Personnel: Ben Harper (vocals, guitar, slide guitar, piano, vibraphone, drums, percussion); Michael Ward (guitar, bass guitar); Jason Yates (keyboards); Juan Nelson (bass guitar); Leon Mobley (percussion).
Recording information: The Boat Studio, Silverlake, California (2005).
With the two-disc BOTH SIDES OF THE GUN, singer/songwriter Ben Harper appears hell-bent to play havoc with listeners' expectations. For those who thought blues-rock was a relic of the 1970s, abandoned to rot amid worn-out Foghat riffs, Harper presents a compelling argument to the contrary on the set's first disc. Instead of jacking up traditional blues forms in a clich'd way, though, Harper applies a blues sensibility to the rock vocabulary, coming up with something that feels new in the process. The emotive howl of his vocals and the from-the-gut moans of his guitar bespeak a musician schooled in Zeppelin and Hendrix but ultimately closer to Jeff Buckley at his most frenetic. The raw, gritty production lends an appropriately in-your-face quality as well.
The second disc further messes with one's preconceptions. It's a quiet, acoustic-oriented affair wherein Harper seems to channel vintage Cat Stevens. In fact, there are spots where his singing sounds eerily similar to that of the British folk-rocker. Where the first disc's songs feel full of anger and social consciousness, the vulnerable ballads occupying the second are largely wistful and romantic, operating on a more personal scale. As different as they are, BOTH SIDES OF THE GUN are just as formidable in Harper's hands.
What the critics say...
Rolling Stone (pp.61-62) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Harper is a natural-born superstar who has operated in the pop universe his way....He is, for all his flash, just Ben, a gifted singer, songwriter and guitarist bent on seeking transcendence in everyday places."
Mojo (Publisher) (p.102) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[With] robust rockers and acoustic romancers...CD1 is full of rip and roar about the evils and moral ambiguities of the times."
