Doofy

The twin influences on 'False Start' are Hendrix (who guest features on the opener) and funk - a combination that really makes Love sound like a totally new band this time.

This in itself might not be the worst thing, only the distinct personality of Lee's past song writing is jettisoned and replaced with some very standard genre pastiches and copycat 'rock moves'.

The album is far more listenable than 'Out There'...but possibly even more forgettable and that's despite featuring a song ... read more

Love's wheels start to come off with the 1969 release of double album 'Out Here' where the material remains somewhat catchy but frequently in an inane or charmless way now.

The opening pairing 'I'll Pray For You' and 'Abalony' have awful singalong tra-la-la melodies and naff lyrics. The less said about the flat tone and redundant cynicism of 'Discharged' ('I just received the Purple Heart and I know you're proud of that...our fighting men, our fighting men!') the better.

The best stuff here ... read more

The only direction for Love would be down after an album like 'Forever Changes' and it seems the band were aware of this as they all walked away afterwards...well all except Lee. He brought in an entirely new set of bandmates and went to work on a follow up to 'Forever Changes' that would be worthy of the association.

The pun-tastic 'Four Sail' is what they delivered and what's surprising is this is a very fine attempt at a reboot; the playing is tight and although the writing is less ... read more

'Forever Changes' is one of those 'where did this come from?' fairy dust albums because it sounds like such a radical step up from the level the band had been operating at previously. The instrumental passages are more complex, richer, but sound so natural in how they weave together.

On top of this Arthur Lee's lyrics and vocals mesh in with these melodies like never before and are more successful in projecting his charismatic personality, as well as having a lot more depth to what they're ... read more