Ben Harper
Both Sides Of The Gun

The Two Sides of Harper's Music

Double CD with well-divided songs: First white disc with sweet and pure unplugged ballads, in a typical purely singer-songwriter style. Second black disc with tracks that Harper pushes more towards a sometimes blues, sometimes rock, or funky and more style. Just to be clear, the same sound division that the artist had already used in the double live album "Live From Mars."

In the first disc, nine tracks from a seasoned singer-songwriter, a style we had already appreciated in some pieces of his previous album "Diamonds On The Inside." Magical atmosphere, often melancholic, soft, whispered with his unmistakable warm vocal interpretation, making the nine tracks almost all splendid. The lyrics are more introspective compared to the second black disc. The best from the first white disc: "Morning Yearning" at the opening takes the breath away by plucking the strings in the sweetest way only he knows how to do, "Waiting For You," the wonderful chorus of "Cryin' Won't Help You Now," the splendid instrumental "Sweet Nothing Serenade," the mysterious riff of the moral teaching of "Never Leave Lonely Alone," and still the concluding dreamlike harmony with piano and strings of "Happy Everafter In Your Eyes."

In the second black disc, the tones change, Ben Harper abandons introspective themes, looking and especially critiquing society. Here we find the song that gives the title to the album "Both Sides Of The Gun." We find ourselves today in our society (in America where the artist particularly lives) being both victims and perpetrators, making a not well-understood war to create peace that, however, seems far away, attacking because we feel attacked by terrorism and whatever else threatens us in our society. We are indeed on both sides of the same gun, now we are the ones holding it, and now we are looking down the barrel pointed at our eyes. 'Politics, it's a drag, they put one foot in the grave, and the other on the flag...'. From the splendid protest and energetically political title-track.
Also noteworthy on the black disc: "Better Way," the first single with a never-so-inspiredly-angry Ben Harper in the vocal performance of a couple of verses, the rhythmic blues of "The Way You Found Me," the almost gospel choir of "Gather 'Round The Stone." Also to mention is the 70s funky of "Black Rain," the driven rock with psychedelic Hendrix-style guitar riffs in the concluding endless (8 minutes) "Serve Your Soul," and also the more ironic title of Ben Harper of the beautiful "Please Don't Talk About Murder While I'm Eating."

Thirteen years before this album, "Welcome To The Cruel World," Harper's first album came out. The now 37-year-old guitarist has traced in those thirteen years a truly multifaceted musical journey, getting us used to completely different, diverse styles, all done with undeniable inspiration and maintaining a very high level. "Both Sides Of The Gun" (this time made without the "Innocent Criminals") is a stunning and extremely varied album, especially appreciated on a second or third listen. It also contains two truly heterogeneous discs from each other, but of very high level. A jewel with two faces.