Ben Harper - Burn to Shine
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Free Music Notes for Burn to Shine
Free Music Review: Steal My Kisses? ...
Hit: 1 Stars
I've tried so hard to like this record. I heard "Steal My Kisses" on the radio and really thought they had a fresh sound. I picked up the album, and I find most of it to be a hodgepodge of stuff that goes from bad Black Crowes impressions, simple ZZ Top guitar work to very syrupy Cat Stevens-like stuff.In short, there should be a picture of this CD in the dictionary next to "identity crisis." This record is really all over the place, and not in a good way. I still like "Steal My Kisses", but the rest of this album, save the title track ... well, let's just say it's 45 minutes of your life you're not getting back.
Free Music Review: Thinking man's Lenny Kravitz
Hit: 3 Stars
This one grew on me with subsequent listenings. I purchased it on the basis of one song (Steal My Kisses) and was originally dissapointed. I for some reason remembered Ben Harper being "folky" (as was "Steal My Kisses"), this album was dark and heavy (the guitars as well as the lyrics), not what I expected or wanted. I did find myself popping it in every few days, and eventually liking most of the songs. Much of it does seem reminiscent of Lenny Kravitz (of whom I am not a fan) but the songs seem more "real" to me.Why only three stars? On my scale thats pretty damn good. Only a handful or recordings ever get 5 from me, indicating perfect. 4 would be excellent, which though very good, this is not exactly my musical taste, and there are a few "throw away" songs presented. Overall I must admidt... a really good effort.
Free Music Review: I miss the old sound, but this is quite good as well
Hit: 4 Stars
We seem to have a mildly (only mildly) interesting debate here. There appears to be a crowd of Harper loyalists who will stand by every track on general principle, and a crowd of people who are horrified by the experimental nature of this album. It took a while, but Burn to Shine has really grown on me, and a few tracks, like Please Bleed and Forgiven have become some of my favorite Harper songs. However, this is the only Harper album on which I program my CD player to skip a few tracks. Lyrics aside (actually, I don't care much about lyrics anyway), much of the writing here is reminiscent of Fight For Your Mind (in my opinion, his best album), but the arrangements, and hence the sound, is constantly fluctuating. Sometimes he succeeds with a new sound, like on Please Bleed, and sometimes he falters, like on the last two tracks. Such is the nature of experimental music, and I challenge any of the detractors to find an experimental musician who never screwed up. My only real complaint is that I loved the sound of the acoustic weissenborn, which was the context in which Ben Harper sounds best. Instead, when I want that sound now, I turn to Kelly Joe Phelps, a brilliant acoustic blues musician who plays lap style slide guitar (occasionally sounding like a weissenborn). His sound is what Harper might sound like as a blues traditionalist strongly schooled in jazz composition (in fact, Phelps may even be more technically skilled than Harper, although he does not get as many points for creativity as Harper).Free Music Review: to the jack-... who gave it 1star!
Hit: 5 Stars
I am also from New Zealand and am ashamed of the person also from new zealand that gave it a bad review. This is a must have disc if your a fan of his previous stuff. Obviously this person must love bands that keep the same sound from previous albums-ben doesn't do this that is why we are so lucky to have him in this world right now making fantastic sounding music that will last forever just like great artists before him such as Marley and Hendrix-So thanks Ben and the Innocent Criminals! Thanks
Free Music Review: man i really want to get up and wipe myself now.
Hit: 4 Stars
good good disc. Couple things to remember, though, about what your buying. This ben disc is heavy covered in hard distorted rock riffs. If your looking for *alot* more acoustic stuff, this probably isnt your best choice, try Welcome to a Cruel World, Will to Live, or Fight for Your Mind, I heavily recommend WTL.