Ben Harper

[tucker]

To define Ben Harper to a singular genre is all but impossible. His repertoire comprises predominantly of rock, indie and folk but there are many notable exceptions such as his 50's style jazz/ blues outing Suzie Blue, his various gospel songs and many harder hitting riff based tracks such as Glory and Consequence and Ground on Down. He has a very broad appeal and fanbase due to his rather eclectic style. His songs are often very introspective and heartfealt and he and his band of Innocent Criminals have a reputation as a spectacular live act. His most mainstream realease in his 12 year career was most likely 2003's Diamonds on The Inside which gained airplay with both the title track and Brown Eyed Blues amongst others. His latest offering, the 2 disc Both Sides of The Gun, presents us with two very different sides to Ben Harper. The first cd comprises of mainly acoustic ballads with the second being a very hard-funk driven listen. His musical artisrty has grown much since the release of his first album Welcome to the Cruel World, always seeking to break new ground for him and his band, yet he still manages to include use of his famous Weissenborn and slide guitars in most performances.
(Taken from my blurb on sputnik).

I dont think the guy gets enough recognition on these forums. For those looking to get into him I reccomend Live from Mars first off, it shows just about every aspect of his music.
To get conversation going what does everyone think of the new album?

[cb240]

Oh boy, Ben Harper! He's right up there with Yawny McYawn and the ZZZZZ's

[tucker]

Oh boy, Ben Harper! He's right up there with Yawny McYawn and the ZZZZZ's
No hes much better than those amateurs, obviously Im not the only one with the same thoughts seeing the amount of shows he sells out. Now go read some Proust and keep your pointless comments to yourself.

[dei]

I still don't understand what "indie" is supposed to mean. Can someone please describe this "indie" sound? So far it's been used to describe terrible pop-punk/fag-core bands, Franz Ferdinand knock-offs, and now this ****.

[cb240]

No hes much better than those amateurs, obviously Im not the only one with the same thoughts seeing the amount of shows he sells out. Now go read some Proust and keep your pointless comments to yourself.

So I'm not allowed to respond if I disagree with your opinion? Marcel Proust would not support that.

[tucker]

So I'm not allowed to respond if I disagree with your opinion? Marcel Proust would not support that.
If you had of simply said you didnt like him and thought he was bland etc thats fine by me but you had to be a smart arse. And in response to the question of what indie means, to be honest i really have no idea lol i've just heard him described as indie a fair bit and thought the people hear would know what I meant. I dont really see much similarity between all these so called indie bands either but rest assured he's nothing like Franz Ferdinand, Arctic Monkeys etc

[cb240]

If you had of simply said you didnt like him and thought he was bland etc thats fine by me but you had to be a smart arse.


Okay dad

[FA]

I still don't understand what "indie" is supposed to mean. Can someone please describe this "indie" sound? So far it's been used to describe terrible pop-punk/fag-core bands, Franz Ferdinand knock-offs, and now this ****.


:lol:

It's a broad genre I suppose....

[tucker]

Okay dad
Your lucky your not my son or I'd belt you till you were black and blue...
Haha kidding but I guess i just get a little defensive about people raggin on one of my favorite musicians. Anyway...

[dei]

:lol:

It's a broad genre I suppose....
It's not a genre, I suppose...

[cb240]

It's not a genre, I suppose...

owned

[bah]

Ben Harper is great. Still kicking myself about not having the money to go see him live lately.

Yep

[indy_undy]

I like his new album a whole lot more than Diamonds on the Inside and he brings the serious funk live. Not my very favourite artist but still a good one.

[tucker]

To be honest I didnt really like the new album all that much until I saw him in Sydney last week and he played some of the tracks from Both Sides Of the Gun. Better way went off. He did plenty of old stuff too, please bleed, the will to live etc. Best concert Ive ever been to. Anyone else had the chance to see him live?

[Kyle]

He's better than some people give him cedit for, I have a few albums and dig them all. It's not something I listen to on a regular basis, but I'm seeing him live supporting the chillis, I'll look forward to that.

[innocent criminal]

yeah saw ben harper at the sydney entertainment centre last tuesday and he is simply mind blowing!! he put on what had to be, even though im an amatuer concert goer, the best show i have ever seen....every song he played, whether it was a famous, well known one or not was pure gold!! although my favourites had to be please bleed/ with my own to hands and burn one down....

before i saw him perform the songs from his new album live i wasnt too impressed as the studio recording sounded alittle "flowery" for my liking but seeing them live just shows how cruel the studio really can be on an artist and there sound!!

songs like black rain/please dont talk about murder while your eating and ofcourse the brilliant better way all sounded unbelievable and are extremely good rock songs!! the recording just doesnt do them justice (them being the first two seeing betterway is a fantastic song either way)

so for you people who hear the name ben harper and coil in disgust because you think he is not "rock" enough for you and it might ruin your "rocker" image to listen to him, or he isnt mysterious enough and records more than 1 album in 5 years and has 7 or more full studio albums over 10 yrs rather than 3 (cough tool fans cough), i say, dont judge until you have actually heard the man play!!! dont just make a judgement based on genre or the opinions of other wanna be's (you know who you are)music is your chance to get away from the crowd and make your own decisions.....it allows you to free your minds and go on journeys that rise above your own world....it takes you away from your dull ordinary lives and sends you to a place of pure enlightenment! a place where nothing else matters except music!!! so for those of you who are only in it for the image and who have no idea what connecting to music means, i sympathsise for you, because you truly are missing out

[Kyle]

so for you people who hear the name ben harper and coil in disgust because you think he is not "rock" enough for you and it might ruin your "rocker" image to listen to him, or he isnt mysterious enough and records more than 1 album in 5 years and has 7 or more full studio albums over 10 yrs rather than 3 (cough tool fans cough), i say, dont judge until you have actually heard the man play!!! dont just make a judgement based on genre or the opinions of others....music is about being able to free your minds and go on journeys that rise above your own world....it takes you away from your dull ordinary lives and sends you to a place of pure enlightenment! a place where nothing else matters except music!!! so for those of you who are only in it for the image and who have no idea what connecting to music means, i sympathsise for you, because you truly are missing outDon't talk nonsense, nobody here is like that.

[innocent criminal]

Don't talk nonsense, nobody here is like that.
go up to the top of the page and look at CB240's little comment....

sorry if i have gone alittle overboard but as you can see im quite passionate about my music

[Kyle]

go up to the top of the page and look at CB240's little comment....

sorry if i have gone alittle overboard but as you can see im quite passionate about my musicCB240 just doesn;t like Ben Harper, that doesn;t mean he's trying to maintain any kind of 'rock image'. Besides, there are always idiots which frequent forums, but for the majority we all have pretty good reasons for liking/disliking bands here. Especially here in A&I, the whole 'rawk' thing is far from being an issue here.

[innocent criminal]

Especially here in A&I, the whole 'rawk' thing is far from being an issue here.
you have your opinions on that and i have mine

[cb240]

go up to the top of the page and look at CB240's little comment....

sorry if i have gone alittle overboard but as you can see im quite passionate about my music

I don't like Ben Harper because I find his music vapid and tiresome. I don't use music to maintain an image, and I don't really know anyone who does.

[toxicmudd]

to the guy who wants to know what indie is, well it comes from "independant" record companies, whos bands have a typical unfinished sound to them. thats from wikipedia dont knock me lol. but basically its anything thats not heavy but still rock.

And iv heard ben harper is supporting the chili on a few of their shows so i hope hes up to it

[cb240]

wow you are gullible

[innocent criminal]

I don't like Ben Harper because I find his music vapid and tiresome. I don't use music to maintain an image, and I don't really know anyone who does.
thats fair enough.....at least now i can respect your opinion....

[indy_undy]

Yeh I saw him last week and I agree with the fact that his new songs are much more enjoyable live. Although I do have to admit I was a little glad he didnt play Please Bleed.

[Aklerc]

He's a bit of a dude, but I was learning to play 'Walk Away' the other day and I swear the intro is exactly the same to 'No Woman No Cry'. Maybe in a different key or something but still...

[Tangy zizzle]

I saw him on monday night, he was (always is) fantastic. This thread sucks.

[Zesty Mordant]

new album is alright, it would've been a very good album if it was stripped down into one.

Live from Mars is one of the best live albums ever though, and is the main reason as to why I love Ben Harper.

[Tangy zizzle]

^Agreed. Except for the part about the new album, best studio effort so far.

[Broken Arrow]

I think his new album is really solid, probably his best so far. I dont think it would flow aswell as a single album. I like it better in two discs.

[Zesty Mordant]

I just feel like its such an inconvience that I have to take one disc out and put another in if i want to listen to the whole album.

Of course, if I had just downloaded it illegally this wouldn't be such a problem....

[Little Man being Erased]

Live from Mars is a double album, fool.





P.S. It always seems to surprise me that Tangy likes Ben Harper, for some reason.

[Jam2Me]

I've never LOVED any of his studio efforts but I have them all and consider myself a big fan....Mars is the best thing next to (having good seats) seeing him live. Great live show, his energy is awesome.
Only thing I don't like about him is the pseudo hippy potheads who like him because of Burn One Down.

[Jacaranda]

Saw him on Saturday. I was never a fan of his albums but damn he is so much fun live and sounds great. The bass player is ace, he had a very funky solo during one song. My only problem with his set is he played like a 7 song encore and 5 or 6 of them were slow acoustic boring songs.

[Zesty Mordant]

Live from Mars is a double album, fool.





P.S. It always seems to surprise me that Tangy likes Ben Harper, for some reason.

umm,yeah i know that.

What's your point?

[Little Man being Erased]

Live from Mars is one of the best live albums ever though, and is the main reason as to why I love Ben Harper.

I just feel like its such an inconvience that I have to take one disc out and put another in if i want to listen to the whole album.
That's my point.

[Zesty Mordant]

and the latter comment was referring to the new album and the fact that both discs only contain about 30min of music each.

whereas both Live from Mars discs are filled to the brim and can stand on their own in terms of quality.

[Tangy zizzle]

I've liked Ben Harper for the best part of 10 years, he's special to me.

[Little Man being Erased]

That's ok Tangy, I still love you. Ben Harper isn't horrible or anything, his music just doesn't appeal to me anymore.



and the latter comment was referring to the new album and the fact that both discs only contain about 30min of music each.
What? So it's basically just a double album for the sake of being a double album, when it could have quite easily fit on one disc? Because if so, that is ****ing retarded.

[Tangy zizzle]

It's a double album for effect.

[Little Man being Erased]

It's a double album for effect.
So each disc has a fairly different sound or something?

[Tangy zizzle]

Yeah. One's all funked up and sexy, the other's more introverted and slow.

[Little Man being Erased]

Oh. Well, that's not so retarded then. I'm sorry Mr. Harper, Sir.

[Danger Bird]

I'm listening to Fight for Your Mind right now, just got it from the library. I really liked Diamonds on the Inside, and Burn One Down is one of my favorite songs ever.

Ben Harper r00lz

[cometuesday]

Ben Harper = Jack Johnson = John Mayer = Nick Drake = etc etc, to me.
The only people I know who listen to this stuff pop their polo collars 24/7.

[sexymuffin]

you have your opinions on that and i have mine

yeah but your opinions are obviously retarded

[Tangy zizzle]

Ben Harper = Jack Johnson = John Mayer = Nick Drake = etc etc, to me.
The only people I know who listen to this stuff pop their polo collars 24/7.

This really, REALLY annoys me. Jack Johnson & John Mayer sound very little alike (not defending them however), 90% of the time Ben Harper sounds like neither and Nick Drake sounds like none of them.

[80vs90]

Ben Harper = Jack Johnson = John Mayer = Nick Drake = etc etc, to me.
The only people I know who listen to this stuff pop their polo collars 24/7.

yeah, i agree. all that ****, plus dispatch, just plain sucks.

[Eliminator]

haha how is john mayer the same thing as nick drake

[dei]

Jack Johnson fans and John Mayer fans dress the same.

[Grohlthegreat]

Jack Johnson is like a stripped down Ben Harper.

[Little Man being Erased]

Jack Johnson is like a stripped down ****wit.

[Danger Bird]

Strange, I hate Jack Johnson but I like Ben Harper.

[mozartv]

Banana Pancakes is a catchy song. I got a soft spot for the jack johnson, but i dont pops my collar.

[cometuesday]

To clarify I will admit, however, that all these acoustic rocker types are talented, don't get me wrong. For example, people get upset with me all the time trying to convince me that John Mayer is this incredible musician. Now while I'll be one of the first ones to agree that he is a pretty good guitarist, I still don't think he makes good music. Especially his live stuff where he picks up the electric guitar... all I hear is someone trying to pull off some sort of half-assed Santana cover most of the time.
BUT. Since this thread is about Ben Harper I will rephrase my previous equation.
Interesting music > Ben Harper > Nick Drake > John Mayer > Jack Johnson > Avril Lavigne :smoke:

[sexymuffin]

wtf

what don't you like about avril

what is she too punk rock for your sissy music?