of Lee’s genius. After leaving the band in 1968 in the wake of Forever Changes’ release, MacLean would tinker away at songs and solo material before leaving the music biz altogether. The rest of the band provided an incredible cohesion and chemistry to Lee and MacLean’s original material.     

Love’s first couple of albums – 1966’s self-titled debut, and the following year’s Da Capo – featured a guitar-driven, folk-rock sound with waves of psychedelic candy-coloring and washes of electric-blues and jazzy flourishes. Neither album particularly lit the world on fire, but both were strong artistic statements. Originally, the label wanted session players to back Lee and MacLean, respectively, on their songs, due to the band’s growing personal problems and drug use; indeed, two tracks on Forever Changes were recorded with studio pros. When all the members of Love finally got together to make the album, nobody could have imagined what would come out of the sessions. 

A grand collection of baroque-pop with elements of psychedelic-rock, folk, and R&B with uncharacteristic horns and strings, Forever Changes is a masterpiece of musical composition and lyrical brilliance. The songs crafted by Lee and MacLean were years ahead of their time, deep tapestries of sound with lush threading of various colors. The Spanish, flamenco flavor of MacClean’s enchanting “Alone Again Or” stands in direct contrast to the trebly guitarwork of the psyche-rock naildriver “A House Is Not A Hotel.”  The gentle hippie soundscape of “Andmoreagain” is supported by a lilting melody and gossamer orchestral flourishes while the overtly cynical “Bummer In the Summer” is an old-fashioned garage-rock freak-out.

Summer of Love

Lyrically, Forever Changes provides a signpost of storm clouds on the horizon. Largely written and recorded during the “Summer of Love,” the album’s poetry frequently portrays a society undergoing change. Portending a long, dark night ahead, songs like “The Red Telephone” and the surrealistic, anti-war “Live And Let Live” deliver a forceful, sometimes frenzied message despite their lush backing soundtrack. Lee had stated in interviews that he literally felt that his life was coming to an end at this time, and his sub-conscious reflections on race and society have taken on a timeless quality.  

So, what’s the difference between this Forever Changes “Collector’s Edition” and the last time around, when Rhino reissued the album in 2001? Well, to begin with, this one is a whopping two-disc set, the first presenting the original album in all of its pristine glory. The second disc offers an “alternative mix” of the album, eleven songs, only one of which was included on the 2001 CD. To these ears, the “alternative mix” of the album sounds inferior, lacking the same texture and depth of the originally released recordings. 

Another ten “bonus tracks” replicate those on the last reissue, adding previously unreleased versions of “Andmoreagain” (instrumental backing track) and “The Red Telephone” (tracking sessions highlights), neither of which are essential, or even add much to the experience save for the hardcore believer. The lively, rocking obscure B-side “Laughing Stock” is a welcome addition, while a boisterous, unreleased cover of “Wooly Bully” is a bona-fide album outtake, and a heck of a lot of fun. A mono single remix of “Alone Again Or,” with dynamic sound and warmth, makes a strong case for taking rock back to its (mono) roots. Informative new liners notes from Andrew Sandoval are complimented by a handful of photos.

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

Should you spring for the “Collector’s Edition” of Forever Changes? If you’re a fan of the band, you probably already have. If you’re unfamiliar with Love, mildly curious, or haven’t heard this landmark work, you should give it a listen. After all, hundreds of rock critics couldn’t be wrong when they voted Forever Changes as one of the best albums of all time, could they? (Rhino Records, reissue released 2008)

Review originally published by Blurt magazine...

Archive Review: Alice Cooper's Billion Dollar Babies (1973/2001)

By 1973, Alice Cooper was one of the hottest bands in rock ‘n’ roll. Featuring the flamboyant on-stage antics of lead vocalist and band namesake Cooper and a sound that was a cross between metal-edged blues, hard rock and camped-up show tunes, the band struck gold with their fifth album, 1972’s School’s Out. By the time that they would enter the studio to record what would become their masterpiece – Billion Dollar Babies – the band was on the verge of breaking up. Suffering from tensions created by constant touring, the ever-growing complexity of their stage shows and problems created by the extreme overuse of alcohol, the band nonetheless put together ten songs that would become the keystone of the Alice Cooper legacy.

Alice Cooper’s Billion Dollar Babies

Remixed by producer Bob Ezrin and reissued by Warner Archives and archival experts Rhino Records, Billion Dollar Babies was originally released in 1973 to overall critical acclaim and great commercial success. It became the band’s best-selling album, it led to one of the largest-grossing and spectacular tours in rock history and it inspired a legion of hard rock, punk, and heavy metal bands to follow. Today, nearly 30 years after its release, it stands out as a landmark of rock music. Cuts like “No More Mr. Nice Guy,” “Hello Hooray,” and the vastly underrated and oft-overlooked “Generation Landslide” stand as rock icons. “Elected” is every bit as funny and relevant in the new millennium as it was in the Nixon era while lesser-known tracks such as “Raped and Freezin’” and the macabre “I Love the Dead” did their best to launch the Goth and death metal genres.

Released by Warner/Rhino in two versions, those who merely want a taste of one of rock’s most unique and influential bands can go for the single-disc reissue of Billion Dollar Babies. For long-time fans or the curious, the “deluxe edition” of Billion Dollar Babies includes a second disc of live tracks and outtakes that is well worth the few extra dollars to buy. Featuring eleven songs taken from two Texas shows in April 1973, it offers killer performances of “Elected,” “Hello Hooray,” “No More Mr. Nice Guy,” and “Billion Dollar Babies.” It also includes live versions of older Alice Cooper faves like “I’m Eighteen,” “My Stars,” and “I Love the Dead” as well as a handful of outtakes from the Billion Dollar Babies sessions.

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

Two years after the release of Billion Dollar Babies, Alice Cooper the band would break-up and Cooper the individual would start a lengthy and productive solo career that continues to plod along today. Along with his contemporary Ozzie Osbourne, Alice Cooper has been granted “rock godfather” status by today’s heavy metal kids. Through the years that followed, however, Cooper and his bandmates would never again make rock ‘n’ roll as primal, vital, and energetic as they would with these ten tracks. (Rhino Records, reissued June 6th, 2001)

Review originally published by Alt.Culture.Guide™, 2001
        
Buy the CD from Amazon.com: Alice Cooper’s Billion Dollar Babies

Archive Review: Black Sabbath's The Rules of Hell (2008)

There are only two kinds of Black Sabbath fans on this cold, grey planet – Ozzy acolytes and Dio devotees. Forget about the fleeting tenures of singers Dave Walker, Dave Donato and Ray Gillen, or those horrible records with Ian Gillan, Glenn Hughes, and Tony Martin. And just who the heck is Jeff Fenholt? No, for the true Sab fanatic, it all boils down to the eight albums made with Osbourne circa 1970-79, or the four recorded with Ronnie James Dio between 1979 and 1982.

Black Sabbath's The Rules of Hell

A couple of years ago, Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi reunited the band's Dio-lead line-up under the banner Heaven & Hell, named for their 1980 album, as a way to promote 2006's The Dio Years set. The band recorded three new songs for that compilation, the collaboration resulting in a lengthy tour and a subsequent live recording. To satiate the tastes of those who have come around to Sabbath after experiencing Heaven & Hell, Rhino Records has done their 16-song The Dio Years one better by boxing up all four of the Dio-era Sabbath albums as the five-disc The Rules of Hell set.

Although the true believer already has most of this stuff, for the casual fan or newbie, The Rules of Hell captures the brief magic of the Dio-years Sabbath in an overflowing treasure chest, the four albums remastered and including newly-penned liner notes. The Heaven and Hell album is the cornerstone of the box, not so much a breath of fresh air after Ozzy as it was a hurricane-force blast, perfectly timed at the dawn of the "New Wave of British Heavy Metal." An influential album that yielded classic songs like "Neon Knights" and "Children of the Sea," Heaven And Hell masterfully paired Iommi's massive, doom-laden riffs with the former Rainbow vocalist's imaginative, fantastic lyrics and unique melodic sense.

Long-time Sabbath drummer Bill Ward left the band due to personal problems, to be replaced for 1981's Mob Rules by former Rick Derringer skin-basher Vinny Appice. The foursome recorded a suitable follow-up to the Platinum™-selling Heaven And Hell, following much the same blueprint, i.e. heavy riffing, scorching fretboard runs, and bombastic rhythms. The album-opening "Turn Up The Night" is a dark, rumbling rocker with histrionic vox, while "The Sign of the Southern Cross" is a Goth-tinged molten doom-stomp that starts life on gossamer wings before emerging from its chrysalis as a light-chewing, flesh-rending carnivore. For Sabbath, Mob Rules was the right album at the right time: capital-H Heavy with plenty of metallic theatrics.

There has always been a lot of discussion among fans over Live Evil, the two-disc concert set unabashedly mixing songs from the two previous studio albums with vintage Ozzy-era gems like "Paranoid" and "War Pigs." The dichotomy was not lost on listeners, and Live Evil retains a muddied reputation among the faithful to this day. Still, there is some quality noggin-knocking to be found on Live Evil. Whether you're grooving to the speeding two-wheeled hog that is "E5150," its tailpipe belching fire as Iommi marks the pavement with his scorched-asphalt six-string garroting, or genuflecting towards the temple of doom that is "Black Sabbath," the band's original signature song, the album delivers enough bone-deep chills and plodding thrills to satisfy even the most couch-bound hesher. There are fourteen songs total on Live Evil, each performance a sign of the impending apocalypse.

When the smoke had cleared after the release of Live Evil, Dio would bolt from the Sabbath ranks in '82 to form his own band; bassist Geezer Butler would depart a couple of years later. A decade passed, heavy metal was seemingly on the ropes, and as both Dio's self-titled band and the Sabs were floundering in the tidal wave emerging from Seattle, the original Heaven And Hell crew reunited for the middling Dehumanizer in 1992.

An attempt to re-imagine Sabbath for the confusing alt-rock daze of the '90s, Dehumanizer turned away from the swords-and-sorcery imagery of Dio's earlier work in favor of a Voivod-like struggle between humanity and technology. Although the dour collection illustrates Sabbath at its darkness, and songs like "TV Crime" or "Time Machine" (from the movie Wayne's World) are rife with Appice's cannonball drumbeats, Dio's soaring vocals, and Iommi's 12-gauge blunderbuss approach to riff-playing, the truth is that a dozen other bands did this sort of thing much better at the time, and Dehumanizer sank like a stone, suffering from the same tensions that broke up this incarnation of the band a decade previous.

The Reverend's Bottom Line

Dio would return to his solo career, while Iommi continued to carry Black Sabbath on his shoulders throughout the '90s and into the new millennium – even reuniting with Ozzy once upon a time – until the band's current reincarnation. For the crazed and the curious, The Rules of Hell captures every note of the often-overlooked Dio-era Sabbath, taking the listener back to the storied roots of Heaven & Hell, warts and all… (Rhino Records, released July 22nd, 2008)

Buy the CD box set from Amazon.com: Black Sabbath's The Rules of Hell

Archive Review: The Yardbirds' Ultimate!

One of the truly legendary bands in rock music, it's nevertheless been very difficult for the average music fan to assemble any sort of coherent Yardbirds' collection. Back in the '60s heyday of the band, the original British versions of their albums were sliced and diced, mixed and matched, and then re-titled for release stateside. Cut-out during the '70s, collectors paid premium prices for rare copies of the Yardbirds' vinyl. During the CD era, albums disappeared and reappeared with unpredictable reliability and "greatest hits" collections, often slapped together by unscrupulous fly-by-night labels, proliferated. A lot of great music got misplaced, until the recent release of Ultimate! by Rhino Records.

For younger music fans that want to know what all the brouhaha over the Yardbirds is about, look no further than Ultimate! The two-CD, 52-track boxed collection includes an enormous booklet filled with rare photos, song credits and comprehensive liner notes and history provided by late musician/collector/authority Cub Koda. It's the music that does the talking on Ultimate!, however, the Yardbirds kicking out an original and groundbreaking mix of blues and riff-oriented blues-rock during their five-year lifespan. The band was blessed during its brief existence with not one but three – count 'em – three superstar six-string talents. Eric Clapton contributed guitar duties for one of the earliest incarnations of the band, leaving after a year and a half to be replaced by Jeff Beck. Jimmy Page joined the band as a bass player; later moving to guitar in a twin-guitar version of the band before taking over solo duties upon Beck's departure.

The Yardbirds' Ultimate!

Ultimate! pieces together a chronological history of the Yardbirds, beginning with early Clapton-led singles and other material recorded under the direction of original manager/producer Giorgio Gomelsky. The Gomelsky "era" stretches across the first disc and includes some of Clapton's legendary original contributions to the band. Highlights include covers of John Lee Hooker's "Boom Boom" and the Ernie K-Doe hit "A Certain Girl" as well as live tracks taken from the band's debut album Five Live Yardbirds. The classic hit single "For Your Love" proved to be Clapton's swansong, the guitarist leaving the band in a huff over the song's commercial sound.

When Clapton departed to pursue a purer shade of blue with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Jeff Beck was recruited and joined the Yardbirds as his replacement. It proved to be a match made in heaven – Beck's improvisational six-string wizardry found a perfect chemistry with frontman Keith Relf's passionate vocals and inspired harp playing. This would be the most successful period of the band's career, as they cranked out chart-topping hits like "Heart Full of Soul," "Shapes of Things," and "Over Under Sideways Down." There were plenty of other great tunes, though, such as the rollicking B-side instrumental "Jeff's Boogie" or a raucous cover of "The Train Kept A Rollin'" recorded at Sam Phillip's Recording Service in Memphis. Beck's maniacal use of feedback, distortion, echo and fuzz created a trademark sound for the band and paved the way for a thousand-and-one late '60s garage bands to delve into psychedelica, heavy metal and endless instrumental jams.

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor

Bassist and "musical director" Paul Samwell-Smith left the Yardbirds in 1966 to pursue a successful career as a producer, working with talents like Cat Stevens and Jethro Tull. Jimmy Page was brought in to play bass, taking over six-string duties on tour during a Beck absence. The Beck/Page line-up only recorded a couple of singles, most notably "Stroll On" from the movie Blow-Up and the single "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago," which also featured future Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul.

The Page-led Yardbirds kicked out some interesting tuneage, working with new manager Peter Grant and superstar Britpop producer Mickey Most, moving into a less bluesy and more complex psychedelic-influenced era. Page's "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor" was a fascinating slice of pop-rock while the acoustic-instrumental "White Summer" was an energetic artistic predecessor to Led Zeppelin's experimentation with British folk and Middle Eastern melodies. The Harry Nilsson composition "Ten Little Indians" is a chaotic delight while "Drinking Muddy Water" sounds like the Chicago blues as filtered through London's Marquee Club. Ultimate! also adds three solo recordings from Yardbirds' vocalist Keith Relf.

The Reverend's Bottom Line

Over the course of seven albums, the Yardbirds earned a legacy as one of the true seminal bands in rock 'n' roll history. Their musical contributions to the genre still sound alive and vibrant thirty-five years after the fact. The band also served as an important predecessor to the formation of Led Zeppelin, arguably the most important and successful rock band of the '70s.

If I had one complaint with this set, it is in the lack of material from the band's collaboration with blues giant Sonny Boy Williamson, an inspired album that predated the superstar-laden London Sessions albums by Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf by a decade. Ultimate! nonetheless provides a fine history of the band, an important collection that should please both hardcore collectors and new listeners alike. (Rhino Records, released July 31, 2001)

Review originally published by Alt.Culture.Guide™

The Band's The Last Waltz 40th Anniversary Celebration

It’s one of the most famous shows in rock ‘n’ roll’s long, storied history. On Thanksgiving Day in 1976, roots-rock legends The Band took the stage at the Winterland Theatre in San Francisco, California for their farewell concert. Filmed with a whopping seven 35mm cameras by acclaimed director Martin Scorsese, the show was released theatrically in April 1978 as The Last Waltz, widely considered one of the greatest concert films ever made. The concert also spawned the release of a three-LP live set that peaked at #16 on the Billboard album chart.

The members of The Band – Levon Helm, Rick Danko, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel, and Robbie Robertson – were joined during the concert by a literal “who’s who” of mid-‘70s rock and blues royalty, including Bob Dylan, Muddy Waters, Eric Clapton, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Ronnie Hawkins, Ron Wood, Ringo Starr, Neil Diamond, and Van Morrison, among others. The concert overall lasted better than five hours, and a lot of performances were cut from the final film, including two improvised jam sessions, the first of which included Clapton, Young, Wood, and Chicago blues legend and the other including the aforementioned artists plus guitarist Stephen Stills.

On November 11th, 2016 Rhino Records will celebrate the 40th anniversary of The Last Waltz with the release of three new reissues, including the first pairing of the audio and video in a single set. The Last Waltz 40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition is a four-CD plus Blu-Ray set that includes the complete audio recording of the concert (54 tracks), including rehearsals and outtakes along with the complete film on Blu-Ray disc. This set includes a number of rare performances that didn’t show up on the original soundtrack album, including Joni Mitchell singing “Furry Sings The Blues” and “All Our Past Times,” with Clapton and Dr. John’s “King Harvest (Has Surely Come).” Limited to 2,500 copies this edition includes new liner notes by David Fricke and Ben Fong-Torres.

For those that just want the music, love vinyl, and don’t care much about the visuals, the complete audio recording from The Last Waltz, including rehearsals and outtakes, will also be released as a six-LP set pressed on 180gram vinyl and packaged in an ornate lift-top box. For those on a budget, the original soundtrack will be released as a two-CD set, newly re-mastered from the original master tapes. Finally, for those with deep pockets, there’s The Last Waltz 40th Anniversary Collector’s Edition, which will be released on December 9th, 2016 in a limited edition of 2,500 copies worldwide.

This set includes the entire audio recording of the concert and the film on Blu-Ray (like the ‘deluxe edition’) and features a second Blu-Ray disc with rarely seen vintage ‘90s interviews with Scorsese and Robbie Robertson and a 5.1 audio mix of the original album. The 'Collector’s Edition' also includes a red faux-leather bound 300 page book with a full replication of Scorsese’s shooting script, rare photos, set sketches, fold-out storyboards, and a foreword by Scorsese. It’s all in all a pretty swank presentation of a top drawer event…check 'em all out on the Rhino Records website.

Buy the CD from Amazon.com: The Band's The Last Waltz 40th Anniversary Edition (4 CD+Blu-Ray)

Rhino Records celebrates Rocktober with Vinyl Reissues!

Archival specialists Rhino Records has announced their first ever “Rocktober” celebration, the label planning on releasing limited-edition vinyl reissue of some classic – and some not-so-classic – rock ‘n’ roll albums throughout the month of October. The party kicks off on Tuesday, October 4th, 2016 with an über-cool slate of titles that includes Deep Purple’s Machine Head and Twisted Sister’s Stay Hungry.

The celebration continues throughout the month, each Tuesday bringing a brand new batch of vinyl goodies from the likes of the Stooges, the Small Faces, Iron Butterfly, ZZ Top, and the Flamin’ Groovies, among others. These audio flapjacks will only be available at participating brick and mortar record stores, so fluff up your sleeping bag and get ready to camp out overnight to buy the cheap thrills vinyl of your choice from the handy list below.

October 4th
• Deep Purple – Machine Head (clear vinyl, limited edition of 2500 copies, $21.98 list) *
• Foreigner – 4 (red colored vinyl, limited edition of 2400 copies, $19.98 list) *
• Jet – Get Born (180gr black vinyl, $21.98 list) +
• Twisted Sister – Stay Hungry (pink & black starburst colored vinyl w/band poster, limited edition of 2500 copies, $21.98 list) *

October 11th
• Iron Butterfly – Heavy (stereo version, 180gr black vinyl, $19.98 list)
• ZZ Top – Eliminator (red colored vinyl, $19.98 list)

October 18th
• Alice Cooper – Billion Dollar Babies (green, yellow & orange marble vinyl w/one billion dollar bill insert, limited edition of 3000 copies, $24.98 list) *
• Small Faces – First Step (orange vinyl, $19.98 list)
• The Stooges – The Stooges (gold & brown colored vinyl, $19.98 list)

October 25th
• Buckcherry – 15 (10th anniversary vinyl edition, $19.98 list) *
• Heaven & Hell – The Devil You Know (two-LP set on dark orange & gold colored vinyl w/band poster and etching on side four, limited edition of 2000 copies, $27.98 list) *
• T-Rex – T-Rex (remastered vinyl & CD release, $19.98 list each) +
• The Flamin’ Groovies – Groovies Greatest Grooves (two-LP vinyl set, $27.98 list)

* Only available in the U.S.
+ Only available in North America