Love Story

Lloyd Cole | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 3, 1995)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rykodisc
• ASIN: B0000009PV
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #185,696 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Music that can't be contained on a simple, plastic disc., December 31, 2003

By 

Dull Roaring - See all my reviews

This review is from: Love Story (Audio CD)

When I bought this CD on a whim, I had never even heard of Lloyd Cole. Suffice it to say that I introduced myself to Cole when I was still thoroughly naive of his incredible talent; this was back when I would've thought The Commotions was some kind of debilitating illness, and not his former backup band.

I fell in love with the CD in a slowly-progressive manner similar to the way innocent crushes are formed. To say that I was overwhelmed with admiration from the beginning wouldn't be accurate. Rather, I casually figured this was an album to keep around and spend some time with in the future if the mood seemed right. Soon, I found myself spending more and more time with "Love Story" and before long, there came that pivotal moment in many a CD's lifetime when I "heard" the album for the first time. That's when my devotion to "Love Story" and, more broadly, to Lloyd Cole's music in general, emerged.

After more recent purchases of Cole's though, I can confidently say that "Love Story" is more the exception to his style, than the rule. Certainly, familiarizing one's self with Lloyd Cole by means of "Love Story" is like being introduced to U2 with the "Pop" album. It simply wasn't a portrayal of the past, and this, I believe, is what made some longtime fans look elsewhere, while simultaneously turning some window shoppers like me into dedicated listeners. Where much of Cole's previous projects are guitar-driven, bold works only sparsely tempered by the occasional reflective serenade, "Love Story" is quite the polar opposite. From beginning to end, this is a nocturnal delight, blatantly engineered for the immediate pre-dawn hours. Which is not to assert that this is music to sleep to. On the contrary, the vast majority of these songs are gently melodic, lushly acoustic, and delicately formed within the womb of Cole's undeniable emotion; this disc belongs in your insomnia first-aid kit, next to Everything But The Girl's "Amplified Heart."

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lovin' That Lloyd Cole, July 30, 2000

By 

Compton Roberts (Hamilton, Ontario, CANADA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Love Story (Audio CD)

This is the solo album that fans of Lloyd Cole & the Commotions had long hoped he'd make. After some interesting false starts over the years, Cole finally seemed to be revisited by his songwriting Muse. This isn't "Rattlesnakes", but there is an austere beauty and musical commitment present on every track of this lovely CD. In some ways, it reminds me of vintage Van Morrison or even a Frank Sinatra recording from the 1950s--it is romantic yet knowing, musically well-conceived giving each song just the right instrumental treatment and, as a collection of songs, it has a cohesive mood and tempo. "Love Story" contains what I feel is some of Cole's most intimate singing and his lyrics are wry and sophisticated. Musically, this is probably Cole's finest hour as each song has a memorable melody line and pleasing chord changes. Songs such as "Trigger Happy", "I Didn't Know That You Cared", "Love Ruins Everything" and "Like Lovers Do" get under your skin very quickly and very smoothly. This album won't knock you out at first, but really grows on you after repeated listens. It will receive heavy rotation in your CD player because it lifts, soothes and heals in ways to which the pretentious Lilith Fair set can only aspire. An overlooked gem!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Most Overlooked Artist for the Last Twenty Years, November 3, 2006

By 

Paul Egan "Audio Geek" (Lawrenceville, New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Love Story (Audio CD)

While I'm not a professional musician, I am in the music business (of sorts) - I'm in a principal position for a major audiophile loudspeaker manufacturer, and as such, hear countless recordings from every facet of the music business from all four corners of the earth. Most stuff sucks, some is tolerable, memorable happens a couple of times each year.

This album changed my life. It is one of the most heartbreaking, intelligent, wry, clever, melodic, introspective collections of music you'll ever hear. Why this album isn't among the 100 greatest, most influential recordings on every music reviewers' millenium list continues to baffle me. The juxtapostion of major chords and happy, tuneful melody set to chest cavity exposing lyrics is beyond brilliant. If any one of the four Beatles released this album, it would be their most heralded work.

I'm not (much of) a musician, but I still get jealous for not having written many of these songs myself. And I've never written a song.

Buy this album - if you don't love it, I'll give you your money back.