Love – LOVE***

My Little Red Book/Can’t Explain/A Message To Pretty/My Flash On You/Softly To Me/No Matter What You Do/ Emotions/You I’ll Be Following/Gazing/Hey Joe/Signed DC/Coloured Balls Falling/Mushroom Clouds/And More

The self titled debut album from Californian rock band Love fronted by Arthur Lee. There are hints here of greater things to come from this influential 'underground' group. (US:57)

"Love's 1966 debut album was an excellent sign of things to come. Arthur Lee and company were always an inspired bunch, and it was clear from the start that they would be more than just another band from L.A. Most of their first album consisted of uptempo rock 'n roll numbers inspired by blues of The Rolling Stones and the vibrant, chiming guitars of The Byrds. However, Love had some tricks up their own sleeves that would be more fully realized on their following LPs. They were sufficient to make their debut an interesting - if not classic - album of the sixties."

"Ramshackle mid-60s guitar pop-rock. A promising debut rather than a spectacular one, I would

"While this is pretty uneven and some of the ideas are not fully formed and still sound too much like Byrds wannabes, but there are some bright spots to be had. My Little Red Book is a spot on classic cover of the Bacharach tune. Signed D.C. is an ode (lament) about a former drummer and drug issues. This is by no means a bad album and Love would really wow us with the next two LPs."

"It's a combination of disaffected garage punk, dreamy proto-psych, Byrds influenced folk rock and smart, soulful pop. Arthur Lee's vocals are perched somewhere between wildcat and wise man."

"As a first album, there is really nothing overtly special about this one, but then again, it has the right kind of mix of good tracks and bad tracks that any first album has. In fact, the whole album is your average first album, to be taken in consideration because of what came after it."

"Love is probably mostly remembered for being a collection of what is overall a bunch of pleasant songs."