Always have to steal my kisses... (Burn To Shine - Ben Harper)

Member Name: andycharger

Product:	Burn To Shine - Ben Harper
Date:	10/03/04 (669 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great Lyrics, Track 7, Mixture of music types

Disadvantages: Not everyones cup of tea, Confused direction?

For the majority of you out there, the name Ben Harper will probably nt mean an awful lot.
That is because he is one of the most underrated and under played artists around.
Ben Harper can only be described as someone spreading the world of folk music to the masses by funking it up and adding his own unique blend of soul and blues into the mix.
So on the whole, Ben's act is one with something for everyone.
But its not just Ben. His Band are called the Innocent Criminals!!! Work that one out!

Artists to liken him to are a softer Lenny Kravitz with a touch of Bob Marley thrown in for good measure. Im sure if you know his work, you will agree this is a good description.

So onto the Album. What does it look like and how appealing is it?

Quite appealing. The cover features the guys dressed up like something out of the American Civil war with some American Indians thrown in for good measure. All very powerful stuff as the 4 of them strut towards you from a White background. The back of the case is the guys walking away from you in a silhouette, heading towards either a sunrise or sunset. This along with the Track listing gives it some great depth.

Open the case and you are greeted by a snake coiled up in the shape of a CD. This is hidden und the actual CD itself which has a bright Red snake to mirror the background of the inlay.

On to the music! Here is a break down of selected songs on the album.

Track 1.
Alone.
Not my favourite and played to a Waltz beat! Not many songs around today played in 3/4 time!! It also relies to heavily on synthesised sounds which lose the entire effect that the album portrays.

Track 2.
Woman in You.
Again a moody track but one that works well. I think the lyrics sound quite Kravitz like while the guitar riff in the background brings memorys of Hendix on suxh tracks as "Wind Cries Mary". One for the purist and definitely a good album tra
ck.

Track 4.
Two hands of a prayer.
This sounds almost reminiscent of protest songs from the late 60's. Perhaps more at home on a Viet Nam film soundtrack. However I think its a moving song while not being to overpowering in sound. A soft spoken lyric makes this track.

Track 5.
Please Bleed.
This starts off sounding like an extra from an Austin Powers film. Very 60's and then goes and lets itself by breaking down into a typical american "grunge" sounding song. Very unlike other songs on the album.

Track 7.
Steal My Kisses.
This song makes the entire album for me. The simple but effective Funky riff added to the beat boxing effect over the song makes it a great song to hum along to which you will end up doing. It gets stuck in your head and you end up singing lines from it all day long at work! Perhaps Ben's best work to date and the most appealing across all genres of music. Everyone likes this song. This sounds a bit like "Glamour Boys" by Living Colour if you remember them!!!

track 10.
Forgiven.
Soft Lyrics again combine well if a strong Bassline and soft guitar riff to make a well structured folk song. This would not sound out of place on an american teen film like American Pie!

Overall?
Well, it is not everyones cup of tea but definitely worth a listen for the lyric content alone. You will love it or hate it but luckily I love it. True there are a couple of weaker tracks mixed in but track 7 easily forgives all others on the album.

Price?
You can pick this up on Amazon and such sites for around £8 and about £10.99 in the shops in the high street.

"Always have to steal my kisses from you......." ARGH!!!!!!!

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