Changes Come: Over the Rhine Live

Description

Changes Come: Over the Rhine Live is a live album by the American alternative pop band Over the Rhine, independently released by the band in 2004. “This instamatic sonic snapshot of an Over the Rhine concert was recorded directly through a front-of-house mixing console one night in the Fall of 2003 by our sound engineer Mike Sponarski, aka Spinner. If you weren’t able to join us, this is our little postcard from the edge: Wish you were here.”

Having released an excellent double CD that takes them back to their roots in Ohio Over The Rhine revisit the same territory in this live CD. Over The Rhine will always be Karin Bergquist and Linford Detweiler along with whoever else is with them. On ‘Ohio’ it was pretty much the two of them in an alt-country, acoustic vein but on ‘Changes Come’ they are joined by Paul Moak on guitars, Rick Plant on bass and Will Sayles on drums and together they sound like the “classic” Over The Rhine who made such an impression on their first visit to Greenbelt. The energy that Moak brings to the songs allows Karin to move into rock-chick mode with the rest of the band staying tight and loose behind her. The opener is «Spinning», a ‘Films For Radio’ out-take, featuring Moak on sitar. This moves straight into «Show Me», the first of nine tracks from ‘Ohio’. It starts as a country stroll and ends up sounding like a Crazy Horse thrash. If you have ‘Ohio’ you will enjoy seeing what the songs can become in a live context. If you are new to Over The Rhine this would be as good a place as any to start. [Steven Whitehead, Cross Rhythms, January 2005]

Generally, I’m not all that into live albums. I’ve picked up a few that I’ve enjoyed, but rarely do they find themselves being played repeatedly. Well, when Over the Rhine released their live album Changes Come that pretty much changed everything. The album was recorded at an unknown site on the fall 2003 tour. Most of the set list comes from the recent masterpiece Ohio and dare I say, these songs are even better on the live album than in their previous format. Let’s take a closer look.

The album begins with «Spinning» which is basically an atmospheric piece to set things up for the upgraded version of «Show Me», a country influenced rocker that sets the album off on the right foot. Next we are treated with the gorgeous «She» which is complimented by the ultra gorgeous vocals of Karin Bergquist. This bittersweet, meaninful song was one of the very best from Ohio. The mood is altered a bit (in a good way) when Karin announces, “This is how white girls rap in Ohio” as Over the Rhine launches into «Nobody #1», a prime opportunity for the band to showcase their skills.

Speaking of the band, on this album we have Linford Detweiler on piano, keys, and other such instruments with buttons. Paul Moak plays guitars, pedal steel, and sitar. Rick Plant is on bass and Will Sayles rounds things out behind the drumset. And it should also be mentioned that Karin plays acoustic guitar as well as piano on a few songs.

Moving on with the setlist, «Suitcase» seems full of more longing this time. «Lifelong Fling» is turned into a long jam with a cover of «Ain’t No Sunshine» tacked on to the end to top things off. Karin’s solo performance of «Ohio» seems more full of passion than ever. At this point the band launches into a few older tunes. «All I Need Is Everything» is given a sense of energy that the song has long begged for (even though the previous version on Good Dog, Bad Dog is really good in its own right). «The World Can Wait» is full, beautiful and rocking, and the set closer «When I Go» vies strongly for album highlight with its amazing prolonged ending.

Thankfully, we’ve got an encore on here which is just icing on the cake. «B.P.D.» is easy to enjoy as always. «Cruel & Pretty» seems just a little more peaceful and soothing this time around to the point that when the final note is played, you could be floating on clouds if not careful. As if the rest of the album was just a warm up, the album’s final song «Changes Come» blows pretty much everything out of the water. The painful heartfelt tune is turned into something much more powerful here as the song explodes while Karin sings, “Jesus come, turn our world around.” By the end of the song I was left wondering if I just heard what I thought I did.

Sure enough, Changes Come is the real deal. Not only is it the best live album that I have heard, it very well may be Over the Rhine’s best album. Their sound is captured perfectly and they are given a freedom in this live setting that allows the music to truly soar. [Trae Cadenhead, LocoNotion]

> iTunes (https://music.apple.com/us/album/changes-come-live/444966888)

CD tracklist:

01. Spinning – 3:10
02. Show Me – 4:09
03. She – 4:40
04. Nobody #1 – 4:45
05. Suitcase – 3:32
06. Lifelong Sunshine – 9:36
07. Ohio – 5:08
08. All I Need Is Everything – 4:35
09. The World Can Wait – 6:20
10. When I Go – 10:31
11. B.P.D. – 4:31
12. Cruel & Pretty – 4:38
13. Changes Come – 8:23

CREDITS. Produced by Karin Bergquist and Linford Detweiler. Live recording by Mike Sponarski. Mastered by Mark Hood at Echo Park Studios. Additional Mastering by Michael Stucker. Design by Owen Brock. Photography: Front cover by Michael Wilson, Shaina Rose by Owen Brock, all others courtesy The Detweiler Archive. All songs written by Karin Bergquist and/or Linford Detweiler, except “Ain’t No Sunshine” written by Bill Withers.

Musicians: Karin Bergquist (Voice, Acoustic Guitar, Piano), Linford Detweiler (Piano, Organ, Wurli), Paul Moak (Acoustic and Electric Guitars, Pedal Steel, Sitar, Backing Vocals), Rick Plant (Bass), Will Sayles (Drums).