Ben Harper
Burn To Shine
»
Ben Harper
Burn To Shine
Virgin, 1999
RiYL: Jimi Hendrix, Lenny Kravitz, Led Zeppelin, Pearl Jam |
There are a number of revelatory passages right out of the gate. Want trippy grooves that ease their way into harder-edged breakdowns? Both "Alone" and "The Woman In You" will satisfy. Hendrix jamming with Metallica? Try the gnarly "Less." Complex acoustic rock with a dash of Zeppelin? Head straight for the nearly eight-minute soul-searcher "Two Hands Of A Prayer."
Harper's eye for added texture is nearly popping out of its proverbial socket, dilated frequently by additional instrumentation (piano, accordion, backup singers, gospel organ, woodwinds). When his melting pot of styles settles on more contemporary tastes, we get some great straight-up rock songs like the thick-riffed "Please Bleed" and the boogie-down title track. Both of these would have been two of the better songs on either of Lenny Kravitz's last two albums, but they do not match the splendor of old tunes like "Ground On Down" or "Breaking Down." "Forgiven" returns to the distinctive sinewy sound of Harper's Weissenborn guitar, equaling the head-nodding groove of The Will To Live's opening track "Faded."
But sadly, Harper sounds far less distinctive on Burn To Shine than on any of his other records, which can't be a good thing regardless of the new territory he is exploring. To his credit, he has toned down the heavy-handed lyrical approach for more subtle storytelling. But a number of the songs are real head-scratchers, particularly the well-intentioned but somewhat silly "Suzie Blue," which begins with the tinny feel of an old blues record before saddling up to an olde-time brass band melody that goes on far too long. "Steal My Kisses," with its beat-boxing and Jackson Five-style melody, aims for sweet Motown pop but comes up short, while the gospel organ-addled revival theme "Show Me A Little Shame" borders on ill-advised parody.
Burn To Shine will take a number of listens to get used to, and the sheer wealth of new ideas excuses some failed attempts to express them (but not all). Still, one wonders how listeners more in tune with Harper's rock-friendly side will take to this album. Chalk it up to growing pains, sit back, and give it a try.
JONATHAN COHEN | Jonathan Cohen co-created Nude As The News with his Indiana University mates Troy Carpenter and Ben French. When not traversing the globe for business and pleasure, he holds down the fort as a senior editor for Billboard in New York. Stop him and he just may ask, "what for lunch?"