''Changes'' is the third album released by American funk/

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...

singer Charles Bradley, released on April 1, 2016 on Daptone Records. The title track on the album is a cover of the

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...

song of the same name and was first released as a

Record Store Day Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". The day brings together fa ...

Black Friday single in 2013.

Critical reception

The album was released to positive critical reception with an aggregate score of 80 on

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

based on 17 reviews. ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

'' awarded the album a score of 7.1, with music critic Jay Balfour describing the album as Bradley's "most straightforward and best to date".

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

awarded the album a positive review, stating that "the rough-hewn power of Bradley's voice is at its most powerful, and there's a fierce sense of longing and need in this music that's almost tactile in its realism". ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

Kitty Empire Kitty Empire is the pen name of a British writer and music critic, currently writing for ''The Observer''. Early life Empire says that she was born in Montreal, Quebec in 1970 and brought up in Canada, Italy and Egypt before arriving in Britain ...

awarded the album 3 stars, likening Bradley to Al Green, while critic Steve Horowitz from ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

'' praised Bradley's vocal style, describing him as "the closest living equivalent to

ames Ames may refer to: Places United States * Ames, Arkansas, a place in Arkansas * Ames, Colorado * Ames, Illinois * Ames, Indiana * Ames, Iowa, the most populous city bearing this name * Ames, Kansas * Ames, Nebraska * Ames, New York * Ames, Ok ...

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model us ...

" and concluding that "Bradley sings of his aches and pleasures with such conviction that he makes one believe this is possible". The album also received praise from a number of other musical publications, including ''

American Songwriter ''American Songwriter'' is a bimonthly magazine covering songwriting. Established in 1984, it features interviews, songwriting tips, news, reviews and lyric contest. The magazine is based in Nashville, Tennessee. History The ''American Songwri ...

'', ''

Record Collector ''Record Collector'' is a British monthly music magazine. It was founded in 1980 and distributes worldwide. History The early years The first standalone issue of ''Record Collector'' was published in March 1980, though its history stretches ba ...

'' and '' Paste''.

Accolades

Track listing

Personnel

* Charles Bradley – vocals

Menahan Street Band

* Victor Axelrod – piano/vibraphone * Thomas Brenneck – guitar/

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

/organ/percussion * Nick Movshon –

* Homer Steinweiss – drums * Michael Deller – organ * David Guy – trumpet * Leon Michels – saxophone/organ/flute

The Budos Band

* Jared Tankel – baritone saxophone * Thomas Brenneck – electric guitar * John Carbonella Jr. – congas, drums * Mike Deller – organ * Daniel Foder –

* Andrew Greene – trumpet * Rob Lombardo –

bongos Bongos ( es, bongó) are an Afro-Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of small open bottomed hand drums of different sizes. They are struck with both hands, most commonly in an eight-stroke pattern called ''martillo'' (hammer). The ...

, congas * Brian Profilio – drums * Dame Rodriguez – percussion

The Gospel Queens

Naomi Shelton Naomi Davis Shelton (born Naomi Virginia Davis; October 14, 1942 – February 17, 2021) was an American gospel, blues, funk, and soul musician, who played traditional black gospel, deep funk, northern soul and rhythm and blues styles o ...

– leading vocals * Cliff Driver – pianist * Bobbie Jean Gant – background vocals * Edna Johnson – background vocals * Gabriel Caplan – guitars * Fred Thomas – bass * Michael Post – drums

Additional Musicians

* Raynier Jacildo – Organ on “God Bless America” * William Schalda Jr. – Piano, Organ & Mellotron on "Things We Do For Love"

References

{{Authority control 2016 albums Charles Bradley (singer) albums Daptone Records albums