Customer Reviews

Ifyoubelievein

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Listening to this collection of demos and the likes from ex-Love man Bryan Maclean you wonder just how good Love would have been if Arthur Lee had let him record these at the time. What heights that band could have reached. These tracks are as fresh now as they were then. The sheer quality of this material is astounding. Please buy this album and encourage him to release the rest of his archive.

One of the finest things to come out of L.A. in the 60's was Love, led by the crazy genius of Arthur Lee who fully eclipsed bandmate Maclean (who wrote 3 or 4 of Love's finest songs) after Bryan left the band nobody heard from him on record again until this `97 release. Bryan's mom found these tapes of his acoustic song demos and the good folks at Sundazed have allowed them to see the light of day. If you love Love, you need this and even if you've never heard of them, this is really good on its own and it helps to unravel the mystery of one of rock & roll's more interesting M.I.A.'s. (it was Jesus not drugs in Bryan's case) Maclean died on Christmas day in 1998.

"ifyoubelievein" is, in a sense, the LOVE record that never was: solo demos and home recordings of fourteen original MacLean songs, all written in the earliest and most vital years of LOVE and all but three virtually unheard in any form since MacLean wrote them over thirty years ago. It took a lot of time for the music on "ifyoubelievein" to end up where it always belonged--on record, as Bryan MacLean originally wrote and envisioned it. And it has been worth the wait. Listen and be forever changed...

If you like Love, you WILL like this album. There are some really beautiful bits on this and the songs sound very intimate and authentic, and romantic, demos or not. Bryan's voice was beautiful and he really knew how to play with time and melody. I love the energy, "vibe", or whatever you want to call it, behind his music and I've listened to most of this album many times. I can't give five stars to a collection of demos, but as other reviewers said, this collection really hints at what could have been, making it all the more poignent.

This is a strange release (1 of 2) that won't immediately ensnare you, especially if you are expecting Forever Changes. My initial reaction to hearing the disc was negative. It's raw. The vocals are a little wonky at times. What made Love great is there, though. There is complexity to the songwriting process. After giving the disc some time, you know why Arthur Lee worked with this guy. You can certainly hear the show tunes and jazz influence that shows up in songs like Orange Skies and Alone Again Or. The changes are odd. Bryan Maclean was unique. I don't play the Maclean demo cds (there are 2 on Sundazed) all of the time, but when I pull them out every once in a while, take a deep breath and really listen, the rough songs are real gems. Interesting for songwriters and Love fans.

Before writing another word it is important to say that Barber John, the first song on this album, would have been among the best songs in the Love catalogue had it been released. Indeed, it is among the most evocative songs recorded in the era of Love.

For fan's of Love, and I remain among the most avid, the tense relationship between Arthur Lee and MacLean was legendary. MacLean felt that he was shoved into the shadows by the dominant Lee.

For those wondering weather MacLean's anger was justified, this album helps to provide an answer: the album as a whole is a disappointment. There are two versions of Alone Again Or and, while it is interesting to hear the early versions, the orchestrated version that leads off Forever Changes is far more moving. It is much the same for Old Man and other songs that made it onto Love disks. An exception is Barber John, noted above. The song, which can only be about the enigmatic persona of Lee, makes this disk a valuable collector's item for anyone who listens to Love.

As for the Lee/MacLean debate, this disk seems to settle the argument: Lee was the unqualified genius that made Love iconic. And yet MacLean, as noted below, did write several of Love's most enduring songs and Lee, after the departure of MacLean, rarely reached the heights he scaled with MacLean in his band.

Great stuff. I can't really find a fault here. Strong tracks include the opener Barber John, Kathleen, People

But, really, its all good. After this, Bryan's stuff came out posthumously, and not all of it is all good. Praise & Worship is probably the best solo album that came out afterwards (The Lamb is on that, which Bryan used to play with Love in the late 70s)

Back to the album: great stuff to listen to, especially if you're a Love fan. Acoustic demos of Alone again or, Old man, Orange Skies (which was sung by Arthur Lee on da capo)

Great liner notes (by Bryan!) Great pix. Helluva a package. Gosh, I can't believe this album came out over 10 years ago. Its a really strong selection of songs, and its sad to consider that songs like this were left off side 2 of da capo and tracks like Revelation were left on

I still wonder why..

VERY highly recommended. Very nice package. Nice songs to give a taste to: Kathleen, People, Old man (versions 1 OR 2!)

This collection of home recordings & demos from Bryan Maclean, the somewhat hidden light of Love eclipsed by the astonishing Arthur Lee, brings home just how much Love owed to Maclean. Not to take away from the fire that was Arthur Lee by any means -- but hearing these deceptively simple, beautiful songs makes one realize how much more Love could have been, if only they'd made it to vinyl then. There's an intertwining of tenderness & intensity to this work, something deeply honest & touching, that epitomizes the best of the 1960s. It's fearless & wholehearted; and even when it's a bit rough-edged, it deserves to be heard as more than just an afterthought to a great band. Not just for fans of Love, but for anyone who appreciates strong songwriting -- recommended!

I've been a fan of LOVE since introduced to Forever Changes back in 1969. That remains my favorite LOVE album, so I was excited when the news that Bryan Maclean had put out an album began to circulate. After seeking it out in record stores for several years, I finally found it here. My disappointment is profound. Instead of new material, all I found was a weak collection of musical doodlings which would have been better off consigned to the trash bin. There is almost nothing even tolerably listenable on this album. Like Simon and Garfunkel, the team of Lee and MacLean was a much stronger unit together than apart.