Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals - Lifeline
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Music CD Cover
Artist: Ben Harper & the Innocent CriminalsEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2007-08-28
Music Label: Virgin Records Us
Soundtracks:
- Fight Outta You
- In the Colors
- Fool for a Lonesome Train
- Needed You Tonight
- Having Wings
- Say You Will
- Younger Than Today
- Put It on Me
- Heart of Matters
- Paris Sunrise #7 [Instrumental]
- Lifeline
Free Music Notes for Lifeline
Free Music Review: Uninspired, flat, lacking dynamics
Hit: 1 Stars
Clearly I'm alone on this Amazon forum in the opinion that this is by far his least interesting album, and I'm a BH completest. I even have his phenomenal 'Pleasure and Pain' acoustic album with Tom Freund (which songs later surfaced on 'Welcome..' ) I've enjoyed his sonic palate experimentation on 'Both Sides' and the eclectic nature of all of his albums, but this one is just a boring construction that sounds like a pale tribute to 'The Band'. Gone are the Biting Sardonic lyrics of the past, (only the first track even hints at the greatness that was 'Fight For Your Mind' or 'Don't Take That Attitude..' ) Gone are the Weissborn fireworks that were so unique to his sound, the solos are simplistic and boring. The lyrics are trite and unoriginal. Even his instrumental, 'Paris Sunrise 7' is by far his least interesting acoustic instrumental ever. This album is like some irritating imitation of Neil Young and The Band with lyrics on par with a fifteen year old's love poems..'Needed you Tonight' has the most promise of rocking, until you realize the Black Crowes did this song 15 years ago.. 'Put it On Me' is another knockoff of 'Steal My Kisses' at a slightly faster tempo, and most of these songs sound like the slow dance songs at a 1995 high school prom. (Heart of Matters actually brings to mind 'Lights' by Journey)
Too Much Piano, Too Little Fire, No great guitar solos, quite disappointing and a MAJOR snoozer.
Lifeline Poster
At the end of a nine month European tour, Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals landed in a Paris recording studio and completed their new album, Lifeline, in just seven days. The result: a soulful masterpiece with beautifully direct lyrics, undeniable grooves and an effortless energy that recalls the best works of Otis Redding, Bill Withers and Beggars Banquet-era Rolling Stones. Yeah...it's that good.It's no surprise that most bands today don't record albums live, straight to tape, in one room, no Pro Tools, no auto-tune. There are only a handful of modern artists that can pull it off. Since Ben & The Innocent Criminals were so musically connected after such a long tour, they entered the studio immediately. And on a sixteen track tape machine and one full week in the City of Lights, they successfully recorded and mixed an album that will sit alongside all of your old favorites...just like a classic record should.
Eight albums in just over a dozen years: validation that Ben Harper--mind or body--rarely rests, be it on the road with backing jam band the Innocent Criminals or buried in a studio, where the gifted singer-songwriter lays down his brand of peace-chanting, love-tilting music. His latest is lighter on the rock, with a greater emphasis on gospel, blues, and deeply burning soul. Harper isn't concerned about letting listeners inside that soul, confessing in the title track, "I don't want to wait a lifetime/Yours or mine." The solo acoustic closer is classic wear-your-heart-on-your-sleeve, a trait that seems to drift in and out of songs like the ominous ballad "Younger than Today," which remembers earlier days being better days, or its mood-opposite "Say You Will," where the exultance of a flamboyant piano and gospel backing vocals offset cheesy lines such as "love you like a candle loves a flame." The latter is a standout, along with the bluesy opener "Fight Outta You"; the island-splashed "In the Colors," which recalls early-'70s Van Morrison; and "Put It on Me," with its brilliant lyric, "She cuts cherry pie when she looks you in the eye." All eyes, as his legion builds, are on Ben Harper. All ears, too. --Scott Holte
Ben Harper Photos
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More from Ben Harper
 Both Sides of the Gun |  Diamonds on the Inside |  Fight for Your Mind |
 Live at the Hollywood Bowl |  Ben Harper and the Blind Boys of Alabama: Live at the Apollo |  Pleasure & Pain |
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