The fourth and last album for Elektra Records, Love narrows down in the arrangements with all new members, except for Arthur Lee of course. As a producer, I feel he needed someone else to expand on the sounds. The album is very two guitars, bass, and drums. What makes it unusual is Lee's brilliant singing as well as his superb songwriting. I've been avoiding "Four Sail" (the punning title is bad enough) due that I loved the first three Love albums, and I can't imagine an album without the original band. Now listening to it, I do miss the guys in Love Mark one. Still, songs like "Always See Your Face" is a classic Arthur Lee song/performance. His sense of rhythm with a remembrance of the samba or traces of jazz overtures, he's a writer to me that is very close to Burt Bachrach. I don't think it was an accident that Love recorded his "My Little Red Book," and that there is an aesthetic connection between the two songwriters.
Song wise not that different from the early Love. Lee's songs are hard to pin down, and they're highly sophisticated works. A unique artist, who sounds like no one else. "Four Sail" is not my favorite Love album, but then again, just because it's Arthur Lee, it is a fantastic album in parts. If he had full orchestration on this album, and recorded by someone who is more into textures of sound, this could have been another masterpiece by Love.
No comments:
Post a Comment