Love Sculpture ● Forms and Feelings

Confession: I would never name my band Love Sculpture. Then again, I’ve never been in a group called The Human Beans, which is what this UK-based trio started out as when they first formed in 1967. It probably didn’t matter what they called themselves, however, for this short-lived musical venture was a commercial disappointment. Ultimately a showcase for guitarist Dave Edmunds—he of “I Hear You Knocking” fame—Love Sculpture was a blues-influenced hard rock band that recorded two albums for Island Records. Forms and Feelings, the group’s final offering from 1969, is best remembered for its scorching psychedelic version of Aram Khachaturian’s “Sabre Dance” (reworking classical music must have been a fad; the band also turns on its head “Mars” from Gustov Holst’s 1918 orchestral suite “The Planets”). Nothing else on the album comes close to matching the adventurous creativity and instrumental prowess of the aforementioned “Sabre Dance,” although “In the Land of the Few” and the plaintive ballad “Seagull” are decent representations of the band’s original material. By the time Edmunds shreds his way through yet another instrumental piece—“Farandole,” a traditional French dance—the novelty seems to have worn off. Perhaps the band agreed. Love Sculpture disbanded in 1970, its guitarist just months away from solo stardom.

Notes: Here is a 1968 live recording of Love Sculpture's "Sabre Dance:" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIBgRPUcwt4.