:: Ben Harper - Both Sides Of The Gun

Ben Harper

It‘s easy to get excited by a Ben Harper release, after all really connects with the his fans and listeners and is treated as a musical genius. On his latest 'Both Sides Of The Gun’ Harper has decided to split the album into two discs - one slow, the other faster. It‘s a bold move. After several listens I'm of the opinion he would have been better served trimming off the excess fat and turn it into one truly great album, rather than having two reasonable discs. Most of his previous albums have contained roughly fourteen tracks each, so why not this one? As it stands, the first “slower” CD is Harper at his forlorn best with the songs 'Morning Yearning’ and ‘Waiting For You’ the real stand outs. The former is classic Harper, the latter just heart-breaking. The second CD contains opening single ‘Better Way’ - a vitriolic Harper screamer - which is incredibly strong, along with his spin on the tornado ravaged New Orleans and attack on Bush‘s inept handling of the disaster 'Black Rain’. Other songs of note (from both discs) include ‘Gather Round The Stone’, ‘Reason To Mourn’ and the lovely instrumental ‘Sweet Nothing Serenade’. But there's just no shaking the feeling it would have been better all rolled into one.