Ben Harper - Both sides of the gun!

Woodstock69

I just heard the album , and can't take it out of my player : the first CD is totally acoustic and only ballads but the second one is GREAT and very funky . my favourites are "Black rain" a song he wrote about what happened in new orleans , and "Don't talk about murder" is a rock blues country mixture and a geat slide solo! and the best song , one of the best in the Ben Harper catalogue is "Serve your soul" maybe a tribute to "Led Zeppelin" one of his influences , the song recalls one of their hits "No quarter" excelent album !!

offhegoes09

did they move the release date up or something? I thought it was supposed to come out this coming Tuesday, but I got it at Target yesterday...
I found that to be a bit odd.

Woodstock69

offhegoes09 wrote:

did they move the release date up or something? I thought it was supposed to come out this coming Tuesday, but I got it at Target yesterday...
I found that to be a bit odd.

No it's comming out tommorow i think! I got a copy from a friend who's working in a Rock Magazine ! they recieved it last week for reviews !!!

offhegoes09

No, I realize that the official release date is today, but I was at Target on Saturday, and picked it up 3 days early. So I was just wondering if they moved it up or if Target just screwed the pooch.

murph83

just ordered from futureshop, can't wait to get it!

citizen_drew

Cool. The girl behind me just told me he's playing a free show at Amoeba Records tonight if anyone is around Los Angeles.

I'll have to give it a listen.

Ott

The Bonus disc has some good tracks, too. "Get it like you like it"-- great couple of baseball lines for the beginning of Spring. Talks about Damon exorcising the curse. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

After listening again, that tune is on one of the reg discs, too. The bonus is a live acoustic version. This is frustrating; I need my music loud and I'm stuck at work. Sucks to buy a new CD and not be able to really hear it right yet. Boo-hoo for Ott.

Thumbing My Way

I was at a store in BC this weekend and they played Better Way which I had heard already, then song 2 and 3 were both Ben so I asked if they had it?? And they did!!! But only a listening copy that they wouldn't sell me, I did manage to touch it though and I stayed in the store until it was over, they thought I was a weirdo!!!

Anyway, I liked my first listen

I was pumped I got to hear it early too!!!!

marc34

I knew I forgot to do something after work....Oh well of to the record store after dinner

solat9

The slower CD is 10 times better than the other one.

CM1847

The second, or first I don't really know, disc is really in your face politically. Almost all of the songs are about the government and make no attempts to hide his feelings. The most open and direct anti-government album I've heard. That will turn some people off for sure.

I like the music on that disc, good stuff. It feels a lot like the majority of "Diamonds on the Inside" which is an album I love, so that is a good thing. Haven't listened to the entire other disc yet(the slower/love song one), but it sounds like it will be good.

They had a special edition with a 3rd disc, but it was double the price for just one extra disc(only 6 songs). Too bad, I would have liked to pick it up, but not at that price.

nomad

The new Ben Harper is excellent. Much better than anything I've heard on the Avocado album (thus far). It's not as good as No Code, though.

Thumbing My Way

I Love it so far!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I bought the Special Edition with the bonus disc

I'm so excited !!!!

LedZepFan

good stuff, i think this will probably become my favorite Harper album

UKpearljammer

I got it, only heard the first disk in the car as no home cd player at the mo. I'm trying to put on my mp3 player but no luck as yet. Any ideas how to? I hate this copyright protection stuff, I mean I understand and all but I buy my music, I bought this album and I just wanna put it on my player without all this hassle.

even flow?

Haven't listened to side one as the new Prince album took some time on the stereo. Very good album Prince!!

But I listened to the second disc of Ben's and it was like putting on music from yesteryear where nobody cared if the album sounded the same from song to song. Right on Mr. Harper!

VEDHEAD27

This album is absolutely beeeeautiful. I wouldn't expect anything less from Beautiful Ben. The gorgeous soul can do no wrong and has yet to disappoint me. In my opinion, when you have it ,you HAVE IT...and Ben has an never-ending supply of heart, SOUL, funk, SPIRIT, feeling, honesty, PASSION, compassion, intensity, POETRY, TALENT and BEAUTY ...which in turn leads to an endless supply amazing music!!! The soul and feeling behind the music is sooooooo powerful. It always manages to makes me tear up and gives me chills. The beautiful man is always consistant with bringing us gorgeous albums overflowing with incredible musicianship! And it all just keeps getting better and better!


I currently cannot get passed...

*Picture In A Frame
*Reason To Mourn
*Crying Won't Help You Now





I love this man! This album SHINES and I know it's only gonna get brighter and brighter with each listen.

CM1847

Started getting into the softer/peace/love/white/whatever disc more. It is really good, "Picture in a Frame" caught me the most immediately, that is a very good song. The instrumental reminds me of "Field of Gold" by String for some reason, I could do without it.

I still like the rocking/funky/war/hate/black/whatever disc a little more right now. I love his style of rock and he gives 9 really good examples of it on that disc.

Good album overall, it beats my expectations so far.

VEDHEAD27

Agreed CM1847! Yeah, Picture in a Frame caught me right away too! It took me quite awhile to stop repeating it.


Speaking of hearing other songs in some of the songs...I keep hearing You Shook me all night long ~ AC/DC in Engraved Invitation.

Better Way ~> L-O-L-A...LOLA


But his style really is all his own. There's so many layers to it! I'm loving the variety of sound in this gem!! Yeah, the way he set it up to flow like this too is brilliant! Makes you really appreciate that imo.

*sigh*

Ah Ben! You're beautiful.

10_pearljam

Woodstock69 wrote:

I just heard the album , and can't take it out of my player : the first CD is totally acoustic and only ballads but the second one is GREAT and very funky . my favourites are "Black rain" a song he wrote about what happened in new orleans , and "Don't talk about murder" is a rock blues country mixture and a geat slide solo! and the best song , one of the best in the Ben Harper catalogue is "Serve your soul" maybe a tribute to "Led Zeppelin" one of his influences , the song recalls one of their hits "No quarter" excelent album !!

agree...great 3 disc set!

giventoyfly316

I love a good portion of the "Diamonds on the Inside" album, particular the titular track, and really dig the acoustic disc of the "Live from Mars" double album. However, "Fight for Your Mind" is very hit and miss (far more misses than hits) for me even though it contains the best collective Ben Harper lyrics I've ever read. Far too often, Ben's vocals inspire complete indifference in me even though I know he's capable of more. For example, the live version I've heard of "Excuse Me Mr." is amazing, but the album version just puts me to sleep.

So far, I've heard the hard/rock disc from "Both Sides of the Gun". I like "Black Rain", "Better Way", "Gather Round the Stone", and "The Way You Found Me". "Please Don't Talk About..." is growing on me, though I've heard various others wearing their Stones' influences on their sleeves and sound far more energetic doing it. I appreciate "Get It Like You Like It", a Wallflowers-esque number, but the lyrics annoy me and I'm not even a Yankees fan. Of course, I don't like Fogerty's "Center Field" so my track record with baseball songs isn't good I guess. My take on the harder disc is that ultimately Ben is still a little too mellow for his own good. He's at his best with mid-tempo numbers, both musically and vocally, no matter what genre he's dabbling in. However, when he tries to go beyond that (and even sometimes when it's still just a mid-tempo number) to my ear it sounds like every facet of the song could use a real kick in the ass. Do you really ask Cat Stevens to crank it up to 11 though? For what it is I did like around 6 of 9 songs. That's not bad. Plus, I respect and agree with what he's saying in "Black Rain", "Better Way", and "Gather Round the Stone". That doesn't hurt.