righto. i need to snap out of it. but i'm not going to 'snap' out of it, i'm going to ease, soothe, and groove my way out of it. and i'm starting this morning. with gospel.
i'm not a huge ben harper fan to be honest. or, i should say, i'm not a huge fan of the stoner upstrum ben harper stuff. i adore his later release "both sides of the gun" and think he has written some truly superb songs. but the better-known ben harper stuff doesn't do it for me so much. so when this album was first released and a friend who was a massive ben harper fan declared it "an album for the fans" you can imagine i wasn't rushed off my feet to buy it.
but this album makes me want to eat my words / grumpy anti-ben sentiments a squillion times over. this is a superb album. this is an album that takes risks. it is totally different from the sound the ben harper built his massive fan base on, and it clearly follows his musical passion rather than his earlier, more conformist releases. it's non-formulaic - it just is what it is, and my god it is good... and excuse the pun, because this is pure, unadulterated gospel. it's committed and it's passionate and it's full of soul. the elements of funk that creep in, and of something sometimes resembling bluegrass, give it a way down home feel - and of course being recorded with the blind boys of alabama that's exactly what it is.
harper has always been a master of slide guitar, and this album still showcases that talent. but it's much more than that - bluesy and soulful, funky and creative, this is a diverse album but that never diverts from its core purpose. what you see is what you get, and what you get is cleverly written songs, and an album that loves life.
i'm back.
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