Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals
Lifeline

A little over a year from the monumental 'Both Sides Of The Gun' (2006), Harper's return is marked by the reunion with his historic band: the 'Innocent Criminals'. "Lifeline" is a light album, just 11 tracks (the Californian guitarist had accustomed us to more substantial releases) that are easy to listen to, catchy, and well played.

The single opens the album, it's the leading song "Fight Outta You", a good piece, rhythmic and engaging, but a bit too inclined towards easy listening from music television. It's for pieces like this that Harper receives dozens of insults for the alleged 'commercialization' of his music and sees his bank account swell by millions of dollars because millions of teenagers have become his new fans.

If we want to find something better, however, we should not stop at the single. Scrolling through the tracks, in fact, there are excellent things: "Needed You Tonight" is a beautiful blues, the voice of the Californian guitarist performs a series of acrobatics worthy of his old successes. Listening to it brought to mind one of his 'old' blues pieces, which I consider fantastic: "Show Me A Little Shame" from 'Burn To Shine' (1999).

A delicate and melancholic piano melody opens one of the best tracks on the album "Younger Than Today", the younger sister of "Morning Yearning" from 'Both Sides Of The Gun'. Also noteworthy is the closing track "Lifeline", a guitar and voice piece that gives the album its title. The other tracks flow quickly, entertain but don't leave much behind, and are quickly forgotten.

No track is bad and, thanks also to the presence of the 'superlative' 'Innocent Criminals', the album is played excellently. Perhaps there is not the sweet delicacy of the guitar notes of 'Welcome To The Cruel World' (1993) or the explosive musical inventiveness of 'Fight For Your Mind' (1995) and 'The Will To Live' (1997), not even the compositional abundance and social commentary of 'Both Sides Of The Gun' (2006), but it's still a pleasant album, more than listenable.

As is the tradition for our Ben's discography, the magical instrumental track could not be missing. This time it's called "Paris Sunrise #7", it's very beautiful, a guitar 'solo' outlines a landscape of melancholy and desolation.

There's little else to say, Ben and the 'Innocent Criminals' know what they're doing and, even when they're not at the top of their compositional inspiration, they play with talent and great passion.

For the numerous fans of the 'plump' and legendary bassist Juan Nelson, I recommend the delightful intro of "In The Colors", probably more valuable than the song itself (added in the samples).