83. Love — Da Capo (1967)

Frame it up

1. This is an interesting record, though not particularly great. You’ve got an influx of baroque sounds — harpsichord, flute, etc — making this perhaps the first major chamber pop record? It messes around with form a bunch too; the album is seven songs long, the first six of which constitute the first side of the record and the seventh of which is nearly twenty minutes long. The effect of all of this doesn’t really impress me; it’s bombastic for the sake of bombast, not for any greater purpose.
2. The album isn’t a total dud; middle track “Seven and Seven Is” genuinely rips, a vision of a punk band that Love just didn’t seem to want to be. That 20-minute closing track, “Revelation,” has its moments. On a whole, though, this album is a bit pretentious for my taste, without earning that pretention.
3. Speaking of pretentious bands — Love’s major claim to fame is actually that they helped launch The Doors career. To be honest, I’m not entirely sure what this record is doing on the 1001. It’s not the worst album on the list, but I fail to see any greater value in it that merits its inclusion.

One Essential Song:

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