The best and worse thing about Ben Harper's career has been his willingness and need to be stylistically eclectic. Everything from acoustic folk to heavy guitar rock (with stops into pure pop, soul, gospel, reggae and pretty much any other genre you could think of) has been well represented and while it's certainly a great display of his talents, it hasn't always added up to fully cohesive albums. That has changed with Give Till It's Gone, the most fully formed album of Harper's career.
The main reason the album holds together so well is a lyrical focus on heartbreak and the dissolution of a long term relationship. The natural aching in Harper's voice is perfect for lighter songs like ""Don't Give Up On Me Now, "Feel Love" and "Pray That Our Love Sees the Dawn." It also gives an emotional attachment to the loud rockers ""Waiting on a Sign" and "Dirty Little Lover". When he lets loose on the closing "Do It For You, Do It For Us" the pain in his screams seems very well deserved. Give Till It's Gone is not all heartbreak and depression, the joyous rocking lead single "Rock 'N' Roll Is Free" (which may or may not be about music piracy) is a nice detour into pure rock and lyrical hopefulness.
Give Till It's Gone may not have been born under the greatest personal circumstances for Ben Harper but we all know heartbreak is great inspiration and the results here are a fantastic album. It may not be the most purely enjoyable of Harper's career but it is the most personal and holds together as a work of art than anything else he's previosly done.
Rating: 4.5
Track Listing:
1. "Don't Give Up On Me Now" (3:32)
2. "I Will Not Be Broken" (5:04)
3. "Rock 'N' Roll Is Free" (4:21)
4. "Feel Love" (3:46)
5. "Clearly Severely" (4:52)
6. "Spilling Faith" (3:31)
7. "Get There From Here" (5:54)
8. "Pray That Our Love Sees the Dawn" (4:41)
9. "Waiting on a Sign" (5:00)
10. "Dirty Little Lover" (4:46)
11. "Do It For You, Do It For Us" (4:27)
No comments:
Post a Comment