Changing Horses

Ben Kweller | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 3, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2009
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Ato Records / Red
• ASIN: B001N2Z414
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #42,650 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Gypsy Rose

2. Old Hat

3. Fight

4. Hurtin' You

5. Ballad Of Wendy Baker

6. Sawdust Man [Multimedia Track]

7. Wantin' Her Again

8. Things I Like To Do

9. On Her Own

10. Homeward Bound

Editorial Reviews

2009 release, an all-analog recording that was tracked to 2" tape, with limited overdubs. Over the course of his three studio albums, Ben Kweller has become known as a top-shelf purveyor of the powerhouse pop song. But on Changing Horses, the 27-year-old Greenville, TX, native has gone back to his roots, saying "Some of the first songs I wrote as a kid, before I got into Punk Rock and underground bands, were Country songs." Changing Horses (whose title refers not only to taking on a new musical genre, but also to relocating his family to Austin, TX) reflects that period. 10 tracks.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Ben Kweller's Changing Horses February 7, 2009

By The Headphone Transmissions

Format:MP3 Music|Amazon Verified Purchase

Ben Kweller is an all-around fantastic musician with a surprisingly large underground fanbase. He's multi-instrumentally talented, and on this and past records, he shows us his versatility in that area. His first album in 3 years, Changing Horses is an risky experiment for Kweller, transitioning from contemplative, mid-tempo piano pop to a country sound. I won't over-pun such a title with excessive remarks regarding Kweller's genre change on Changing Horses; although, it is easy to do. Anyhow, the switch has been made and the stage is set. All we need now are the results.

Changing Horses starts warmly; a lengthy B note, followed by Kweller's convincing vocal slides and scoops. "Gypsy Rose," Kweller's opener, is a naturally successful track, utilizing traditionalistic country lyric phrases and solid, complementary rhythmic devices. The melody is sleepy, but sufficient, and is very pleasant.

Kweller's vocal performance is respectably polished throughout Changing Horses; especially on mid-tempo, country ballad "Hurtin' You" and bittersweet love lament "Ballad of Wendy Baker." Not only is the way he sings refined, but what he sings is also impressive, focusing on poetic description and artistic originality. "Old Hat" exemplifies this mellifluously with lines such as "My tornado, love, tore it all down / Now I am face down in all this muddy guilt," while the slow but steady musical accommodations really drive the emotion home.

Always considered a musician who focuses on his melodies, Kweller breaks all kind of melodic barriers on the record; first, by keeping his melodies retainable and enjoyable; second, by carefully crafting his hooks; and last, by dishing out countless surprises.... "Gypsy Rose," "Sawdust Man," and "Fight" all exhibit strong, likable tunes, while "Wantin' Her Again" and "Things I Like To Do" disclose hook-based melodies (both additionally appealing). He then keeps it interesting with other clever creations, like the melody in "On Her Own."

Changing Horses is meticulously consistent, seamlessly flowing between funky, mid-tempo tunes to gospelesque anthems to evocative, heartfelt offerings. "Homeward Bound" is a compelling end cap for the brief album, and is executed carefully, tying up any and all loose ends.

The only complaint I hold against the record is its lack of personal proximity. In other words, it feels noticeably distant, especially compared to Kweller's other works. The songs themselves are substantial enough, though, to maintain a favourable outlook on the album as a whole. For this, I give Ben Kweller credit, where it is obviously due. Country music is his roots, and Changing Horses is a very wholesome homecoming in that sense. Read more ›

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Ben Kweller - Changing Horses 7/10 February 3, 2009

By Rudolph Klapper VINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD

Going country seems to be the cool thing to do nowadays with the alternative/indie set, but on acoustic-hippie hero Ben Kweller's fourth record, it seems much less like an affected art than a natural fit for the former power-pop auteur. The eternally boyish Kweller, more well known for his charmingly earnest lyrics and straightforward guitar-oriented rock `n roll, has always had a vaguely sort of country twang to him, from his slightly accented vocals to his childhood in the Texas heartland, but it hasn't been as wholeheartedly embraced as on the metamorphosis that is Changing Horses. Hey, if Jessica Simpson can do it, Kweller certainly had a decent shot at pulling it off.

Kweller makes it a point to let the listener know that things have changed right off the bat, with the folksy riff that opens the album on "Gypsy Rose" and his fragile, lilting vocals announcing "now you've got me goin' / somewhere no one could find." No more bland guitar anthems or tongue-in-cheek pop toss-offs for this Ben; "Gypsy Rose" and the following "Old Hat" are as country as anything you're likely to hear out of Nashville, but Kweller's endearing accent and tasteful instrumentation, replete with pedal steel guitar, saloon-style piano, and soft drum brushes, make this more of an admirable emulation than a hubristic parody.

Indeed, it's Kweller's respect for old-school country that makes Changing Horses such an interesting and authentic experience, especially for those familiar with his past work. Kweller takes the standard conventions of country and does more than passable imitations of them, such as on the entertaining backwoods barroom sing-a-long "Fight," where he extols the listener to "fight `til your dying day" amidst a honky-tonk piano and multi-tracked harmonies.... Like Conor Oberst's latest works and Ryan Adams' forays into alt-country, Kweller has a good understanding of Americana folk tradition and music, imbuing his vocals with the proper amount of longing and grief on ballads like "Hurtin' You" and calling up images of that great American symbol, the road, on driving guitar-and-drum based rhythms like the surging closer "On Her Own." Occasionally, he might get a little too country for some longtime fans' tastes, such as the corny love ode of "Things I Like To Do," but, with all due respect to his previous work, it's nice to hear a change-up every other album or so.

Changing Horses does suffer, however, from what afflicts practically every Ben Kweller album; it remains on a one-track mind the whole way through. Much as Sha Sha or On My Way played the same brand of witty pop rock for twelve or so songs, so does Changing Horses relentlessly maintain the country shtick for the entire length of the record, with little to no variation. Kweller's fairly vanilla lyrics, which detail love lost or love won or love in some way shape or form throughout most of the album, don't exactly help in differentiating the songs from each other, but they don't necessarily detract from the material either.

For an experiment in form, Changing Horses is an undeniable success. For an artistic accomplishment, it falls a little short in its strict adherence to the standard country formula of tear-in-my-beer lyrics and pedal-steel guitar. Songs like the `60s pop-meets-redneck-guitar-picker "Sawdust Man" and the haunting strings and bubbling bass of "The Ballad of Wendy Baker," however, prove that country doesn't have to suck, and that Kweller more than makes for an acceptable country-rock tunesmith. Maybe next time he'll trot out an entire album of Afro-Caribbean jazz...dare to dream! Read more ›

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Daring change but it pays off March 28, 2009

By Paul Allaer TOP 100 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD

As a long time Ben Kweller fan, let me admit upfront that I was somewhat (ok, a lot) sceptical of Kweller's rumored full embrace of country-twang for the new album. I mean, Kweller's 2004 album "On My Way" was a favorite of mine, and that was as far away as you can be from country-twang.

"Changing Horses" (10 tracks; 36 min.) plows full head into the country-twang, and when I had heard one track before its release I feared the worst. Having heard the full album now, I can tell you that my fear was unfounded. Sure, it's quite a departure from Ben's earlier albums, but somehow it works. There are no particular highlights or lowlights on this album, the short tracks swimmingly flow from one into another, and either the overall sound will attract you, or it won't. For me, it worked. The album reminds me a lot of Ryan Adams' "Jacksonville City Nights" album incidentally.

In all, I quite like "Changing Horses", despite my early scepticims. That said, this being such a radical departure from Ben Kweller's earlier albums, it really makes me wonder what is next for Kweller. Is this just a one album departure, or is this the direction that Kweller has decided to go on from now? Time will tell.

4.0 out of 5 stars aptly titled album, another winner February 13, 2013

By Donald E. Gilliland

Format:Audio CD

Looking at the back cover of the CD and reading the statement: "These songs have been collecting themselves for 13 years" led me to think that this album was some sort of hodge-podge of old songs that he hadn't released yet. But no, this is not an odds & sods collection, but a new batch of tunes (perhaps long percolating in Kweller's head) that was released in 2008.

Okay, this doesn't sound like the more pop-rock-centric vibe on Ben Kweller other albums, but these folk-country-rock tunes still have Kweller's distinctive stamp on them. While the songs are more acoustic based, even featuring pedal steel and dobro, to my ears this still isn't a terribly radical departure for him, but more of a natural "change" in style. And it works because of Kweller's deft songwriting skills and those distinctive vocals. I don't think this would be the best album with which to start a Ben Kweller collection, but it's one that should please most of his fan base.