Da Capo is a groundbreaking yet deeply flawed album. Over half the album is set aside for the regrettable "Revelation", a failed attempt to capture the live sound of the band in the studio. Oddly enough it sounds kind of like the B-side of the Stooges' Fun House, released four years later, only considerably limper sounding. The real price of admission for this album is redeemed by the six songs that comprise the A-side of the album. By themselves they would have made a tidy EP release. In under 18 minutes, Love explores an entire range of emotions from sweet ("Orange Skies") to bitter ("Seven and Seven Is"). Although the cover of the album seems to just be a reproduction of their first album, all songs (even "Revelation") show expanded instrumental development and point the way to Forever Changes, which remedied many of the problems of this album.
I was fortunately enough to get all of the Love albums from a friend a few years ago. It's unfortunate that the band was largely a financial failure and struggled mightily among themselves. However, those that can look past all of that can recognize this band had a lot to offer. Although they almost never left Los Angeles, their influence reached to Europe where some of their music was covered (check out Episode Six's version of "The Castle" if you can find it and note how Ian Gillan compares with Arthur Lee).
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