I reckon, when it all comes down to it, and if you really really wanted me to answer, Iād say this was my favourite record. Itās almost definitely the one Iāve listened to the most.
When I was 15/16 in about 2000, I was coming out of my massive Britpop phase and listening pretty much exclusively to Nirvana and RATM. Then me and my mate James read one of those Q (I think) hundred greatest albums of the last century lists and he said that he had a copy of FC somewhere his dad had given him and we should give it a go. That exact moment is probably responsible for about 75-80% of my music taste now. From the very first listen I was absolutely captivated by this bizarre, brooding, joyous, astonishing thing.
The fact that Arthur Lee was 21 when FC was written is absolutely mind-boggling to me. The mix of the mundane, the spiritual, the emotional, the surreal and the abstract in the lyrics is incredible and there are still lines you really notice for the first time years after first listening. At itās heart, Forever Changes is a psychedelic pop record. Through all the intensity, the dark themes, the turbulence surrounding itās recording, itās a melodic masterpiece and the songs will stay with you for hours, days afterwards.
Alone Again Or is one of the strongest album openers of all time, and You Set The Scene is THE best closer (beating Jungleland into a close second). Maybe The People Would Be The Timesā¦ is lyrically wonderful and playful and stands out as probably my favourite on there. Yeah, there are a couple of individual tracks that drag a little (Old Man and The Good Humour Manā¦ for me) but as a whole entity itās perfect.
I saw Arthur Lee do FC in full in Exeter in 2004 and it remains the best gig Iāve seen. It was in a pretty small venue and the connection between artist and audience was incredible to experience. I grabbed a setlist afterwards and he signed it for me (my friend only had a Ā£5 note available and he refused to sign it cause he didnāt want to āget arrested for disrespecting the queen or some shitā) and itās one of my most prized possessions.
Forever Changes is chameleonic in itās suitability to soundtrack things for me. Happy occasions, sadness, depression, sunny days, long walks, short drives, it fits every mood and thatās a testament to both its complexity and its simplicity I think.
Got to do some work now but that sums it up a bit for me. 10/10, obviously.