In a way, I've never heard of Love but also in a way I've been hearing them all along. So many bands have covered their songs and I just wasn't aware. I mean i've seen their name/logo places but had always assumed it was some beatley thing. I'm a bit disappointed it took me this long to actually discover this band. I mean I'm not in love (no pun) with everything here but the basic early tracks are all great in a good time, sing-a-long with some heart jams. The too loud driving bass lines carry these songs with jangly guitars strumming behind Arthur Lee's vocals which ranges between shouting, singing and crooning and any assortment of the three but always remaining catchy and memorable. I can hear his voice in both Chuck Mosley and Angelo Moore, two other influential LA bands (from another era). I'm usually not one to pick up Best Ofs but the price was right and I was taking a risk considering I was purchasing a CD based on a cover version, which more and more I find is how I discover bands these days. "Seven & Seven Is" in my opinion is the stand out track here, I mean there were other more interesting musically but the rawness and punkiness of this track kicks it ahead of most of the other tracks on this collection. "Seven & Seven Is", "My Little Red Book" & "Can't Explain" are probably my favourites and represent what I like most about Love but the flipside is that there are a quite a few of those easy listening crooners on this collection. They're not bad songs but I would rather listen to the version of this band that kicks you in the grill with a hard hitting yet melodic and catchy tune, than what winds up sounding like early 90's Cardigans or a ska-less Specials, funny I know to compare them to the bands that came after and were probably influenced by Love but that's the way it goes when you're writing for a blog called "Finally Checking it Out". These songs also remind me of back in the day when the room was just as important as the instruments in recording, despite the re-mastering job you get a definite sense of space in these songs. I'll just end this review here instead of rambling on how pleasantly surprised I am with this band. Sunday, March 6, 2011
Love
In a way, I've never heard of Love but also in a way I've been hearing them all along. So many bands have covered their songs and I just wasn't aware. I mean i've seen their name/logo places but had always assumed it was some beatley thing. I'm a bit disappointed it took me this long to actually discover this band. I mean I'm not in love (no pun) with everything here but the basic early tracks are all great in a good time, sing-a-long with some heart jams. The too loud driving bass lines carry these songs with jangly guitars strumming behind Arthur Lee's vocals which ranges between shouting, singing and crooning and any assortment of the three but always remaining catchy and memorable. I can hear his voice in both Chuck Mosley and Angelo Moore, two other influential LA bands (from another era). I'm usually not one to pick up Best Ofs but the price was right and I was taking a risk considering I was purchasing a CD based on a cover version, which more and more I find is how I discover bands these days. "Seven & Seven Is" in my opinion is the stand out track here, I mean there were other more interesting musically but the rawness and punkiness of this track kicks it ahead of most of the other tracks on this collection. "Seven & Seven Is", "My Little Red Book" & "Can't Explain" are probably my favourites and represent what I like most about Love but the flipside is that there are a quite a few of those easy listening crooners on this collection. They're not bad songs but I would rather listen to the version of this band that kicks you in the grill with a hard hitting yet melodic and catchy tune, than what winds up sounding like early 90's Cardigans or a ska-less Specials, funny I know to compare them to the bands that came after and were probably influenced by Love but that's the way it goes when you're writing for a blog called "Finally Checking it Out". These songs also remind me of back in the day when the room was just as important as the instruments in recording, despite the re-mastering job you get a definite sense of space in these songs. I'll just end this review here instead of rambling on how pleasantly surprised I am with this band. 
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