Beware (Bonnie Prince Billy album)

Beware
Studio album by Bonnie "Prince" Billy
Released	March 17, 2009 (2009-03-17)
Genre	Americana, alternative country, indie folk
Length	46:02
Label	Drag City
Bonnie "Prince" Billy chronology
Lie Down in the Light (2008) Beware (2009) The Wonder Show of the World (2010)

Beware is a studio album by Will Oldham. It was released under the moniker Bonnie "Prince" Billy on Drag City in 2009.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	74/100 [1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Drowned in Sound	4/10 [3]
Entertainment Weekly	B+ [4]
Pitchfork	7.9/10 [5]
PopMatters	4/10 [6]
Rolling Stone	[7]
Spin	[8]
The Skinny	[9]
Toro	7.5/10 [10]
Uncut	[11]

Critical response to Beware was generally favorable and positive. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 74 ("Generally favorable reviews"), based on 32 professional reviews, and the average user rating for the album is 8.5 (out of 10) based on 12 users' votes. ^[12] Ben Ratliff of The New York Times gave a positive review of the album, writing: "There's a sense here of smart people being made to focus on a strange project." ^[13]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Will Oldham.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Beware Your Only Friend"	4:01
2.	"You Can't Hurt Me Now"	3:42
3.	"My Life's Work"	3:53
4.	"Death Final"	3:01
5.	"Heart's Arms"	3:26
6.	"You Don't Love Me"	3:09
7.	"You Are Lost"	2:55
8.	"I Won't Ask Again"	4:26
9.	"I Don't Belong to Anyone"	3:15
10.	"There Is Something I Have to Say"	3:19
11.	"I Am Goodbye"	2:21
12.	"Without Work, You Have Nothing"	3:45
13.	"Afraid Ain't Me"	4:49

• Tracks 12–13 were only available on the initial pressing and have been removed from subsequent pressings. These tracks have been released as a digital download single and the new eleven-track version of Beware has an alternative cover. These changes were instigated by Will Oldham who felt that I Am Goodbye is more suitable as the final track. ^[14]

Personnel

• Will Oldham – music

Backing band

• Joshua Abrams – bass guitar, guimbri, vocals
• Jennifer Hutt – violin, vocals
• Emmett Kelly – guitar, keyboards, vocals
• Michael Zerang – percussion, marimba, drums, vocals

Special guests

• Greg Leisz – mandolin, pedal steel guitar
• Rob Mazurek – cornet
• Dee Alexander – vocals
• Leroy Bach – organ
• Jim Becker – banjo
• Robert Cruz – accordion
• D.V. DeVincentis – saxophone
• Jon Langford – vocals
• Nicole Mitchell – flute
• Azita Youssefi – piano, synthesizer
• Neil Strauch – engineering, mixing
• Paul Oldham – mastering
• Sammy Harkham – back cover, label design
• Dan Osborn – layout design
• Jeff Hamilton – cover illustration

Charts

Chart	Peak position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [15]	69
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [16]	21
Danish Albums (Hitlisten) [17]	29
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [18]	67
French Albums (SNEP) [19]	124
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [20]	66
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [21]	28
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [22]	58
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [23]	60
UK Albums (OCC) [24]	71
US Billboard 200 [25]	114

References

1. "Beware by Bonnie "Prince" Billy". Metacritic . Retrieved October 2, 2016.
2. Beware at AllMusic
3. "Drowned In Sound review". Archived from the original on February 15, 2009. Retrieved March 19, 2009.
4. Entertainment Weekly review
5. Pitchfork review
6. Popmatters review
7. Rolling Stone review
8. Spin review
9. The Skinny review
10. "Toro review". Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
11. Uncut review ^{[ permanent dead link ]}
12. "Bonnie 'Prince' Billy:Beware (2009): Reviews". Metacritic . Retrieved March 19, 2009.
13. "New CDs (Published 2009)". The New York Times . Archived from the original on May 2, 2019.
14. Alan Licht (Ed.) (2012), Will Oldham on Bonnie 'Prince' Billy. Faber and Faber Ltd., London, pp. 294-5. ISBN   978-0-571-25814-7.
15. "Austriancharts.at – Bonnie+%22Prince%22+Billy – Beware" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
16. "Ultratop.be – Bonnie+%22Prince%22+Billy – Beware" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
17. "Danishcharts.dk – Bonnie+%22Prince%22+Billy – Beware". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
18. "Dutchcharts.nl – Bonnie+%22Prince%22+Billy – Beware" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
19. "Lescharts.com – Bonnie+%22Prince%22+Billy – Beware". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
20. "Offiziellecharts.de – Bonnie+%22Prince%22+Billy – Beware" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
21. "Norwegiancharts.com – Bonnie+%22Prince%22+Billy – Beware". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
22. "Swedishcharts.com – Bonnie+%22Prince%22+Billy – Beware". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
23. "Swisscharts.com – Bonnie+%22Prince%22+Billy – Beware". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
24. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
25. "bonnie-prince-billy Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved February 15, 2019.

External links

• Beware at Discogs (list of releases)