Customer Rating:  
Summary: What exactly does he want to do?
Comment: Ben Harper is a very prolific musician, and has worked with everyone from Jack Johnson to Toots and the Maytals. This also causes for a problem, however; if you completely change your style on every album you do, it may be hard for people to know what to expect from you. Ben's last album, There Will Be a Light, was a gospel-flavored album due to assistance from the Blind Boys of Alabama, and it proved very good. But I can't say the same about Both Sides of the Gun.
First off, this is one of those double-disc collectives that easily could have been a single disc, especially since each disc is only about half an hour long. Sometimes the artists do that because each disc has a different vibe, but that's not the case here. Actually, it is AND it isn't: every song on here has a completely different style, which, as my title suggests, makes it hard to figure out exactly what it is that Ben is trying to do. That, and Ben himself sounds completely different on every song. The only thing that stays the same is that many of the songs follow the system of having four quick lines in the verses followed by the chorus, which consists of saying the song title four times.
And some of the lyrics aren't that great either, like "Waiting For You" (lyrics include: "I've been hoping for you/What else can I do/But keep hoping for you"). There's also "Please Don't Talk About Murder While I'm Eating", which is as bizarre as its title. And "Get It Like You Like It" makes no sense. But "Better Way" made me wish there was just that, especially since Ben is literally screaming the final verse.
Ben Harper still has skills, but maybe he shouldn't try to use ALL of them simultaneously. Buy Both Sides of the Gun only if you're a devoted fan, because after listening to it, in the words of track 7, I was more than sorry.
Anthony Rupert
Customer Rating:
Summary: black record versus white record
Comment: Es bueno dividir un album en una cara de canciones lentas y otra de rapidas? Al menos permite segmentar a su publico y no hacerle perder el tiempo escuchando lo que no le interesa. Esto es lo que ha intentado Ben Harper en el doble "Both Sides Of The Gun".
En el "disco blanco", el cantautor reune baladas de letras mas introspectivas, enclavadas en un folk adornado en ocasiones con cuerdas. El conjunto es mas bien cansino y poco dado a las sorpresas, y solo lo salva el toque soul de "Crying Won't Help You Now". Lo mejor que se puede decir es que son canciones simplemente bonitas.
Mas resulton es el "disco negro", donde Harper da rienda suelta a sus influencias con rotundo rock stoniano, sensual funk vacilon a lo Sly Stone o reivindicativo a lo Curtis Mayfield, exquisito jazz estilista, acelerado blues rock, canticos country, y exotismo psicodelico a lo Prince. En este caso, las letras tienen un contenido mas social y politico, y no faltan referencias a la tragedia de Nueva Orleans. Es tambien interesante ver como Harper ha concebido todas las canciones: a veces toca todos los instrumentos, otras se acompana de sus Innocent Criminals, o recurre a invitados como David Lindley, Charlie Musselwhite, o Michael Ward.
Algunos diran que "Both Sides Of The Gun" es un trabajo poco personal. Pero al menos, Harper carece del ego de un Lenny Kravitz, que viene a hacer lo mismo y encima nos hace creer que es obra suya.
Customer Rating:
Summary: 6th & the Best!
Comment: Ben Harper is creative, period.
These are the tracks I like:
[from CD1]
Morning Yearing
Never Leave Lonely Alone
Sweet Nothing Serenade
Reason to Moure
[from CD2]
Better Way
Both Sides of the Gun
Gather Round the Stone
Serve Your Soul
Listen to the demo and hear for yourself
Customer Rating:
Summary: Awesome concept
Comment: I definitely preferred the black side to the white. I guess because one side sounded more like Jack Johnson, whom I don't like too much, while the other one sounded more like folk or reggae. The black side covered topics like activism and some songs were just plain funny like "Please Don't Talk About Murder While I'm Eating." Overall, I think this album covers a wide range of subjects. I also like the concepts of the double disc CD in general and Ben Harper delivered here.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Uninspired
Comment: I'm a huge fan but this is easily Ben's worst album. I can't even get through a lot of songs without skipping to the next.
Somewhere between The Will to Live and this album, Harper slowly lost the ability to infuse soul or feeling into his songs. To be honest this album is just plain dull. It was apparent that he invested a lot of emotion into his first three albums (Welcome to this Cruel World, Fight for Your Mind and The Will to Live). Since then he's been on cruise control.
If you decide to buy this album, don't bother with this special edition. There are a couple decent songs on the third CD, but it's not worth the extra $12.
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