Vinyl-a-Day 23: Forever Amber - The Love Cycle (Advance, 1969)

Taking its name from the 1944 controversial romance novel of the same name, Forever Amber hailed from Cambridge and after several years on the cover band circuit, recorded this one-off masterpiece for £200. Only 99 copies were pressed in 1969, mostly given away to friends and fans and some sold at shows for a mere £1. By the 1980s, it had become one of the most sought after (and expensive) 60s psychedelic rarities - and remains as such. This is of course the 2020 Guerssen re-issue, and NOT an original. MOJO called it “one of the dozen best British pop albums of the late Sixties.” Record Collector hailed it as a “low-budget, garage band version of the Zombies masterpiece ‘Odessey & Oracle,’ and other critics have made other positive comparisons to early-Bee Gees, The Left Banke and Honeybus. All of these observations are apt and true. You like The Love Cycle. You love The Love Cycle. Your life is meaningless without The Love Cycle. Favorite cuts: "She's Going Away," "All the Colours of My Book,” "Me Oh My" and “My Friend.”