I Love You

For reasons that have probably long vanished into the bureaucratic paper shredder, this 1966 Zombies album was issued only in Continental Europe and Asia. In both the U.S. and U.K., there would be no Zombies full-lengths between 1965 (when varying versions of a debut LP appeared in each territory) and their 1968 finale, Odessey & Oracle. I Love You was not an album of material otherwise unavailable in the U.S. or U.K., however, but a collection of singles and LP tracks, all of which had already made it onto the U.S. or U.K. markets in some form, though most of them were taken from 45s that hadn't made it onto LP in either country. If you were a rock & roll fan traveling abroad in the '60s, then, it was quite a find, containing as it did numerous fine obscure mid-'60s flop singles and B-sides, some of which rate among the Zombies' finest work ("Indication," "Gotta Get a Hold of Myself," and "How We Were Before," for starters). Indeed, at the time, "She's Not There" was the only really commonly circulated track, and though "The Way I Feel Inside" had been on their British debut LP, it hadn't been released in the States. The album has very good music, for sure. But ultimately it would be a redundant item in the Zombies collection, save for hardcore collectors, as all of the tracks have been subsequently reissued on numerous other compilations -- the Zombie Heaven box set, for example, including every last one of them. If you love the Zombies enough to treasure this music, there's a good chance you already have all or virtually all of these tracks. ~ Richie Unterberger