Ben Harper - Diamonds on the Inside
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Free Music Notes for Diamonds on the Inside
Free Music Review: Legend Incarnate?
Hit: 5 Stars
Ben Harper was only a name to me as he is to most people until faily recently. I saw him live and on the Henry Rollins show both this year and and picked-up his new double album and am now scampering to get ALL his material and soak it up. Bottom Line: Ben is out of era...in the Motown years he would have had a home but today no one (including his label) really knows how to market him. He is far too mature musically for the modern day R&B radio and out of the mold for alternative music so he fits into that void that many have had GREAT success in such as Jack Johnson, Tracy Chapman and others but he is his own (as are the aforementioned). He is old school R&B and his openess to experiementation and variation not too mention his talent and sound sometimes make me think he is the incarnate of the late, great Marvin Gaye, funny since I do not believe in reincarnation.
I can ealisy reccommend ANYTHING by Ben if you love Marvin and Motown. He also has hints of Marleyesque struggle in his musical lyrics as well as a heavy gospel influence at times. What an amazing talent! This album is one of his best overall and a good showcase of his music. A good place to start but you can't go wrong with anything he has done.
*side note regarding review below that is overall positive (not trying to dis the reviewer, but if you want to play critic get it right). IN the second paragraph this person claims that in "Picture of Jesus" Ben rips-offs Paul Simon's "Diamonds on the Sole of her Shoes" (Graceland is a favorite of mine by the way) so I had to take a listen myself to see if there is any truth to this. The only reason I address this is b/c he or she accusses Ben of being 'classless' for not giving Paul credit! While the review was pretty good compared to most this was one of the funniest things I have ever read from a layman's review...first of all the only similarity between the two songs is that they both use a South African (Soweto) group to harmonize in the song, that is it! Ben's melody and musical song structure is completely different and rather Paul had any influence on Ben is highly questionable (and even if he/she is right does it matter, music is all about influence). Soweto has been around forever, long before the great Paul Simon brought it into the mainstream not to mention Grammy fame...so to say that it is classless to not thank Paul Simon (a WHITE amerikan songwriter) for Ben's (a Black amerikan) use of Soweto harmony in one of his songs is both hilarious and completely irrelevant.
Free Music Review: dudes got soul
Hit: 5 Stars
all i gotta say is i wasnt a fan until i saw him live. ben harper has got to be one of the best live performers out right nowWITH MY OWN TWO HANDS (4/5) - the first single, doesnt sound anything like the rest of the album, still rocks in a reggae sort of way
WHEN ITS GOOD (hellofalotmorethan5/5) - i never knew a song could really rock out without having any drums whatsoever, its got a live sound to it
DIAMONDS ON THE INSIDE (4.5/5) - very radio friendly, will probably be the next single
TOUCH FROM YOUR LUST (4.5/5) - the first hard song, lyrics are great, guitar is just as good
WHEN SHE BELIEVES (5/5) - the beginning of a string of amazing tunes, who would have thought a song based around accordions would be so good? what can i say, its beautiful
BRING THE FUNK (hellofalotmorethan5/5) - being a james brown and chili peppers fan, i love funk. this is in my opinion one of his best songs, turn it up
BROWN EYED BLUES (5/5) - one of those songs that will be a staple in his live show, funky and classic ben harper, try not to sit down during this one
EVERYTHING (5/5) - softer, but still makes you nod your head, a great beat throughout the song
AMEN OMEN (hellofalotmorethan5/5) - cant wait to hear this live, he puts his heart and soul into this song, great guitar, great chorus, even better vocals from ben
TEMPORARY REMEDY (5/5) - turn it up, a great hard song with cool guitar effects
SO HIGH SO LOW (hellofalotmorethan5/5) - dont let the start fool you, acoustics at the start give way to an axl rose like scream and rock hard electric guitar work, fast paced and amazing
BLESSED TO BE A WITNESS (3.5/5) - if possible, this is the disappointment of the album, still has great vocals from harper. its soft with no guitar
PICTURE OF JESUS (4.5/5) - the surprise on this cd. the whole song is ben singing, backed up by beautiful humming (huh-la-la, huh-la-la, hmmmmm), almost catchy
SHES ONLY HAPPY IN THE SUN (5/5) - beautiful song but sad, ben singing at his best, a soft ballad thats a perfect closer
the first single is totally different and isnt nearly as good as the rest of the album. there is definitely no filler. ben checks into countless different genres so even if youre not going to buy the album, at least check out the best songs WHEN ITS GOOD, BRING THE FUNK, AMEN OMEN, SO HIGH SO LOW cuz these will get you hooked
Free Music Review: Its ooooh so good...
Hit: 5 Stars
As my non catchy title states this album is very good. It's good to see Ben with a new release out. It has been almost 4 years since his last studio release. I can say that the wait was definitely worth it. Ben makes his usual genre jumps all over the record. Its amazing how he (and the IC's) are able to pull this off. So anyway I'll give a brief description of the songs.With My Own Two Hands - First single, reggae, reminds me of one of Ben's influences Bob Marley overall 8/10
When its good - acoustic bluesy type song, very good tune. Ben busts out the acoustic slide on this one. 10/10
Diamonds On The Inside - great song, remind me of Elvis Costello. 10/10
Touch From Your Lust - Nice effects on the guitar, got the Leslie (listen to Hendrix's Angel) effect going, straight foreward rock tune. 8/10
When She Believes - Slow ballad type song, strings used, acoustic guitar - pretty good tune 9/10
Brown Eyed Blues - The first funky sounding track on the album, pretty cool little bass line to this one. Nice little Bass solo on this also. I love this song. 10/10
Bring The Funk - This is an all out funk track, but I don't really like it to much. 6/10
Everything - another acoustic type song (has bass and percussion in it), bluesy feel to it, uplifting though - 8/10
Amen Omen - my favorite song on the album. Well crafted acoustic song. Best song Ben has written in a long time. 15/10
Temporary Remedy - straight ahead rock song. I think it needs to grow on me. 6/10
So High So Low - This is the Led Zep song of the album. Gonna be a great live song. 10/10
Blessed to be A Witness - Ben's voice is the highlight of this song. Mellow song. Beautiful. 10/10
Picture of Jesus - Acapella type song, just percussion and vocals. Good song but I'm not really feeling it. 7/10
She's Only Happy in the Sun - Ender of the album, is kind on weak to end the album on. I'm sure it'll grow on me. 6/10
If you like singer/songwriters at least check Ben out. If you've never heard Ben before buy "Life From Mars" the double live set. First half electric, second half solo acoustic.
Peace.
Free Music Review: A pleasant surprise in a world dominated by drivle
Hit: 5 Stars
Now I have been a Ben Harper fan fairly recently but yet have been able to purchase all of his LP's. FOrtunately for me just as I started getting into Harper he puts out a record three or four months later. Now having heard all of ben's material, I have come to the conclusion that it is impossible for any sane person to pick a favourite album of Ben's, for each album offers something different and expands on his ever growing arsenal of muscianship tricks.
For all these so called Ben purists it's like you never want to see a muscian evolve. Yes the wiesenborn of Ben's is quiet soemthing, the acoustics with his sweet melodies were soemthing of devine proportions. But the fact is, that well Ben has more then just folk influences and he likes to express himself in various ways. Really, a man not affraid to step out of the box and risk his cult fan base for simply wanting to expand muscially, well he should be commended.
Every song on here works. From With my own, to When it's good, touch of you lust amazing song, and well everything works. The song everything which people seem to think is horrible because of it's lyrics have to really look at the true beauty amonst the simplicity he uses in that song. For the first time ben hits the markls with all his rockers, and one the only trip up on this album is Bring the funk. I love brown eyed, so don't say I hate funk, or don;'t udnerstand it.
But man, Ben is a master. This man can do it all. Yes to some degree this may be his most commercial effort, but in that same token it's his most adventurous effort. In a time when tturly inspired uplifting poetic music is needed ben delievers, without a shadow of a doubt.
Free Music Review: Ben hits a nice groove
Hit: 5 Stars
If you listen to any review that says this record isnt good, or hes sold out. Please ignore them. PLEASE!! This CD is wonderful. It has funk, groove, and a quiet beauty. I have no problem if you like another one of his CD's better, but this one is quite amazing.
I wont review it by song, or by anything but what type of person will enjoy this CD. If you like the groove, youll like this CD. If you like the groove, but also have sensitive side to you and enjoy quiet, yet personal and "pretty" music you will LOVE this album. If your judgemental and believe an artist doesnt have the right to keep his work from being shared freely and easily over the internet, you will dislike this CD, as you actually had to pay for it..Notice he is #18 on the top 100, I bet he would be nowhere near that had he not protected his CD against MP3 technology.
So basically if you have some funk in you, have that groove going through your body, can deal with someones deep love of god, even if your not quite there yourself, and love someone who has a great voice and plays a great guitar then this is the perfect CD for you. 14 songs, 11 great songs. How many CD's can say that??? Enjoy Ben and to all who gave him a bad review above, Im glad I dont have to listen to your CD collection. Its probably filled of High rated CD's by Rolling Stone and other sites that just have this thing against the groove....Play it, sit back, stand up, dance and enjoy!!..