Love (Alone Again Or, A House Is Not A Motel) Single

$

50

"Alone Again Or" is a song originally recorded in 1967 by the rock group Love and written by band member Bryan MacLean. It appears on the album Forever Changes, and was released as a single in the USA, UK, Australia, France and Holland.                                                                    MacLean originally wrote the song, then called "Alone Again", in 1965 for Love's debut album. However, he did not complete it until the recording of "Forever Changes" in the summer of 1967. The song was inspired by his memory of waiting for a girlfriend, and the melody drew loosely on Prokofiev's Lieutenant Kije Suite. The essence of the song is the contrast between the positivity of the tune and the bleakness of the lyrics, with the chorus "And I will be alone again tonight, my dear" finishing with a lone acoustic guitar, closing the song with the opening melody that sounds anything but ecstatic.      With Lee now on co-lead vocals, "Alone Again Or" became the opening track of "Forever Changes." It was the sole single released from the album to reach the Billboard singles chart. (Its 1968 B-side was Lee's "A House Is Not A Motel," although the 1970 reissue of the single featured "Good Times" from the 1968 Four Sail album as the B-side) "Alone Again Or", in an edited version in early 1968, initially peaked nationally at No. 123 (and at No. 7 on Los Angeles station KHJ-AM), while the longer, original album version spent three weeks on the singles chart in 1970, peaking at No. 99, according to Joel Whitburn's "Top Pop Singles: 1955-2010."                                                                                                                                                                                                                     The test of time has shown that MacLean’s composition (as well as the recording itself) has become a true classic. In 2010, "Alone Again Or" came in at No. 442 in a poll of the 500 greatest songs of all time conducted by Rolling Stone magazine (it was No.436 in the 2004 poll).   Critic Billy Altman, wrote the following of “Forever Changes” for Amazon.com: "One of rock's most overlooked masterpieces, this third album by the L.A. folk-rock outfit led by inscrutable singer-songwriter Arthur Lee sounds as fresh and innovative today as it did upon its original release in 1968. … (it features) songs that are as sonically subtle and lilting as they are lyrically blunt and harrowing. Add two gems by Love's secret weapon, second guitarist Bryan MacLean ('Alone Again Or' and 'Old Man'), and you've got one of the truly perfect albums in rock history."