''Change No Change'' is the first and only solo album released by Elliot Easton of

The Cars The Cars were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1976. Emerging from the New wave music, new wave Subculture, scene in the late 1970s, they consisted of Ric Ocasek (rhythm guitar), Benjamin Orr (bass guitar), Elliot Easton (l ...

. It was originally released in 1985 by

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the ...

, re-released in 1996 by Elektra Traditions/

Rhino Records A rhinoceros ( ; ; ; : rhinoceros or rhinoceroses), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant taxon, extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates (perissodactyls) in the family (biology), famil ...

, and again released by Wounded Bird in 2006. The original album consists of ten songs written by Easton and

Jules Shear Jules Mark Shear (born March 7, 1952) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He wrote the Cyndi Lauper hit single " All Through the Night", the Bangles' hit " If She Knew What She Wants", and the Ignatius Jones and Allison Moyet ...

, who also contributed background vocals. Easton plays all guitars, including

12-string guitar A twelve-string guitar (or 12-string guitar) is a steel-string guitar with 12 strings in six courses, which produces a thicker, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar. Typically, the strings of the lower four courses are tuned in ...

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in 19th-century India. Khusrau K ...

and

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

(with the exception of Side B, where Brad Hallen plays bass on four of the tracks). The album's producers were Stephen Hague, who had played with Shear in Jules and the Polar Bears, and

synth A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

player Jon Mathias.

Roy Thomas Baker Roy Thomas Baker (10 November 1946 – 12 April 2025) was an English record producer, songwriter and arranger who produced rock and pop songs. Life and career Baker was born in Hampstead, London on 10 November 1946. He began his career at De ...

, who had produced the first four Cars albums, is given thanks in the credits for his encouragement of Easton's solo project, but did not act as a producer. In the liner notes to the Rhino release, both Easton and Shear cite "Wide Awake" as their favorite track from the album, with Shear saying "It has a little fairy dust quality about it with all the singing." The 1996 and 2006 releases feature five tracks from the unreleased debut album by Band of Angels (not to be confused with the mid-1960s English pop group A Band of Angels), a project Easton formed with singer Danny Malone. Easton does not sing lead on these tracks. "Walk on Walden" is an instrumental on 12-string guitar in

drop D tuning Drop D tuning is an alternative form of guitar tuning in which the lowest (sixth) string is tuned down from the usual E of standard tuning by one whole step to D. Therefore, where the standard tuning is E2A2D3G3B3E4 (EADGBe), drop D is D2A2D3G3 ...

Track listing

All songs written by Elliot Easton and

. # "Tools of Your Labor" # "(Wearing Down) Like a Wheel" # "Shayla" # "Help Me" # "(She Made it) New for Me" # "I Want You" # "The Hard Way" # "Fight My Way to Love" # "Change" # "Wide Awake"

Bonus tracks from Band of Angels

# "Lonely is the Dark" (Easton, Danny Malone) # "Walk on Walden" (Easton) # "Long, Long Time" (Easton, Malone) # "Stop the World from Turning" (Easton, Malone) # "Let It Slide" (Easton, Malone, Stan Lynch) Produced by

Engineered by Eddie Delano

Personnel

*Elliot Easton - vocals, guitars, electric sitar, bass * Stephen George - drums *Brad Hallen - bass on tracks 7,8,10 *Stephen Hague - synthesizer *Jon Mathias - additional synthesizer on "Wide Awake", additional backing vocals on "Tools of Your Labor" and "I Want You" *

- background vocals *Danny Malone - vocals on bonus tracks *

Stan Lynch Stanley Joseph Lynch (born May 21, 1955) is an American musician, songwriter and record producer. He was the original drummer for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers for 18 years until his departure in 1994. Early years Lynch was born in Cincinn ...

- drums on bonus tracks *

Benmont Tench Benjamin Montmorency "Benmont" Tench III (born September 7, 1953) is an American musician and singer, and a founding member of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Early years Tench was born in Gainesville, Florida, the second child of Benjamin M ...

- keyboards on bonus tracks

References

{{Authority control Elliot Easton albums 1985 debut albums Albums produced by Roy Thomas Baker Albums produced by Stephen Hague Elektra Records albums Rhino Entertainment albums Avant-pop albums